M44 - 27th March

[jgs001]

This was taken last night. Z2 piggy backed. X10 optical zoom RAW mode. 40x30 seconds + 15 darks. (I took 47 images, but 7 were carp). It's not great, the stars look like lumpy blobs and I'm pretty sure I know why. By zooming the way I did, the image on the sensor is enlarged... Never thought I'd say this, but I'm not very pleased with it because of this.

Any and all comments welcome.

[rawhead]

Good tracking from the SLT for a 30sec shot

I like it...

[jgs001]

Thanks Jon, that bit of it worked brilliantly. The NexStar tracked M44 for an hour and the cluster was steady as a rock in the FOV of the ep.

[Sam]

Nice shot John, there's plenty of colour in the stars which looks great. Good effort on getting 30secs exposure - can be very tricky.

[jgs001]

Thanks Sam, I had another go at restacking last night. This time I stacked 46x30 seconds. using the latest DSS release. I tweaked the settings in DSS before saving and just used a little NC tools in PS.

Very little colour, but I think it looks a little more natural

[MartinB]

Nicely captured John, the Beehive is a big target

[barkis]

It is a lovely cluster M44 John, nicely captured and framed with the 10x lens.

Stars a little swollen, but on the whole a nice picture.

Ron.

[jgs001]

Thanks guys. I'm going to give it another go at some point soon, with less zoom and crop to size, see if that will reduce the swelling...

[saturn5]

Less zoom will definately help a lot,when i was using the Minolta i always had that problem when zooming in,focusing things sharp was near impossible.Having said that you are so near with your M44, thats far sharper than i could ever get it ...my stars ended up looking like moons.....

[jgs001]

Thanks S5, the focus is set and pray... I set it to manual and wind it up to the limit on infinity....

[algol]

yah quite like the old beehive myself, doesnt quite compare to the sisters but nice all the same

[rawhead]

Thanks S5, the focus is set and pray... I set it to manual and wind it up to the limit on infinity....

In my experience you usually have to come back a bit from infinity... (Not sure about your camera though)

How have you got the camera mounted on the scope?

Tried some prime imaging last night, but the camera was too heavy for the mount!

Think I need to work on the balancing…

Cheers

Jon

[jgs001]

Jon, I can't do prime with my cam, it's got a fixed lens, focusing is based upon an up and down arrow on the menu control, there's no fine control at all.

I had some issues with the ST80 with a barlow and 5mm Hyperion, the mount slipped. I can't remember the location, but SteelRat posted an adjust that cured mine. Remove the scope and dovetail, and undo the dovetail tightening screw. Under there is a nut that adjusts the tension in alt. I gave it about a half turn and that solved it all for me. I was even able to mount the z2 on a baader microstage, attached to the 5mm hyperion on a barlow with no movement in the mount. A number of other parts started slipping but not the mount.

[rawhead]

Remove the scope and dovetail, and undo the dovetail tightening screw. Under there is a nut that adjusts the tension in alt. I gave it about a half turn and that solved it all for me.

Cheers

:thumbleft: