"10 hrs this", "33 hrs that" and "5 hrs of the other"...... Have 24 minutes of the Pleiades!

[Pompey Monkey]

Taken from La Palma at a place on the South West of the island called "Los Llanos Negros" (after the colour of the volcanic soil here), at an altitude of about 360m amsl.

I took this last night while waiting for my primary target to rise above the volcano. Equipment as in my signature mounted on a sawn-off, flight-friendly,  HEQ5.

R 3*120s

G 5*120s

B 4*120s

I'm not really sure how I ended up with two more greens than reds, but that's what I got! 

Processed in PI on my trusty £140 ebay laptop. I used the R,G and B to create a synthetic L, processed and de-noised the RGB and then did an LRGB combination.

I think it turned out rather well considering the short integration time and there'e even a hint of dust, which just goes to show what a proper dark sky does for you! 

[johnrt]

More than a little jealous of that location to image from, combating cloud fog and fireworks here to even get a single usable sub.  

[StargeezerTim]

A top quality 24 minute pleiades...

[James]

Definitely a nice spot to image from

Nice Pleiades too!

[Mick J]

Great picture, great place to be - 24 minutes and some processing, time to relax as well I expect, would love to get back to La Palma, wonderful place, more please 

 

Edit: great thread title - I forgot to say

[Tommohawk]

Nice shot - especially for just 24 mins.

Am also off to La Palma in Feb - I wasn't allowed to choose a hotel/apartment in the middle of nowhere, so not sure what the LP will be like where we are.

I have to ask - how did you get the HEQ5 and rest of the kit out there? That's a fair chunk of excess baggage Id have thought!

[Pompey Monkey]

1 minute ago, Mick J said:

Great picture, great place to be - 24 minutes and some processing, time to relax as well I expect, would love to get back to La Palma, wonderful place, more please 

I have about 14 hrs of LRGB on my prime target. It's going to take a while to finish...

[Ouroboros]

Like the title. Like the image! 24 Minutes!  People shouldn't be allowed to post such fantastic images from such gorgeous places!! It'll cause unrest, believe me!

[Pompey Monkey]

3 minutes ago, Ouroboros said:

Like the title. Like the image! 24 Minutes!  People shouldn't be allowed to post such fantastic images from such gorgeous places!! It'll cause unrest, believe me!

Believe it or not, I got the whole kit out there with one excess baggage flying BA/Iberia. I made a foam nest for the mount head, counterweight and spreader, and fitted it inside a normal suitcase. The (cut down) tripod, cabling, filter wheel, 25 m mains extension lead and all my clothes/toiletries etc. into another normal suitcase. Both came to just under the 23 kg allowance. The OTA, camera, guide scope and com, power supplies, complete dovetail and puck assembly went into a generic "Pelicase" bought online. This weighed 13 kg and was carried on as hand luggage. The laptop went as the additional "cabin bag".

Yes, I got creative!

[Tommohawk]

OK Paul that's really helpful! Creative indeed ... and I guess flying BA/Iberia gives you more generous allowance. 

I'm off to Spain in a few weeks and then to La Palma in Feb (separate trip - not a continuation mores the pity), so am trying to figure out how to get the kit out there with a Ryanair/Easyjet type allowance ie 10kg cabin and 15kg hold. I reckon I can get camera and 300mm lens in cabin bag, and I bought an EQ3 pro with ally tripod which I've dismantled and goes in the hold bag. Should be room for flip-flops, a T shirt, shorts and a pant. (Not enough space for a pair)

Looks like you've got a prime spot there with mains power too - are you powering from mains supply or car + inverter? Or something else?

 

 

[Pompey Monkey]

1 hour ago, Tommohawk said:

Nice shot - especially for just 24 mins.

Am also off to La Palma in Feb - I wasn't allowed to choose a hotel/apartment in the middle of nowhere, so not sure what the LP will be like where we are.

I have to ask - how did you get the HEQ5 and rest of the kit out there? That's a fair chunk of excess baggage Id have thought!

Whoops! I quoted Ouroboros by mistake (sorry Ouroboros!). 

Where we are feels distinctly odd: there are several streetlights about 200 m away (higher than us) that spoil your night vision, but if we shelter from the influence of those, the sky is bloody amazing - it's on a on a par with Etoile San Cerice...

The streetlights, however, seem to have very little effect on the light pollution when it comes to astrophotography. I assume it is because the La Palma laws strictly regulate the light pollution directed into the sky.

My guess is that this is similar all over the island: get away from the direct line of sight of the street lights and you're laughing!

I also highly recommend the guided tour of the giant telescopes on top (literally) of the island. We had the lovely Sheila Crosby showing us around the Telescope Gran Canaria!

 

LOL - beat me to it!

[Pompey Monkey]

8 minutes ago, Tommohawk said:

OK Paul that's really helpful! Creative indeed ... and I guess flying BA/Iberia gives you more generous allowance. 

I'm off to Spain in a few weeks and then to La Palma in Feb (separate trip - not a continuation mores the pity), so am trying to figure out how to get the kit out there with a Ryanair/Easyjet type allowance ie 10kg cabin and 15kg hold. I reckon I can get camera and 300mm lens in cabin bag, and I bought an EQ3 pro with ally tripod which I've dismantled and goes in the hold bag. Should be room for flip-flops, a T shirt, shorts and a pant. (Not enough space for a pair)

Looks like you've got a prime spot there with mains power too - are you powering from mains supply or car + inverter? Or something else?

 

 

Mains power from the house, via a home-made 25 m extension lead. I used 0.75 mm^2 3-core instead of the usual 1.5 mm^2 to save weight*. The 0.75 mm is only rated to 6 A, rather than the usual 15 A, but for this application it's more than adequate.

 

*I probably saved the best part of 2 kg by doing this, I just have to remember to not use it for the kettle 

[Tommohawk]

9 minutes ago, Pompey Monkey said:

Mains power from the house, via a home-made 25 m extension lead. I used 0.75 mm^2 3-core instead of the usual 1.5 mm^2 to save weight*. The 0.75 mm is only rated to 6 A, rather than the usual 15 A, but for this application it's more than adequate.

 

*I probably saved the best part of 2 kg by doing this, I just have to remember to not use it for the kettle 

Nice job! Yes I thought standard stuff would be heavy.

Looking on the map Los Llanos Negros looks pretty remote - not much between you and the coast. From the pic it looks like you're actually on the coastline but I guess that's just the elevation.

We'll be staying further north and on the East side - looking at street view on Google it is going to be more populated than where you are - maybe I'll hire a car get somewhere more remote. I need to think about a power supply cos I'm going to need the laptop - maybe a 12VDC to 240VAC  inverter and then run everything off mains. 

[Tommohawk]

I meant to ask - silly question maybe, but are you having any problems with condensation? We were in La Gomera Feb this year and it was really warm at night, so maybe not.

[ollypenrice]

Not very long ago this would have been, quite literally, amongst the best M45s ever taken. Let's not forget that. It's a great result with the reds already coming through. Pretty nice to be by the sea as well. I think I need to come down from my mountain a bit more often!

Back on the image, could you maybe lower the saturation in the outlying background and increase it in the stellar cores? The mid and small stars are bang on.

Olly

[Pompey Monkey]

3 hours ago, Tommohawk said:

I meant to ask - silly question maybe, but are you having any problems with condensation? We were in La Gomera Feb this year and it was really warm at night, so maybe not.

Nope. As you can see from the picture of our set-up in the first post, the 4-way extension and some of the mains adapters are on the ground.

The first two nights that we were here, I religiously made sure that all electrical equipment was off the floor. Last night, I did not bother.

Of course your experience may be different. depending on what conditions you meet.

[Pompey Monkey]

7 minutes ago, ollypenrice said:

Not very long ago this would have been, quite literally, amongst the best M45s ever taken. Let's not forget that. It's a great result with the reds already coming through. Pretty nice to be by the sea as well. I think I need to come down from my mountain a bit more often!

Olly

Thanks Olly :). Try as I did, I could not stop the red tinge to to the background from pushing forward. I usually assume that this is because the background sky is actually this colour in my LP heavy home sky   If we get another clear spell before we go back on Saturday, I would really like to add subs to the stack.

One thing, though, is now clear as an Einsteinian gravitational lens to me: After imaging with kit that I am familiar with from a proper dark site, there is no going back... The search for the ideal retirement location has begun!.....

[Chris]

Well it looks like 4 hours of data

[AKB]

Fantastic pic... from the shot of the kit, it looks like you are using an ASI camera as a polar scope?  How did you fix it on?  What's the lens?

 I have a bad neck, and trying to align the mount is about the worst thing you can do.

 

[ollypenrice]

6 hours ago, Pompey Monkey said:

 

One thing, though, is now clear as an Einsteinian gravitational lens to me: After imaging with kit that I am familiar with from a proper dark site, there is no going back... The search for the ideal retirement location has begun!.....

It changes everything. Processing is much easier, the raw data is better and the frustration much reduced. Our fourth clear night of the week took us to nearly 80 hours of data acquisition last night. It can literally be hard to keep up with it. But there's more to it than that. It's natural to look up and see the stars. That also matters, for me at least.

Olly

[Pompey Monkey]

51 minutes ago, AKB said:

Fantastic pic... from the shot of the kit, it looks like you are using an ASI camera as a polar scope?  How did you fix it on?  What's the lens?

 I have a bad neck, and trying to align the mount is about the worst thing you can do.

 

It is a QHYCCD Polemaster. It comes with its own adapter for fixing to the mount and you can buy other adapters separately so you can use the same camera on a variety of mounts. The lens is integral to the kit.

The way that it works is not new and not rocket science. What you are paying for is the convenience of a simple package and simple to use software. PA only takes five minutes and it's good enough for 20 minute subs at a fl of 400 mm. It might even be better than this, but I've not tried!

I have bad knees and find it very difficult to get down on the floor to use the HEQ5 polarscope. With the Polemaster, all I need to do is look at the laptop screen and twiddle the alt-az adjustment bolts.

 

[Pompey Monkey]

37 minutes ago, ollypenrice said:

It changes everything. Processing is much easier, the raw data is better and the frustration much reduced. Our fourth clear night of the week took us to nearly 80 hours of data acquisition last night. It can literally be hard to keep up with it. But there's more to it than that. It's natural to look up and see the stars. That also matters, for me at least.

Olly

80 hrs? Not fair! Hmmph!  - I could only fit one telescope in my luggage

I still got around 18 hrs data in four nights though. I'm debating whether to chuck about three hours away of luminance on M33, because the HEQ5 doesn't work so good around the zenith and the stars are a bit eggy...

I agree about the stars - I've spent several hours this week just gazing up at the milky way

[StevieO]

49 minutes ago, Pompey Monkey said:

It is a QHYCCD Polemaster. It comes with its own adapter for fixing to the mount and you can buy other adapters separately so you can use the same camera on a variety of mounts. The lens is integral to the kit.

The way that it works is not new and not rocket science. What you are paying for is the convenience of a simple package and simple to use software. PA only takes five minutes and it's good enough for 20 minute subs at a fl of 400 mm. It might even be better than this, but I've not tried!

I have bad knees and find it very difficult to get down on the floor to use the HEQ5 polarscope. With the Polemaster, all I need to do is look at the laptop screen and twiddle the alt-az adjustment bolts.

 

I got my Polemaster yesterday. 10 min out of the box in fairly poor conditions I was getting a PHD graph I could only have dreamed about before, and that included fitting to the mount. Next time it'll be 5 min. 

This has immediately become my favourite piece of kit, as my previous polar alignment routine was variable at best and produced correspondingly variable results, plus my knees are shot too. Can't wait to try it out in anger.

StevieO

[DaveS]

I had a week on La Palma at the back-end of March / beginning of April, probably not that far from you, in a cottage affair near Jeday. Like you I found all the streetlights (Not that there were many near me!) to be full-cut-off designs, probably demanded by the observatory. Chickened out of going up to the telescopes when I saw the road on the map, having had a couple of minor incidents with the hire car that shook my confidence.

Only got one really clear night out of the week due to the clouds coming in off the Atlantic, and one night I was completely enveloped in low cloud which stayed until late morning. The winter Milky Way on the one clear night was pretty bright, even though it was getting late in the year for it, and the Rosette was very clear in my 7x50 bins. Didn't take anything more, which was probably wise. Seeing Canopus and the other southern stars was a real "wow" for me, I had a big grin on my face the whole time.

BTW, have you been down to Puerto Naos? They have a scale Solar System layed out along the promenade, and several astro related / themed hikes on a board.

[Tommohawk]

Sorry - another (probably dumb) question - are you guiding?