A quickie, NGC206 in Andromeda (close up)

[Tim]

It seems an age since I have posted an image, although not because I haven't been out imaging, I actually have loads of data on loads of targets, just seem to get distracted very easily and don't stack them :s

Anyroad, this is a very quick one for me, representing just a few hours worth of images. I am working at F10 and focal length of 2800mm or so with this one, binned 2x2 in my Atik 428ex. The Luminance subs were 600 secs and not binned, although I'm pretty sure we dont get skies good enough for 0.47arcsec/pixel here in Coventry

Still playing about with LRGB imaging really, not entirely certain of the technique, but I wanted to see how the Edge HD optics fared with some very close tightly placed stars, and am pretty pleased with the results.

Will hopefully post some more pics soon, I have a rather tasty close up of M1 to process when I get round to it!

Thanks for looking

Tim

[Tim]

PS, would love one day to do the whole of Andromeda at this scale, at current clear sky rates in the UK this will take a couple of lifetimes

[davew]

There aren't many pulling this quality out. You're a much braver man than me. I've seen it through a c8 from a dark site but would never dare image it.

Don't even think about a mosaic

Dave.

[Eddy_J1]

Wow that's incredibly close up, a mosaic at that scale would be awesome.

[sologuitarist61]

Lovely image Tim

[Daniel-K]

tim that awsome and your guiding looks fab i hard real issues at f9 @ 1350mm never mind 2800 !!!

[Lars]

That is really an awesome close-up picture! Have you done anything with your EQ6 to guide so well with a C11 (I assume it is?)

/Lars

[Tim]

Thanks guys. To make it easier to find if you are looking for it, here it is in context, and at a slightly easier resolution to image it

[Gina]

WOW That's incredible - great shot

[Tim]

That is really an awesome close-up picture! Have you done anything with your EQ6 to guide so well with a C11 (I assume it is?)

/Lars

Thank you.

I get asked that a lot. However there is nothing special about my five year old EQ6 It is probably operating near its useful upper limit weight wise.

It is pier mounted on a substantial FLO pier, and isolated from the obsy floor so that vibrations and doors closing etc dont wobble it. The polar alignment is as accurate as I can get it with the bog standard ALT/AZ adjusting bolts, and this plays a big part in the accuracy of the guiding. If I don't guide, the mount will naturally keep a star in the PHD window all night long, so that actual guiding adjustments are minimal.

I don't correct for PE, and might perhaps get better results on paper if I did, but in practice I can guide for pretty much any length of time without PE ruining any subs. I normally keep the mount heavy towards the counterweights and make sure the scope is otherwise balanced in as many positions as possible.

I pulse guide through EQMod and PHD, I find the live adjusting settings in EQMod to be very easy to read and manipulate to get the guiding where I want it.

It goes without saying that I am using an off-axis guider, Celestron model, great bit of kit, and a Lodestar guide camera. I have yet to find a patch of sky that doesn't give me at least one guide star, even at this scale

Cheers

Tim

[Lars]

Thanks for the info Tim.

I actually haven't found that I get better results with PEC on when guiding, so I don't think you miss anything there. Though I still have to try pulse guiding through EQMOD. Don't really know why I haven't tried that yet.

/Lars

[stellawolf]

Great image well done

[Tim]

Thanks for the info Tim.

I actually haven't found that I get better results with PEC on when guiding, so I don't think you miss anything there. Though I still have to try pulse guiding through EQMOD. Don't really know why I haven't tried that yet.

/Lars

You probably wont get any better results with pulse guiding so dont waste too many clear nights testing it!

Of course the other bonus of imaging at slow speeds like F10 is that the occasional foray into the unknown from your guide star doesn't mess up your image as quickly as it might on a faster scope, unless the stars are very bright, in which case they do show up the trails. Just had a moment just now, running 1800 secs subs and 90% of the way through the guide box in PHD jumped onto a hot pixel, it was like that for a couple of minutes but the end result shows no problems luckily.

Cheers

Tim

[Lars]

OK, good to know that II don't have to spend any rare clear nights (I'm starting to have difficulties remembering if these things actually exists....) on pulse guiding.

And yes, you are right about the difference when guiding a slower scope. I normally use SCT:s and those are much more forgiving than the F4 I used last time.

/Lars

[Tim]

Aren't they just! I have two F4 scopes sitting in my obsy, but I have to say I am really enjoying the easy going pace of f10