A messy night ..... :(

[Komet]

Not a good night.

I have been getting quite elongated stars low down in the north east so I spent a couple of hours drift aligning last night. According to Pempro my alignment had shifted slightly it seemed from when I last checked it a couple of months ago.

Once that was sorted I then experimented with Elbrus in the Astroart/Sequence Generator pairing, This is a very good pointing program providing fast plate solving anywhere in the sky. Its also quite fun!

Eventually settled down and started catching light of the bright part of IC 417in Ha. I wasn't that happy with the atmosphere last night. It was rather damp with much scintillation and the subs were rather soft so I wasn't really that fired up to go long on anything. I started the Live bit at this point.

Anyway .... IC417 in Ha

T: 190mm Mak Newt

C: QHY IMG2Pro at ~-35°c

F: Astronomik Ha

G: SX OAG + Lodestar

M: NEQ6Pro

18 x 600 seconds

I then shifted my attention to IC434. I had had a brief look at this a little while ago but had been thwarted by the conditions. This night was almost a rerun. It got wetter and wetter and the Horsehead being lower compounded the issue. I persevered though against my better judgement. Compared to my previous glimpse (as that what it was) this is flat with little detail.

T: 190mm Mak Newt

C: QHY IMG2Pro at ~-35°c

F: Astronomik Ha

G: SX OAG + Lodestar

M: NEQ6Pro

12 x 600 seconds

The sky looked very clear at the time I was imaging this but the atmosphere was extremely wet and getter worse as time passed. Eventually, almost in a few moments a thick fog formed.

This morning everything was soaked in the POD.

Drying out as I type. Also I recollimated the scope this morning.

Not a great night at all - we really need some frosty nights!

[Tom OD]

You got the hair on his chinny chin chin there on the horse. Thats looks good. I think you can see effects of a damp night on the brighter stars. Do you use a good dew heater on the scope. I know there is nothing you can do about the atmosphere, but I always consider it good to get out and run the equipment even if you know the subs may end up in the bin due to conditions. Afterthe drifting you're set up for a good night to come.

Tom.

[Komet]

I had a dry corrector plate all evening and yes I use decent dew heaters. It was all atmospherics.

[SJJ]

One man's messy night is another man's dream night. Love the horsey. It must be my favourite target even though i've never got a decent image of it.