M97 - Owl - more data

[Jarvo]

Hi All. First time out with the new Guidescope and Esprit 100ED setup. This is my first attempt at guiding. Took the opportunity to add more data to the Owl I did last month.

The tracking still needs refining but the Guidescope itself is a thing of beauty and has pinpoint stars.

I'm guiding through the EQ5s ST4 port with PHD2. PHD2 took a bit of setting up but all of a sudden the stars appeared and I could make a start.

My camera has a limited bulb function - you cannot specify after 60 seconds what you want but you can just leave it open and it gives you 8 minutes - probably too much but I wanted a proper test - I'll throttle it back in future sessions and make sure those stars are round.

I used an OIII filter with an IR cut filter and in total there is now around 1 hour 34 minutes. I use the noise reduction facility on the camera so didn't take any dark frames.

Really pleased as a test session to get everything focussed and aligned - this is an art form swapping between finders and guidescopes.

Think I'm going to leave the Owl for now though as M104 & M51 are coming into view now (My favourite galaxies).

Thanks for looking.

Jarvo

 

 

[tooth_dr]

Good work Jarvo ??

Personally I’d abandon the camera NR and concentrate on getting more data.