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M52 - a double first light

darditti

By darditti
in Imaging - Deep Sky

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darditti

darditti

Posted
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This is the first light image with both a third-hand QHY8 camera I have just bought, and a dedicated photographic 245mm f4.8 Newtonian I have just built (in fact rebuilt, as I have used the optics before in a different tube).

This is 20x1 min exposures on M52, no guiding or PEC, Astro-physics 900GTO mount. Capture using Nebulosity, processing in DeepSkyStacker and Photoshop CS4.

This is a crop down from the full frame as there is a lot of coma at the edges, some still visible here. I have not yet installed a coma corrector, which is clearly needed in this system. I also need to fix on a method of guiding.

This seems to be an excellent camera (though I had some initial problems with icing of the chip), and the telescope looks as if it will be a successful DSO imaging instrument. I will post some details of the work I did on it in the DIY section when I have time.

David

M52-08-11-24SkyglwQHYOri32bitrat.jpg

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661-pete

661-pete

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Very nice clear image, that looks pretty solid for a first light, especially in light of your LP setting! Hope to see more from the Newt! I take it those are the optics out of the Europa-250 you showed me, where you filled the original tube (after taking out the optics :shock:) with cement and buried it for the pier? In which case it's the same optics as I've got - and yes mine too does have a bit of coma. Glad to see it up and running.

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Psychobilly

Psychobilly

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Yes, the CS4 is a problem which needs a solution as well as I bought the upgrade pack (Mac) thinking it would upgrade from Photoshop 7, but it requires at least CS1. Consequently I have only 30 more days to use it...very nice though.

David

Have you tried any of the standard CS or PS family plug-ins with CS4 in particlulatr Noels Astro actions and GXT?

Billy...

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darditti

darditti

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Yes, Pete, those are the Europa 250 optics (careful measurement shows the true size of the primary is 245mm). I have put a post on the "DIY Astronomy" board showing the work on this telescope.

Coma is inevitable in an f4.8 Newt. I have bought the Baader Multi-Purpose Coma Corrector from Modern Astronomy, and I will see how it does next time it is clear. The problem I have is combining that with an off-axis guider. I have devised an arrangement which might work, but is yet to be tested, where I have the MPCC between the camera and the Celestron OAG, connected with a T to 2" adaptor. This makes the chip to corrector spacing rather smaller than Baader recommend (should be 55mm, is 35mm). I will have to see what happens.

No, Billy, I haven't tried any plugins yet, but I have downloaded GradientXterminator for Mac (as you recommended). Part of the reason for upgrading my Photoshop was to get this to work, it requires CS2 or later on the Mac (but only 5.5 or later on Windows, which is typical!)

David

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bazza

bazza

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David,

I think it would be an excellent scope for imaging with a coma corrector fitted.

Nevertheless, it's a lovely image, with nice star colour.

Billy,

I have CS4 - running Noel's Tools and Grad X and other plug-ins with no probs.

PS - CS4 is awesome - it does the work for you (how much to sharpen etc etc).

Barry.

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darditti

darditti

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No need to apologise.

I can now report that GradientXterminator works well in CS4 (Mac).

CS4 seems excellent, but, one thing surprises me, why is it still not possible to adjust curves in a 32 bit image? You have to convert down to 16 bit.

David

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Psychobilly

Psychobilly

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There are alot of things that only work in 16 bit or lower modes in CS3 as well...

The demos on the adobe site looked awesome and hopefully this Quad core 4GB 1.5TB HDD 768MB GPU pc should just about run it...

Thansk for allowing the Drift in the thread David...

Getting back on topic your projects look really awesome - and your workshops is like mine - organised chaos... used to be a garage but hasnt seen a car for almost 3 years!!!

Billy...

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darditti

darditti

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That workshop was a garage as well, but we don't believe in cars in this house, so it is filled with bicycles, garden equipment, and what Helen terms "astro-junk", of which there is an enormous amount (the non-junk astro stuff is in the observatory, of course)...

David

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hellibird

hellibird

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That workshop was a garage as well, but we don't believe in cars in this house, so it is filled with bicycles, garden equipment, and what Helen terms "astro-junk", of which there is an enormous amount (the non-junk astro stuff is in the observatory, of course)...

David

Then there are the telescopes that grace the lounge... :)

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Psychobilly

Psychobilly

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whats so strange about that.. and the bedroom the boxes of kit in the passage ready to take out...

its all par for the course...at least this hobby isn't as smelly as the last one... bait buckets in the passage ready for an all night fishing session etc...Crabs and worms in the salad draw to keep them fresh...

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661-pete

661-pete

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Yes, Pete, those are the Europa 250 optics (careful measurement shows the true size of the primary is 245mm).

I must have had the exact diameter of my primary too - when I took it out in order to centre-spot it last year. But I'd forgotten what it came to. I'll take your word for it! :)
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