My first nebula

[Enigma_RL]

It's been a while since I've posted here but when all the clouds cleared last Monday I didn't know how fast to go outside and start imaging again. After 3 hours of guiding issues I finally managed to get a somewhat decent calibration to start guiding but even though I had quite a lot of errors there was some decent data left to use. I think the guiding issues really boil down to my low end EQ5 mount and I will soon be replacing it with an iOptron CEM70.

That being said this is only my second image ever taken in astrophotography so still trying to get the hang of things but overall I am really pleased with the end result. It has a total exposure time of 3,6 hours of which 2 are in Hydrogen Alpha and 1,6 is in Oxygen III. I know I went a bit hard on the noise reduction and I didn't filter out all the bad subs but man it is satisfying to finally be able to enjoy images like this. For anyone curious, it is shot with a William Optics GT81 IV on a ZWO ASI2600mm-Pro and a 0.8x reducer. It is stacked in Astro Pixel Processor and processed in PixInsight.

Enjoy!

 

[MalcolmM]

Very impressive! Beautiful image.

Malcolm

[Clarkey]

Great for only your second image. Excellent!

[ONIKKINEN]

1 hour ago, Enigma_RL said:

That being said this is only my second image ever taken in astrophotography so still trying to get the hang of things but overall I am really pleased with the end result.

You've hit the ground running, amazing for a second try!

[rickwayne]

Nice. Bit harsh for my taste, but you do you, right?

You're going to love the CEM70, if mine is any yardstick to judge by. Do exercise it thoroughly when you first get it, there have been quite a few QA/QC problems with them. Mine is great, no complaints.

A cool dodge I figured out uses the threaded holes in the side of the saddle (probably intended for 3D balance weights). I cut a length of aluminum channel, padded a couple of hose clamps with tape, and bolted it to the side of the saddle. My guidescope went into the hose clamps, I tightened them down, and now I can autoguide a telescope or a DSLR without having  to mount the guidescope to the optics.

Of course, if you got a model with an iGuider, you're one jump ahead of me already. 🙂

[Enigma_RL]

3 hours ago, rickwayne said:

Nice. Bit harsh for my taste, but you do you, right?

You're going to love the CEM70, if mine is any yardstick to judge by. Do exercise it thoroughly when you first get it, there have been quite a few QA/QC problems with them. Mine is great, no complaints.

A cool dodge I figured out uses the threaded holes in the side of the saddle (probably intended for 3D balance weights). I cut a length of aluminum channel, padded a couple of hose clamps with tape, and bolted it to the side of the saddle. My guidescope went into the hose clamps, I tightened them down, and now I can autoguide a telescope or a DSLR without having  to mount the guidescope to the optics.

Of course, if you got a model with an iGuider, you're one jump ahead of me already. 🙂

Thanks! What do you mean by QA/QC problems? And yeah I did get a the model with iGuider but I’m not sure how that would compare to a guidescope and PHD2? I almost can’t assume guiding will be as good or even better with an integrated guiding system but I could of course be wrong here. Do you happen to know how it holds up?

[Lee_P]

This is great, good job! 

[rickwayne]

Some folks have had issues with poorly-soldered cables and the like, some assembly issues. If it comes up, slews where you point it, and the USB connections work, it's probably just fine.

IIRC the camera in the iGuider will talk to INDI or ASCOM (community, check me if I'm wrong!), so to PHD2 it's just a regular guidescope and camera. The scope has only a 120mm focal length, the image scale is 6.44"/pixel according to iOptron. That's a bit on the coarse side, but it ought to work fine for for a lot of folks' scopes and cameras. One of the many rules of thumb you hear bandied about is that the guide system should have an image scale no more than ~5X that of the imaging system. My 336mm scope and IMX183 sensor yield about 3"/pixel, so it would work great with mine, I imagine.