Tonights Targets

[DoctorD]

Hi

Cold and clear hear in Bradford tonight - here's a selection all taken with my C8 using F3.3 reducer and Lodestar-C, all stacks of 30s exposures, info on image.

Eskimo Nebula:

M82:

M81:

And finally NGC3190 

Astrojedi's image  http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/260285-some-galaxies-in-leo/

inspired me to try this - strong gradient from local light pollution spoils it somewhat, however this is the first time I've "seen" this interesting galaxy.

Clear skies

Paul

[orion25]

Excellent, Paul. You always do stellar work. I love the spirals on M81. Any images of Catalina?

Regards,

Reggie

[Astrojedi]

Very nice captures. NGC 3190 group is also known as Hickson 44. I love hunting down these faint galaxy groups.

[Martin Meredith]

Great details in M81 and M82, and good to pick up something of Hickson 44 in those conditions. I can only imagine what the eyepiece view would be like.

You and Astrojedi producing objects in Leo means spring is coming? All I can see is snow at the moment....

Martin

[DoctorD]

Hi

At the time of capture, Leo was due East, low over the top of my neihbours house and in the same direction as central Bradford which gives off a huge amount of light pollution/skyglow (no filters used this time).

I'll be back to Leo when these faint galaxies are higher in the sky. 

It's good to have the C8 back on the mount - I've discovered that I can keep the HEQ5 fully loaded with the C8 in the garage and move it out onto my drive in one piece.

It took me less than 15 minutes to set up last night including polar alignment (I use marks on the floor to ensure the mount is in roughly the right position), star alignment and focus.

Then I was back inside in the warmth and comfort of my study with a cup of tea travelling through the night sky.

Last night was the first time I've used my Kendricks Dew Heater  - worked a treat.

Thanks for the comments.

Clear skies

Paul

[laudropb]

Lovely set of images.

[RobertI]

Very nice captures Paul. Looking forward to seeing some more results from the colour Lodestar.

Like you I keep my scope/mount/camera ready set up in the garage and lift the whole thing on to the drive when I need to observe. I have used the cloudy nights to work on speeding up every aspect of my setup time so now it's pretty quick, though I don't think I can quite match your 15 minutes, and something usually trips me up (literally!). I recently found an old webcam and converted it so I can slip it over the eyepiece of the finder - using a long usb cable I can now align and calibrate the scope from indoors, the only time I have to stand at the scope is for polar aligning and focussing. Electronic focusser next.

[DoctorD]

Hi Reggie

Here's my Catalina from the 15-01-16 (single 30s capture) - I was disappointed I did not catch the tail - perhaps too large an small an image scale.

Perhaps I'll try my wide filed set up (INED70 and x0.5 reducer) next time.

Clear skies

Paul

[nytecam]

Very nice work Paul - I'm surprised at the exposure duration needed for f/3.3??  Perhaps my monitor needs adjusting !

Nyte

[DoctorD]

Hi Maurice

I usually use 30s exposure with StarlightLive - make dark frame calibration simpler.

These images are post processed in Nebulosity as I did not get a screen grab whilst viewing - I left the levels at  AUTO which may have caused the image to be dimmer than expected.

Here's a reprocessed one - probably more like what I captured real time.

CS

Paul

[geminijk]

Galaxies were never something I really observed, until electronically assisted observing came along and now i use the LSx2 to view almost any I choose! Galaxies are great, and you have some nice grabs there. Well done!

john