30 second 414EX of M51

[NickK]

I star hop with a red dot finder and binos to find targets. For some reason I could never find it for the last two SGL star parties.. but this star party

30 second single sub with an auto stretch:

So not bad as a electronically assisted viewing

[arkosg]

Hi Nick,

Nice shot!  As a fellow Mac user, can you provide some detail on the software you are using with your 414?

Cheers,

- Greg A

[nytecam]

Where's the M51 pic??

[NickK]

Hmm seems the mobile access (MiFi) at SGL messed up the post/attachment when I tried to edit it and it lost connection.

I had a look with an 18" dob and the position, water vapour and light pollution returned less detail than this!

Here's the 30 second sub and outstretch, no guiding - the polar alignment OpenPHD2 thought was about 98" off (for reference):

[NickK]

And just integrating 163 x 30 second images.. so 1hour 21minutes of continuing integration

No guiding on this.. just visual polar alignment and mount set to star tracking rate.

That's the Pentax - not the Cannon FD lens, just to be specific.

[nytecam]

Nice - the plume from the upper half shows off well:-)

[NickK]

Hi Nick,

Nice shot!  As a fellow Mac user, can you provide some detail on the software you are using with your 414?

I have a couple. On OS X I have:

* TheSkyX,

* Nebulosity (pre-release version),

* OpenPHD2

* my own software that's a basic capture software that has a realtime pipeline for processing images as you sit there.

Now I'm back from SGL, I'll get the little MBP fixed and get the OpenCL work back on track.

[Dom543]

Nice! I also like that tail and plume of thatrs that the little galaxy on the way of losing.

To get an idea of the FOV of this 2/3 sensor, is that a 300mm lens that you are using?

Cheers!

--Dom

[arkosg]

I have a couple. On OS X I have:

* TheSkyX,

* Nebulosity (pre-release version),

* OpenPHD2

* my own software that's a basic capture software that has a realtime pipeline for processing images as you sit there.

Thanks for the info, Nick; do any/all of these do star-registry/real time stacking? I don't know much about Atik cams, so just wondering if it was possible to use them similarly to the Lodestars with Paul's Lodestar Live?

Cheers,

Greg A

[NickK]

Thanks for the info, Nick; do any/all of these do star-registry/real time stacking? I don't know much about Atik cams, so just wondering if it was possible to use them similarly to the Lodestars with Paul's Lodestar Live?

TheSkyX, Neb and OpenPHD2 don't - my own software does. That software is 'in the pipeline' itself but has had some prioritisation (i.e. finding a new job!)

It's also possible to create a script to scan the output from any of these applications and then feed them into PI to use either their star registration or FFT based.

[NickK]

Nice! I also like that tail and plume of thatrs that the little galaxy on the way of losing.

To get an idea of the FOV of this 2/3 sensor, is that a 300mm lens that you are using?

Cheers!

--Dom

On that one it's 670mm f6.38 through the pentax. I need to fix the DIY lens grips on the 300mm to allow the focusing to be fine focused using a servo.

[Paul81]

Awesome image Nick