Narrow band Veil via aerial reconnaissance lens

[physicus]

Not quite there with its  boated blue-rimmed stars and halos, but this pic from last night's session represents a few firsts for me, and made use of an obscure bit of kit I'm keen to develop further.  First off, this is my first 'bi-colour' narrow band pic using Ha (7nm) and OIII Baader filters.  Still getting to grips with the best way to present NB, but for now Ha here reports to red and OIII to both green and blue (all processing on this occasion is in Nebulosity 4).  Second, the 6 x 600s per channel subs were taken under a bright gibbous moon, with wispy clouds; the joy of using NB to image in what feels like daylight - and getting away with - is extremely satisfying!   Lastly, this was a first outing for an old (1955-75 production) Taylor Hobson 12" f4 lens, with a filter wheel and Atik 460 attached via an adapter made from a bit of old spin dryer.  This lens was originally slung out the bottom of Vulcan bombers and Harrier GR1s, attached to a Vinten F95 aerial camera designed to be flat across a 70mm film; so the little 460 chip should be well covered.  I think any lack of roundness in stars in this image is down to guiding, but the jury is still out.  My main issue now is that the (incredicbly sensitive) focus is by screwing the lens in and out of what was once its fixed mount.  So the next mod will likely be a helical focuser if I can re-jig the back focus to accommodate.  I also think I can get some flex out of the system by getting a top rail for my C9.25 and piggybacking the thing, rather than have it hanging off the counterweight rod of the AZEQ6 - as was the case here (the SCT was my overkill guidescope here).  I'd be interested to know if anyone has experience with this lens or similar for astrophotography and, back to the picture, any advice on minimising bloat and halos for this sort of shot would be welcome.

[conspicuity]

Impressive!

Only today, as I was clearing junk, I came across the 36" f/4 photo-reconnaissance lens I rescued twenty years ago in the fond hope that, when I retired, I would somehow develop the skills to mount it and modify it for astrophotography. Of course, the convenience of off-the-shelf modern technology (and the impatience that comes with old age) has made this very unlikely. Glad to see that someone has successfully trodden the path. Congratulations!

[physicus]

Impressive!

Only today, as I was clearing junk, I came across the 36" f/4 photo-reconnaissance lens I rescued twenty years ago in the fond hope that, when I retired, I would somehow develop the skills to mount it and modify it for astrophotography. Of course, the convenience of off-the-shelf modern technology (and the impatience that comes with old age) has made this very unlikely. Glad to see that someone has successfully trodden the path. Congratulations!

Yikes! You'd need a serious mount for that.  I had access to a lathe when I put this one together, which I don't have any more, so modding it for a helical focuser will be challenging (unless I buy a lathe agia of course ). Be nice if this turned out to be a Takahashi beater. 

[Uranium235]

A very interesting lens there! However, though it may be designed to have a flat field - there wont be much you can do about the blue halos as that is down to the glass. It might produce better photos in Ha only (nowt wrong with a bit of mono!).

[physicus]

A very interesting lens there! However, though it may be designed to have a flat field - there wont be much you can do about the blue halos as that is down to the glass. It might produce better photos in Ha only (nowt wrong with a bit of mono!).

Yes, the Ha subs don't show it at all. Presumably down to some internal reflection, or the stars are just too weak in Ha for it to show.