Running Man in Cygnus - First light with ASI 6200MM

[gorann]

NGC 6914 is a blue reflection nebula surrounded by a vast area of H-alpha nebulosity. About 6,000 light-years away in the constellation of Cygnus.

I finally had a clear night so I could let my new ASI6200MM see first light. It was collecting lum data (230 x 2 min at gain 100, so 4 hours) with the Esprit 150 on a double rig next to the Esprit 100 with an ASI071 for RGB (58 x 5 min at gain 200, so 4.8 hours). Mount was Mesu 200. Totally 8.8 hours that took half the time to collect - the advantage of a double rig. This camera - scope combination gives about the same FOW (sligtly larger from the Esprit 100 so alignment is not that critical) but the RGB data from the ASI071 had to be upsampled 2.47 times before I aligned it to the massive lum layer from the ASI6200.

I was pleasantly surprised by the absence of eggy stars in the corners, so no noticeable tilt on this 24 x 36 mm sensor. The Esprit 150 (with dedicated flattener) also did a good job at filling out the sensor with only the very corners being darker. The camera was attached to the EFW and OAG made specifically by ZWO for this camera. Only problem there is that I could not reach focus with the Lodestar X2 so I had to resort to my old QHY5-IIM for guiding. The ASICAP progam also have some issues. It has to be watched regularly as it may suddenly stop downloading subs without any warning. I was using a Baader UV/IR filter as the ASI6200MM has no built in IR filter (unlike the colour version).

The image has been down sampled here. It was originally 9568 x 6336 pixels. The aligning and integration of 120 subs at 120 mb each took a few hours. No darks used as the sensor is really low noise (I had it at -10°C). No NR applied but I used Dust and Scratches in PS to remove a few hot pixels. Stacking done in PI and most of the rest in PS.

Cheers, Göran

 

 

Edited October 16, 2020 by gorann

[Allinthehead]

Nice first light congratulations, that's some collection of cameras you have.

[gorann]

Thanks Richard!

Yes, I really did not want to spend this much on a new camera and like many others I was waiting for a APS-C CMOS mono to turn up. Then the combination of astro darkness coming back and TS suddenly having some ASI6200MM in stock (most Chinese cameras seem out of stock in these times) made me give up on an affordable APS-C mono and make a big hole in my wallet...... So I am paying dearly for all that extra real estate outside the 18 x 24 mm frame and fortunately the Esprit 150 managed to light it all up. Love that scope!

I still have an Atik 460m for sale.......

[Laurin Dave]

Very nice Goran and congratulations on your first light (you seem to be having a few recently).... nice and flat those Esprit150s

Dave

[gorann]

18 minutes ago, Laurin Dave said:

Very nice Goran and congratulations on your first light (you seem to be having a few recently).... nice and flat those Esprit150s

Dave

Thanks Dave! Yes, never heard, seen or read anyone complaining about an Esprit👌