Suggestions for first time Widefield / Large DSO

[badgerchap]

Hi guys,

I'm going to try out my imaging set up for the first time tonight (if this weather holds - fingers crossed!)

Does anyone have any suggestions for a relatively easy target for my first attempt?

I have a WO ZenithStar 66 Petzval, Canon EOS D10, Homebrew guidecam (manual until an sd4 port arrives in the mail).

Not really sure where to start at this time of year - if it was winter I'd have a pop at M42 cos it's big, bright and easy to find, but in spring I'm not so familiar with the sky.

Many thanks people, you're assistance and sage advice is always well appreciated and extremely welcome

Guy

[badgers]

Hello my 'chap' : )

Tough call at this time of year, I think most of the bright large nebulae are hiding.

You could have a crack at Markarian's chain, it's getting low now but its nice and big, and that area of the sky is so full of galaxies that even if you are off slightly you'll still catch lots of faint fuzzes.

Bubble nebula might be nice as on wide field you'd pick up the big cluster near it.

Maybe also around Cygnus and the north american nebula.

I've not tried any of these, but they were all on my list.......

I was working from one of Jerry Lodriguss' pages: http://www.astropix.com/HTML/E_SUM_N/TOC_SUMN.HTM

I've not had a clear night in 2 weeks, so I wish you good luck!

[bigal1]

As Badgers said it is a tricky one atm , i just bought a 70mm scope and had a crack at a few of the clusters and galaxies that are about and even in a small scope they come out well especially if plenty of subs are taken . Roll on the bigger targets like M45 and M31 but if i was you i would try M13 and M51 even though small you'll be suprised how much detail is still there after a crop or 2 imo clusters looks great in a wider field and as Badgers recommended the Makarian chain makes for a nice wide image ( working on that myself atm )

These 2 images were both taken in the last 14 days with my 70mm scope just for an example , the focal length is 420mm not sure what your 66 is but it cannot be too far off .

http://stargazerslounge.com/album.php?albumid=545&pictureid=17513

http://stargazerslounge.com/album.php?albumid=545&pictureid=17514

[fatwoul]

Although the Crescent itself (NGC6888) is quite small, it sits amongst a lot of lovely nebulosity, and if you're very lucky and everything is on your side, the Soap Bubble might appear in the images. That's hardly a beginner widefield target, though. But Cygnus in general is a nice part of the sky to wander around - even if you don't land on a specific target, its position on the Milky Way guarantees lots and lots of stars.

[ollypenrice]

Anything coming up above Cygnus and Cepheus I guess. It really is a no man's land season, this, with long FL having all the fun.

I think you'd need divine intervention to pick up the Soap Bubble! But it's a good rich area.

Olly

[laser_jock99]

North American nebula I'd guess. Not many other bright targets at this time of year. Doesn't really get dark enough.

[Chris]

M51 is a nice target to begin with, its easy to find just off the edge of the Plough, its high up so less LP and less air mass to image through, and you can get good results with short subs:) I took the image below with my ZS66 unguided, 2 minute subs.

[badgerchap]

M51 is a nice target to begin with, its easy to find just off the edge of the Plough, its high up so less LP and less air mass to image through, and you can get good results with short subs:) I took the image below with my ZS66 unguided, 2 minute subs.

Is your WO66 the Petzval or the other one?

[Chris]

Mines the ED Apo, I started imaging with a Semi Apo similar to your Petzval, mine was the Sentinel 80mm (see below) it would be interesting to see how your Chromatic aberration compares to my old scope?

http://www.scopesnskies.com/prod/sentinel/antares/semi-apo-refractor.html

[badgerchap]

Apparently the Petzval has a flat field, but this is at the cst of slightly compromised colour correction - violet fringes. I'll let you know / post pics as soon as I get the chance. I guess the moon would be a good test for this, but seeing as there's an eclipse today, it'll have to wait!

[Chris]

thats really good about the flat field:) mines got no discernable fringing but a fair amount of field curvature so the opposite way round, I'll get hold of a flattener/reducer one day.