M33 on a humid night - and some 130 PDS examples of other targets

[Erling G-P]

Lots of humidity in the air when I shot this recently, so conditions far from ideal.  Had hoped for a clearer image, and for more Ha being visible, considering the modded camera.

SW 200 PDS, HEQ5Pro w/belt mod & ADM saddle, SW 0.9 CC, Canon 700Da cooled, Staraid Revolution autoguider.

Subs: 94 * 3 minutes = 282 minutes or 4.7 hours.

Stacked & processed with DSS, Astroart 6.0 & Topaz DeNoise.

Edited September 30, 2020 by Erling G-P

[Xiga]

Very nicely processed Erling. Lots of sparkle, just the way I like M33 to look.

Imaging with a 200pds on a HEQ5-Pro. I take my hat off to you Sir!

[MarkAR]

Super image, shame about the humidity.

[Erling G-P]

Thanks guys for the kind words and likes.

Lol Ciarán, regarding the 200 PDS & HEQ5 - I know a fair few here have indicated they'd rather have a double root canal, than using this scope/mount combo, but as a relative beginner, I've been quite happy with many of my results, especially after I started guiding.  One prerequisite though, is that there has be no or very little wind, as it's a huge sail, not least with the big dew shield I use.   In contrast I recently went for the Soul Nebula with my - in comparison - tiny 130 PDS, in a half gale; gusts were specified as 14 m/s.  Expected to throw away all the subs, not least considering the alarming spikes on the guide graphs, but surprisingly only 3 out of 119 3-minute subs had to be discarded.  Got the attached image out of it, and one advantage of the wind was absolutely no dew.  So with a 130 PDS target planned, I actually WANT it to be windy - never thought I'd hear myself say that..    

[Xiga]

7 hours ago, Erling G-P said:

Thanks guys for the kind words and likes.

Lol Ciarán, regarding the 200 PDS & HEQ5 - I know a fair few here have indicated they'd rather have a double root canal, than using this scope/mount combo, but as a relative beginner, I've been quite happy with many of my results, especially after I started guiding.  One prerequisite though, is that there has be no or very little wind, as it's a huge sail, not least with the big dew shield I use.   In contrast I recently went for the Soul Nebula with my - in comparison - tiny 130 PDS, in a half gale; gusts were specified as 14 m/s.  Expected to throw away all the subs, not least considering the alarming spikes on the guide graphs, but surprisingly only 3 out of 119 3-minute subs had to be discarded.  Got the attached image out of it, and one advantage of the wind was absolutely no dew.  So with a 130 PDS target planned, I actually WANT it to be windy - never thought I'd hear myself say that..    

Well it's clearly working for you Erling, so keep doing it!

I've never owned a Newt myself, but i did take a very serious look at the 130-pds and the David Levy Comet Hunter a couple of years back, but ended up chickening out as i didn't like the thought of having to meddle about with collimation. Without a permanent setup, i need to setup and pack away each session, so i need something simple and quick, hence the 80ED. But your image of the soul nebula above (which is really lovely i must say) speaks volumes of what can be done with such an affordable scope, in the right hands. I do love the stars that Newts produce, so maybe one day i'll finally make the jump! 

ps - Out of curiosity, what causes the diffraction artefacts around the bright stars? Is it due to the focuser drawtube extending into the light path of the OTA, pinched mirror clips, or something else? 

Edited September 30, 2020 by Xiga

[Erling G-P]

Thanks again for the kind words Ciarán

I can hardly recommend the 130 PDS enough; it's absolutely cracking value for money.  With regards to collimation, I bit the bullet and got the expensive, but highly recommended Hotech laser collimator.  With it I find it very easy to do, as I can see the effect of what I'm doing as I do it.  I too set up and tear down each session, but as it's so easy with the laser, I check & tweak collimation each time - takes a mere 5 minutes.  One advantage of the 130 is that if you use a Cheshire instead, it's small enough for the primary collimation screws to be reachable while looking into the Cheshire - with the 200, arms like a gorilla would be needed!   Don't let collimation put you off if you fancy a 130; it's really no big deal.

The diffraction artefacts are apparently produced by the mirror clips, and can be remedied by masking them with a ring - I just haven't gotten round to making such for each scope.

So far I haven't used the 130 all that much, but the more I do, the more I love it - the wider field makes for some lovely views of suitable targets, and the fact that it's completely unperturbed by strong wind with my modest mount, just makes it eminently useable.

Realize they're really off topic for my own thread, but here's a couple more images with the 130 (as the thread starter, I must be allowed certain liberties, no? )