NGC6888 with new Esprit 120

[old_eyes]

Having solved my problem with autofocusing on my new Esprit 120 (TL:DR make sure you have tightened the shaft coupling before looking for exotic problems with the software!), I was hot to try it out.

Unfortunately, this far North we have no astronomical dark at all at the moment, and the Moon was around as well. But presented with clear skies during the recent hot spell, I had to give it a go.

39 x 300 sec Ha and 72 x 300 sec O3  on the Crescent Nebula (NGC6888) spread across 18 - 21 July.

Esprit 120 scope at native 840mm FL and Atik 360ex camera.

I could wish that the background Ha nebulosity had not come out such a deep red, but it seemed to be the only way I could get as much of the outer blue-green shell of the nebula as possible. Believe me, the twenty other versions were worse!

Now to wait for some darker (and clear) skies!

[peter shah]

Lovely job ....the outer shell is showing nicely

[Lee_P]

Oh wow, there's a lot of detail in there!

[old_eyes]

1 hour ago, peter shah said:

Lovely job ....the outer shell is showing nicely

Thanks Peter. It's the usual problem. I can bring out the outer shell more, but it screws the balance of the whole image. Sometimes you have to accept there is nothing more to be gained by further torturing the data. A lesson I am just beginning to learn.

[SaberJeff]

Very beautiful