Dumbell Nebula (M27)

[Quatermass]

Thats a very nice set up you have there Gina, cooler, guider and great telescope and mount perfect, and that lovely observatory to house it all in. I would love to have the same kind of set up but there are far too many trees around me so I have to stay portable. Its not such a bad thing being portable though and bringing a chair and using my binoculars is relaxing enough. I bought the celestron 10x50s by the way Andy great value for money about 20 quid on amazon and they are really good bins for the price.

It was the perfect night for imaging last night and I gazed over to the south and considered how to go about capturing the Helix Nebula for my next project its just about in the right place just a few more weeks mybe but I think its going to mean a trip out again which I cant do so have to wait for it to be in the right place past the trees. I have become a bit obsessed by scale model aircraft at the moment so my imaging production is lower then normal.

[Andyfx]

@Quartermass. Thanks for the heads up, I'll go take a look now for those bins.

@Gina. Nice looking setup you have there! The reason I may try an off-axis guider is because my scope doesn't have rings, and is therefore mounted on an ADM Dovetail to allow balancing. Not sure what the best approach is at the mo but have lots to buy:

- Canon eos mod + clip filter

- QHY5 cam

- Off-axis guider or ST80 etc

- Narrowband filters

Probably a horde of other things too when I have a proper think lol

[Chris]

Hi Andy you've brought out some nice detail in the planetary neb there:) I can see a fair amount of gradient going on with the background though and I've been hearing about a plugging for PS called gradient exterminator that might help. I recken you've done well to tease out this detail with 19x2min subs, as you know the more subs the better, I used 160 subs for my last attempt at M51 and it was really nice processing with that much signal:) As for seeing how far you can push unguided I recken you should easily get 3 minutes at that focal length on your beast of a new mount:) Another thing that might help with the gradient is your LP filter, I receken you've probably got your fair share of Sodium lighting in Southend:D

[Chris]

QM- yep I recken your sorted for chilled out hobbys Glad to here you have all the options with the heart thing, I know how scary an irregular heart rhythm can feel, premature atrial and ventricular contractions myself all stress and anxiety related apparently so like you self the old Astronomy is a very therapeutic thing to be doing as well as Profound, interesting and awesome:)

[Andyfx]

Hey Chris :-) thanks for that, it's supposed to be nice weather this weekend so may try for 3 min subs, and get plenty of hours in on this one. Gradient Exterminator eh? I'll look it up tomorrow :-) the other plugin i've heard is good is Astra Image which is a more advanced smart sharpen apparently.... Must admit i am dying to point my scope here there and everywhere at the mo, it's like being a kid in a sweet shop having so many interesting targets to choose from. Still, as Quartermass has rightly said, it really is best to put the time in on a single object.

I've also been looking at Gary Honis' guide to modding my dslr, but although I am good at this sort of thing, i reckon the chance of shattering a filter or tearing a ribbon cable is too high. Therefore i am going to send it off to Astronomiser when my wallet has something in it again other than moths lol.

Have you managed any new images Chris, or have the skies been a bit naff down your way?

[Chris]

lol I know exactly what you mean about being like a kid in the sweet shop:) I agree though if you put the time in with a DSO at a time you will reap the rewards:) I really should get PS myself, I was using a cheaper version called Paint Shop which is my father in laws old copy, but now it keeps on crashing half way through processing which well as you can imagine is a bit annoying, so recently I've only been using DSS for levels and curves and a quick dip into Paint shop before it crashes:D I might reborrow Paint shop and try re-installing it.

I thought about modding my 1100D but bottled it a bit when I saw a couple of self mods go pair shaped despite the poeple involved taking care to do it right. I ended up buying my pre modded 350D instead which cost 200 quid, I don't know how much it costs to send a DSLR to Astronomiser?

I've not managed to image for a few weeks mainly because I've taken my tripod apart so I can use the tripod plate as part of of pier adapter. It was really nice last night as well and I don't have work today so I was a bit gutted. I wouldn't have minded getting more data for M31, especially now I've managed to pick up a second hand WO 0.8 reducer II (Thanks Coco), Mmwwwaahh! now I'll have a flat field and an f/4.7 scope!! I did get out with my 20x80 bins and a camping chair last night though which was great, bagged M31, M27, M13, Albereo, plus a rather impressive meterorite heading north west at about 11:15pm. The Celestron bins QM mentions are great for the money, a good alternative are the Optocron 8x40 Aspherics which are normally about 80 pounds but they seem to pop up quite regularly on Ebay, being auctioned from an Ebay outlet for a lot less than 80, I got mine this way and paid 26 pounds for them new. I've followed a few Aspheric sales since on ebay and the most I've seen then go for is 36! Ebay is basically really good for bins, My brilliant 10x50's cost about 12 with postage, get Ebaying for a bargain that will knock the moths out your wallet:)

Chris

[Andyfx]

Yea same here mate, when I saw what could go wrong with the 1100d mod I just thought nah lol! Problem is that both filters are glued and you need the front filter intact, and that's without what happened to Gina, which was a torn ribbon cable. Astronomiser do two options 1. rear filter replacement (replace it with a baader ir/uv cut), 2. rear filter removal (use an Atronomik CLS CCD clip filter). Option 1 is £200 and option 2 is £150 not including the Astronomik filter. Think this is defnately the way to go as if they damage your camera, they have to repair it.

Anyways, a new focal reducer / flattener eh, you going to be doing a few wide field shots with your 66 then? Haha 20x80's, are your arms aching yet

[Andyfx]

Well there's cloud everywhere so am continuing to fiddle with this image, think this is it now though, doubt I'll squeeze anything more from it.

[tingting44]

Took this unguided image last night using my unmodded Canon Eos 1100d with cheapy Skywatcher LP filter.

Lights: 19 x 120 sec @ ISO800

Darks: 10

Flats: 10

Bias: 10

lovely pic!! how did u take this tho? u say it was unguided? ah dont worry i see you got a HEQ5 mount, i defo cant take any dso's with a normal tripod and dslr setup then can i? nor with my azgoto mount with SW130p right? im gutted my setup cant allow me to image DSO i need to get into this dso imaging,,,,its mind blowing!!!

[Andyfx]

Thanks tingting44 but I'm only a beginner, I look at most of the pics on here and am blown away!

I'm no expert but I think I saw a few people post pics of DSO's taken with an ALT AZ Goto mount, only thing is that the exposures have to be very short I believe.

[tingting44]

really andy!! there is hope for me then lol i might give it a go next time i get out, id love to be able to get even 10% quality of your pic above mate!! great work, and look forward to seeing more of your pics in the future

[Andyfx]

I cant remember where i saw it but i think someone suggested a max exposure of about 30 secs for alt az goto. Have a search and i am sure you'll find some examples, or just give it a try. You will need a way of attaching your dslr to the scope though and i doubt the standard 130 has a T thread. I think the new 130 OTA has a dual speed focuser that has integrated T thread.

[Andyfx]

Still not happy with this, think I'll have more luck when I get my dslr modded.....