M27 via SX MX916

[nytecam]

As a follow up to my M57 and M13 shot here - here's a 12x10s autostack of M27 from last night via SX s/ware and 30cm SCT+SX MX916 cam. Cooled cam but no darks/flats.

1st is auto-contrast stretch as viewed on laptop via s/ware 12x10s exp

2nd same auto-contrast stretch off + manual contrast stretched

3rd 500s exp = 30x10s+20x10s manual stack....hope it's of interest

[DoctorD]

Hi Nytecam

How does this compare to the newer Lodestar mono and colour?

Interesting that the auto stretch does not reveal as much detail as the manual stretch.

Clear Skies

Paul

[shirva]

hi nytecam...brilliant images as usual....would love to see them in colour,,brilliant detail....davy

[nytecam]

Hi Dave - thanks for your interest and support

Hi Nytecam How does this compare to the newer Lodestar mono and colour? Interesting that the auto stretch does not reveal as much detail as the manual stretch. Clear Skies

Paul

Hi Paul - the decade old MX916 proves not as sensitive [needs longer exposure for similar image density] as the newer Lodestar-M and maybe even the Lodestar-C. The 'auto-align and stack' via s/ware of the mono cams is a bonus against scope's slight tracking errors and avoids the need for autoguiding. Can't use this feature with colour cams as the pixel shift it uses to align sequencial images scrambles the colour data

Running at f/6.3 has better image quality and resolution eg no slight edge coma, as evident from the f/3.3 FR, used typically with the smaller Lodestar-C. The auto display stretch is better on the Lodestars but due to the way the s/ware is implemented - I'm not bothered. However it is amazing how, via the Lodestar, the faintest objects can be seen on the laptop in auto display stretch mode as the first sub is downloaded