Jump to content

SkySurveyBanner.jpg.21855908fce40597655603b6c9af720d.jpg

Iris Nebula NGC 7023 - Orion Ritchey Chretien 8"


Selborne

Recommended Posts

Hi Guys,

 

I thought I would share with you my first DSO taken with my new Orion 8" Ritchey Chretien F8 Telescope.  The frame is made up of 12 x 4min shots, no light or dark frames, using my Sony A7Rii camera.  The camera had the long exposure noise reduction switched on, which does help to reduce the total number of stars captured by the camera, as the Sony A7Rii does tend to overdo the number of stars captured.  The telescope was mounted on my trusty skywatcher NEQ6 mount and the guiding was via PHD 'of course' via my skywatcher ED50 guide scope.

The shots were taken from my back garden in Stowmarket, Suffolk where I believe I am a Bortie 4 location, so the skies are mostly dark, with just a little light pollution from the main town, no filters used.

My normal telescope is a Skywatcher ED100 Pro Esprit F5.5, which is an incredibly sharp scope, but with a wide 550mm field of view, great for capturing the whole of Andromeda but a struggle with smaller images like the Iris Nebula.  I will say the Orion RC scope did need to be collimated out of the box, which was a little disappointing, and it was not just a little out of collimation, it was a long way out, but with the use of a collimating tool, I soon had it dialled in.  

First impressions of the Orion Ritchey Chretien 8" Telescope are fair, not super impressed, as it is nowhere near as sharp as my ED100 Esprit, but then this is to be expected based on price and telescope type, however, the pictures it has produced are pretty good, if you downscale the full 42MP from the Sony A7Rii camera, as can be seen in this picture.

I purchased this 8" Orion Ritchey Chretien OTA mainly for Planetary work, but as yet I have not had a chance to 'get onto' a planet, fingers crossed some clear nights will arrive soon, so I can try.

 

I welcome comments,

many thanks

Jamie

Iris Nebula NGC 7023 - 8%22 RC.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Very nice first light.

Reflectors are a bit trickier than refractors. I think it's to be expected that they need collimation before first use. My 150PDS was so much out of alignment when I first used it, that the finder scope view wouldn't align with the main scope. As a newbie, it took me some time to figure out what was wrong. Even now, I always check collimation before use. With a barlowed laser, it only takes a few minutes. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.