Imaging the Horse Head Nebula

[daverave83]

Hey Guys,

With the luck of good weather tonight i want to Image the Horse Head Nebula.

I am using the goto scope so i am limited to 1min exposures before field rotation sets in.

I done several test a couple nights before and could get max 1.10mins on M42 before trailing started.

this would be taken over 2 hours.

ISO 3200 60 x 1min subs

Flat Frames - 30

ISO 1600 15 x 1 min subs

ISO 800 15 x min subs

Darks & Bias

Session End

I could take 2 min exposures but field rotation would be an issue, however would DSS compensate for this??

I looking to do a wedge for future AP, particulary in May when M16 comes into view.

[Vagif]

I don't know how you're capable of taking 1 minute exposures with a alt az mount. I too have an alt az and im currently ordering a canon 1000D to do some imaging and ive been told that 30 sec exposures is the maximum i can do. Dont think 2 minute exposure's are even worth dreaming of because of the field ration. You could build a wedge, but the goto mount is just too heavy for a wedge, so do some research first.

[Freddie]

Took that quite a while back on my alt/az CPC925 (not my usual DSO setup in my sig) as a bit of a test just to see what would happen. It is 60 sec exposures. It's not going to win any prizes but shows that 60sec can produce something acceptable. Hope that helps.

[andrewluck]

Field rotation isn't constant over the whole sky. It's at a minimum low in the east and west and at maximum high on the meridian. So, the maximum exposure time can be different depending upon where you're pointing.

Stacking programs will derotate the sub-frames over the duration of imaging but can't do anything to correct trailing within each sub-frame. If you're not adverse to a little maths I can post a paper i wrote on this for the Breckland club newsletter a while ago.

Andrew