Barnard 33, M1,M33,NGC 6992,M42 & Lunar

[Ewan]

My collection of targets over three imaging sessions getting to grips with the Atik & Frac etc.

     

     

I seem to have the correct spacing now for the flattener, maybe a little tweak in one corner, guiding is now a joy going through the handset instead of the ST-4, tweaked balancing & fathomed out where to place the weight depending on where i am imaging.

Most of these test images to see how things went & i appreciate they are not that good, most need a lot more data, it would seem my rig is now tamed.

The Lunar shot was a stack of 80 x 0.001 sec subs from 300 using the Atik & AA, i was waiting for the Horsehead to come into view & was curious to see what would happen, filters were Ha 7 & UHC (don't ask  )

Thanks for looking

[Beulah]

Excellent images, truly excellent.

There's a lot to be said about a well known nebula in the context of a rich starfield. (pic number 3)

[LukeSkywatcher]

I love your little Crab.

[Hytham]

Ewan, these are great. 

My suggestion is very straightforward; more integration time!  You have some excellent images up there and if you can develop the (un)necessary mental gymnastics (READ: OCD) for this hobby, you're going to have some jaw dropping work.

Your Veil, Orion and Crab are great.

[Ewan]

Thanks Beulah, Paul & Hytham.

I think you meant my 'tiny' crab, theres me wanting more fov  , a little too much for that one maybe ill get that agin with the SCT.

I am so so annoyed with myself RE guiding mainly, when i started out with the sct i bought the cable necessary so Stellarium could 'steer' my scope, great it worked, back in the box had enough of that, little did i know the same cable & serial adapter could guide my scope with a little help from the DMK / finder, i have had a year of hair pulling (not got any to spare either) with PHD, anyway 1st go guiding through the handset & wow what a difference, i was getting sub 0.15 Ra & Dec error, doing 1200 sec subs & very round stars on the first outing.

Obviously i am very very happy now & look forward to going out & not battling everytime 'hoping' i will get usable images.

Aquasition times so far in minutes :-

M33 Ha 73  Lum 100

M42 Ha 14

M1   Ha 66

Flame Ha 100  S2 50

NGC 6992 Ha 106 O3 60 S2 55

I now know the cg5-gt can do guiding, good guiding at that, it was my stupidity that let it down i guess, i am seriously thinking about buying the Ha 3nm filter now as well.

Is it common for guiding to be easier the more elevation the object being imaged has ? judging by my phd graph i would say it is but i am not 100% sure.

Before i switched guiding methods i had a very flat RA graph line & dec used to drift but since then i need to tweak the RA setting, just a little but nonetheless it's needed, could someone advise in a pm if possible ?

I am hoping for some clear skies Tuesday night where i hope to add more to the Veil, Crab & Banard.

I am glad you liked the images & thanks for any comments or critique.

[WaveSoarer]

Those are excellent images. M1 is very nice indeed with lots of structure.

[StuartJPP]

I love your little Crab.

Agree, some nice detail in the filaments.

[Ewan]

Thanks guys, i really need to stay on one target for a night & collect the necessary to finish some of these off.

[Gina]

Very nice indeed

[Ewan]

Thank you Gina.

Hoping to order a ccd - canon lens adapter this week & maybe a Ha 3nm filter but have to see how funds sits.

Just as i think i have my kit just about sorted someone posts a massive mosaic of Orion (Thanks Hytham :-) ) & i'm thinking i need one of those too