M3 Lum

[Earl]

This has been an evening of learning.

Spacing was not quiet right to start so I lost 20 subs, then guiding at this long focal length killed at least 50% of the subs, what is left is 13 60s subs.

Using an ST80 to guide a C11 is not ideal, im not sure if my EQ6 is up to the job either to be honest.

For full size

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/43788925/M3.jpg

[Grant]

That's a nice image Earl - tons of detail in there and the core looks good.

Have you considered off axis guiding with the C11? This is the route I've taken with my C11 to avoid mounting issues and movement - the C11 is big enough by itself... I'm using one of these: Celestron Radial Guider - Accessories with a DLSR on the back and a DMK as the guider and thanks to the help of SteveL - this was working very well for me at SGL7....

Cheers,

Grant

[Psychobilly]

It's not to shabby Earl.. the guiding couldn't of been that bad...

I can only echo the OAG suggestion when working at those sorts of FLs...

Once it's setup it can be quickly moved between scopes...

Peter...

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2

[Earl]

Yes I have been thinking i should get one, does the shopping ever end!

The saved weight will also be of a benefit.

[Psychobilly]

I have one but haven't nailed its setup yet I bought it mainly for the CPC800...

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2

[Quatermass]

Very nice, I really want to have a go at M3 when all this rain and cloud goes away that is.

[morimarty]

Thats a very well resolved M3 Earl. I find the C11 a beast of a scope so I have to agree with the guys above that the OAG is the way to go. I've tried guiding with an st80 but could not get any consistancy. so decided to go the OAG route and have no regrets i did. That said you will still need nights of excellent seeing to get the best out of this setup. your eq6 is up to the job. but only with a bit of fine tuning.

[ollypenrice]

That looks very good indeed to me. Really nice.

We use an OAG on Yves' big Cassegrain and, although I find it a bit of a pain, it does guide well. The luxury of always having a guide star is a thing of the past but it isn't too bad.

Olly

[Spikey]

That looks very good Earl. Time to warp the plastic a bit more with an OAG. Did you settle on any filters?