Snaps with the 130pds

[Chris]

Here are some basic unguided shots from my new 130pds with a standard Canon 1100D and MPCC.

M13 and M27 are very quick snaps, only about 12-15 x 45 second subs at ISO 1600 and no flat, darks, or bias.

The crescent was a bit more of a go and a bit overly ambitious with a non modded camera and unguided, this one was 30 x 80 second subs ISO 1600, and again with no darks, flats, or bias.

My last shot was of M81/M82, this time I was a bit fed up of the vignetting and noise so pulled my finger out a bit and took flats and bias, this one was 27 x 80 seconds at ISO 1600. Still a bit of gradient bottom right but at least it wasn't through the object so I could do more of a stretch and just crop most of the gradient out.

I'm very pleased with the 130pds so far, fantastic imaging scope for next to no money!

Chris

[JamesF]

I think you've done well there Flats and darks definitely help the last image I reckon.

James

[Chris]

I thought I'd try killing some of the blue cast and gradient on M81/82 and a bit more of a stretch and high pass sharpen:

[Chris]

Thanks James and oops! gradient definately shows up more on here than on Paint shop Pro

[Zuben Elgenubi]

Very nice images, particularly M81/82

Gareth

[Quatermass]

That looks pretty tasty I would love to see how it handles m31 any chance of having a crack at it soon? Very nice results did not realise this scope was so well priced and very tempted to get one as well

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

[Chris]

Cheers Zuben

I just need to get round to getting a proper copy of PS so I can use its gradient exterminator plugging

[Chris]

Thanks Mark I think you're right, this scope is crying out for M31 with its 650mm focal length at f/5, there is everychance of me pointing it that way

I'm going to be the little devil on your shoulder by saying I think it would kick bottom on your eq5 with how light and compact it is, also the focal length is lovely for us non guided folk The focuser is lovely as well, can't believe the whole package cost 165 and comes with a 2" Kelner EP which is great as a finder EP

Chris

[Chris]

P.s. I should perhaps point out that all the above pics are severely cropped to reduce vignetting and gradient, the full frame is pretty big.

[JamesF]

Thanks Mark I think you're right, this scope is crying out for M31 with its 650mm focal length at f/5, there is everychance of me pointing it that way

M31 will be a bit of a challenge at 650mm, to be honest. You might have to attempt a mosaic if you want to get the whole thing in. At that focal length I reckon you'll get around two degrees across the sensor of your 1100D and Andromeda is over three. Alternatively perhaps it's worth targeting the centre to start with as it's possible that exposures short enough to leave the core well-defined will not be long enough to show up the outer reaches at all. There's plenty of time to experiment, I guess

James

[Welrod50]

Another 130 PDS aficionado! What can I say, I agree entirely. Small enough to transport easily, wide enough and sharp enough to give great images, easy for the mount to handle, and dirt cheap. I personally love mine and you've seen for yourself what it can do Superb captures for short exposure and I'm guessing your skies are pretty dark too by the looks of it. Just imagine what you could get if you started guiding!

If it makes you feel any better, I tried a single guided 300 sec sub of the Crescent Nebula a fortnight ago just to see what the unmodded Kr would pick up. To be honest, it looked much the same as yours.

Oh and yeah, darks and flats are a must for better images. I've tried them without both and also with different combinations too. Darks, Flats and Bias frames are the order of the day!

[Chris]

M31 will be a bit of a challenge at 650mm, to be honest. You might have to attempt a mosaic if you want to get the whole thing in. At that focal length I reckon you'll get around two degrees across the sensor of your 1100D and Andromeda is over three. Alternatively perhaps it's worth targeting the centre to start with as it's possible that exposures short enough to leave the core well-defined will not be long enough to show up the outer reaches at all. There's plenty of time to experiment, I guess

James

Hi James, on your advice I've stuck the figures into 12Dstring and it is a bit on the tight side, I would say about 85% of it fits if you frame it well. I'm on the lookout for a SW 0.9 CC which will give me 585mm focal length at f/4.5, I might leave M31 until then, the edges won't be as well corrected with the SW 0.9 CC compared to the MPCC but at least most of it will fit. Having said this with the unguided work that I do I'm unlikely to fully resolve the outer arms anyway so maybe I should have a crack at it

Chris

[Marvaz]

Really good work.

[Chris]

Another 130 PDS aficionado! What can I say, I agree entirely. Small enough to transport easily, wide enough and sharp enough to give great images, easy for the mount to handle, and dirt cheap. I personally love mine and you've seen for yourself what it can do Superb captures for short exposure and I'm guessing your skies are pretty dark too by the looks of it. Just imagine what you could get if you started guiding!

If it makes you feel any better, I tried a single guided 300 sec sub of the Crescent Nebula a fortnight ago just to see what the unmodded Kr would pick up. To be honest, it looked much the same as yours.

Oh and yeah, darks and flats are a must for better images. I've tried them without both and also with different combinations too. Darks, Flats and Bias frames are the order of the day!

Thanks Scott yes totally agree, it ticks a lot of boxes and the price is amazing! As for dark skies I live well and truly in the red zone near a the general hospital in Ipswich, also my neighbour has the habit of leaving is lights on all night long with with no curtains, my garden is well lit up no need for a torch looking on the bright side All I can say is the the cheapo Skywatcher LP filter is doing a fantastic job!

[Chris]

Really good work.

Thanks Marvaz

[Daniel-K]

good effort chris. 81&82 looking really good. did you try and push your subs for aslong as possible? you should easy get 90 secs with at that FL.

[JamesF]

I'd certainly have a go at M31. Even if you can't fit everything on the sensor it's still good practice because it's a tricky target. This is an image I captured last year using a 450D and 200mm lens:

I reckon the full extent of the galaxy is almost twice what you can see clearly there, so in all it probably fills half the diagonal of the frame. Just getting a good image of that central region would be a decent result though.

James

[Chris]

good effort chris. 81&82 looking really good. did you try and push your subs for aslong as possible? you should easy get 90 secs with at that FL.

Hey Dan, Thanks, I'm planning on doing another session on M81/82 to see if I can pull a bit more detail out. I've just made myself a better pier adaptor so I've not got round to drift alligning after installation yet so as a result my tracking is not brilliant at present. I'm only keeping about 40% of subs at 80 seconds! I'm sure I can get this upto 120 seconds once I've fine tuned the allignment though.

Chris

[Adamar98]

I would be very happy with them. That's a fantastic start. Have you thought about a light pollution filter? You'll be able to push your subs up to around 5 minutes.

[Chris]

I'd certainly have a go at M31. Even if you can't fit everything on the sensor it's still good practice because it's a tricky target. This is an image I captured last year using a 450D and 200mm lens:

I reckon the full extent of the galaxy is almost twice what you can see clearly there, so in all it probably fills half the diagonal of the frame. Just getting a good image of that central region would be a decent result though.

James

Nice one James, great work 200mm certainly gives a lot more breathing room and it looks like a nice lens you have there.

I've only imaged M31 once before and that was at 388mm FL with my old WO66:

Chris

[WaveSoarer]

Chris, those are very nice images.

[WaveSoarer]

Chris, those are very nice images.

[Chris]

I would be very happy with them. That's a fantastic start. Have you thought about a light pollution filter? You'll be able to push your subs up to around 5 minutes.

Hi Adamar, I'm using a 2" SW LP filter, my subs are mainly limited by my unguided tracking. I've been playing around with making a low profile pier adaptor and as a result I've not got my polar allignment back to where I had it previously yet. A drift allign is on my to do list

I use to have a CLS-CCD clip filter with my old modded camera but I'm unsure whether I want another one once I've modded this camera as I found it shifted the colour balance right into the blue. I find that the cheapo SW LP filter keeps a better balance at least in a standard camera but I'll see how it performs post modding

Chris

[Chris]

Chris, those are very nice images.

Cheers WaveSoarer, they are not bad for quick snaps, definately gives me some idea of this little scopes potential

Chris

[WaveSoarer]

Chris,

They're very good indeed and I'd be delighted with them. I've had attempts at all of these and my most recent is the crescent nebula. I like the colours you've managed to bring out and your stars are pin sharp. Very nice work.

Dave