M27 My first decent 600 subs

[Star101]

I was wondering how some folks could get 10 minute or more subs, when all I could manage was 5 minutes. Then it hit me - Flexure.

So, after many years of thinking about it and doing nothing, I finally took the plunge and forked out for a ZWO OAG. as I have a sensitive Lodestar X2. WOW Man!!! I mean...why didn't I do this years ago!!

My image stays dead center of the screen instead of creeping off to the side over an hour of imaging. I can now easily get subs of 10 mins or more. 

Last night was a very clear night here. Apart from other stuff, I managed 70 mins on M27. 

7 x 600s, 7 Darks, 20 Bias, 7 Flats.

Atik 4120EX OSC on a C11 with 6.3 FR. Mesu 200 mount. ZWO AOG. Lodestar X2 guidcam.

Thanks for looking.

 

 

[steppenwolf]

Differential flexure can be an absolute nightmare to resolve but an OAG can make a huge difference because of its close coupling. Great news that it has made such a big difference for you.

[des anderson]

Nice one , beautiful image. Des

[MarsG76]

Excellent news and result.

The OAG seems to be the astro imagers secret weapon... I've been doing subs up to 45 minutes through a SII filter on some objects and they came out spot on, round stars and all, and there is no reason to why longer isn't possible... with the shorter subs like 20-30 min HII or 10-15 min RGB they are in exactly the spot frame to frame (unless dithered).

[Dragon_Astro]

A great image there

Moving over to an OAG is something I've ummed and aaahed over for years too.

[Star101]

Yeah, I'm sure I could easily manage much longer subs. I just have not tried yet. I would be limited to light pollution or over exposure now

My problem now is its 10pm and only just dark enough to start imaging lol. But hey, its that time of year

 

[Star101]

12 hours ago, Dragon_Astro said:

A great image there

Moving over to an OAG is something I've ummed and aaahed over for years too.

For around £150 including the spacers you made need, I would recommend it. In my case, the Lodestar X2 has a back focus of around 12.5mm The Atik, 13mm +/- 0.5mm.

I did put aside around 3 to 4 hours of darkness with clear skies to get the focus good on both cameras but that can be done on a clear but cloudy night, when the clouds get in the way of imaging but stars are visible. I was lucky, it took me about 90 mins to get the Atik 4120ex and then the Lodestar x2 to focus together.

I also found that stars were the best method to focus both cameras as they will easily appear as doughnuts on cam. Jut point the scope at the Milky Way. Where as the moon is just another shade of white. Very difficult to use as focus object.