M36 Widefield

[russ]

Just a test shot. Wanted to see if the Zenithstar 80 would work with the Celestron 0.63 focal reducer/corrector. That would reduce the Zenithstar from f6 to f3.8 and reduce it's focal length from 480mm to 302mm. So I centered up on M36 in Auriga and took a 5min image using the 10D and Astronomiks CLS filter, unguided on the EQ6. This is the result:

Russ

[russ]

Not sure what's going on at the bottom of the image, something funny. I have a feeling it will look a lot worse at home on the TFT monitor, the CRT at work is very dark. Tends to make things look better than they are really.

Russ

[CELESCOPE]

5 mins unguided , wow Russ u got that set up well , and at 3,8 i know that helps a lot , i think thats agreat image Russ , could it be still some vignettingon the oputer edges, i,m suffering still with this , shows up even more with the CLS on mine , but even so , a splended result .

Rog

[russ]

Actually the EQ6 was having an off night. Did the alignment no worries, then punched in M42 for a test and it was miles off. Did the alignment again, no worries but still it refused to put anything in the eyepiece. Gave up on the GOTO, it was a rubbish sky anyway, and decided to just test the scope and reducer.

Vignetting was my first thought. I wonder if there is something within the scope that has obstructed the path. There's no vignetting at f6. Pleased with the CLS filter. It only arrived yesterday. I borrowed Ant's before but found it cut off too much light for short exposures. But it works a treat for longish exposures.

Also pleased with the field of view....its huge! And a pretty flat field too, the stars are equally focused at the edge as they are in the middle. Plus there's no chromatic abberation from the optics. Pleased all round.

Russ

[OXO]

Thats a lovely Photo Russ it looks so natural mate lovely!

Could it be back focus thats the problem?

Nice

James

[Ant]

Thats a lovely FOV, and looks nice and sharp to the edges.

Doesn't look like Vignetting to me, mate - not sure really what it is.

Regards

Ant

[OXO]

Mmmmmm i worded myself wrong, iam thinking it's reflection off the Focal Reducer? just a guess.

James

[MartinB]

Great image Russ. How did you fit the focal reducer?

[russ]

James, internal reflection....i think you may be onto soemthing there.

Martin, unscrew the Antares 2" T adapter to reveal male and female SCT threads. Put the adapter back together with the Celestron focal reducer sandwiched in the middle. Works like a charm. It also works very well with the Orion/Skywatcher ED80 and ED100. Bring the ED80 down from f7.5 to f4.9.

Ant, the field of view is huge, should be good for M31 a bit later in the year.

Russ

[MartinB]

Another bit of kit it seems worth having

[GordonCopestake]

Another bit of kit it seems worth having

There are so many MartinB!

[Kaptain Klevtsov]

So why are the clouds so black, and what are all the white dots all over it?

Nice image, looks like some parts are getting to see the stars again, mucho cloudo here.

Captain Chaos