February 21, 2021: First Light of ASI183MM-Pro on the California Nebula

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Managed to get 2.5 hours of H-alpha data on NGC 1499 last night, using my (second-hand) ASI183MM-Pro, an Astronomik 12 nm H-alpha filter, and Canon 200 mm F/2.8 L lens. I stacked the result with darks, dark flats, and flats with Astro Pixel Processor, and gave some last tweaks in GIMP.

There is a halo around Menkib, but otherwise I am pretty chuffed with the image. Next time I might actually turn to a wider lens, like a Carl Zeiss Sonnar 135 mm F/2.8 (Contax mount) I have lying around, or the Sigma 50-100 mm F/1.8 zoom, to capture more of the context of the nebula. For the latter I might need a different H-alfa filter, as it is too fast for the Astronomik.

[peter shah]

Thats great Michael

[ultranova]

Great result with the lens /  camera combo.

Its quite a big nebula and you managed to get it all in the frame which is nice.

well done 

Paul