NGC 7023 - The Iris Nebula

[Buzzard75]

I'm sure I'm late to the party for this one. It's been on my list for a while, but my time has been limited and there have been other targets of opportunity. I can tell at 180s unguided exposures, I'm pushing the capabilities of this mount at this focal length. I'm just borrowing the scope from a friend and don't have the equipment for guiding yet. In addition, I don't have the equipment to properly collimate it so it's pretty rough using just a Cheshire and doing a star test. Again, not my scope so I didn't want to risk messing anything up. Enjoy!

ZWO ASI183MM Pro cooled to -20C
ZWO EFW with 1.25" Baader LRGB filters
TPO 6" Ritchey-Chretien (1370mm)
iOptron CEM40EC
20x180s each filter (4hrs total)
darks, flats and dark flats for calibration
Processed in PixInsight

 

[geordie85]

That's come out very well for the focal length and small pixels, especially since its unguided too. Well done

[Buzzard75]

1 hour ago, geordie85 said:

That's come out very well for the focal length and small pixels, especially since its unguided too. Well done

It's definitely oversampled. We had very good seeing conditions last night so I was lucky and got away with it. We had a cold front move through the night before and the storm that came with it cleaned everything out and the air was stable and cold. If I were to get my own RC, I'd probably invest in a small guide scope and camera. The mount is extremely good on its own and certainly performs as advertised though.