I wanted the horsehead nebula but....

[HenryW]

Due to misalignment, forgeting that i have a newton the horsehead was out of sight, far below the frame. Very dissapointed as last night was fantastic, no moon, no clouds and the temperature was -4 degrees, Perfect conditions, but alas! Centered Alnitak lower right in the frame, but at least i catched the flame nebula. My second serious attempt at AP. At least i've learned that i will never do this mistake again

49 lights a 25 sek exposure, 30+darks and 30+bias

Instrument Skywatcher 200P on a EQ5 upgraded With synscan

Canon EOS 550D (Quality serious degraded by JPG conversion from TIFF format)

[WaveSoarer]

That's excellent Henry nonetheless. If you try it again you could try rotating the camera and then the flame and horsehead would sit in the same frame. Incidentally, do you have a Bahtinov mask to help you focus? I bought one from FLO and it really helps ensure that the focus is spot on.

[Steve Ward]

That's very unfortunate , I'd recommend always taking a long test shot first , you can give it a quick stretch in DPP to check that everything's where you want it before embarking on a long run of subs ... 

Better luck tonight ... 

[HenryW]

Thanks for the suggestions folks   Now i will order a Bathinov mask as focusing certainly is a PITA, and i did in fact take some testshots but obviously they looked better in almost dark conditions  . And Yeah, tonight is the night despite it is overcasted right now, so it was the previous night until about 01.00, lets hope for a repetition today(night)

Thanks again for suggestions, much usefull

[peter shah]

nice shot all the same and you have controlled Alnitak very well