The Flying Bat and Squid Nebulae: OSC, Bortle 8

[Lee_P]

It's really crazy to even attempt this target from my location and with my kit -- talk about punching above my weight -- but I figured it'd be fun to try! Image details below, and more details on my website.

 

 

* August 2022
* Bristol, UK (Bortle 8 )
* Telescope: Askar FRA400 f/5.6 Quintuplet APO Astrograph
* Camera: ZWO ASI 2600MC-PRO
* Filter: Optolong L-eXtreme
* Mount: Orion Sirius EQ-G
* Guide: William Optics 32mm; ZWO ASI 120MM Mini
* Control: ASIAIR Plus, ZWO EAF
* Software: PixInsight, Photoshop, Lightroom
* 840 x 120 seconds

Total integration time: 28 hours

By Lee Pullen

[old_eyes]

Congratulations, that is such an elusive target. And with your skies as well. Kudos!

[tomato]

Another great result from your location, respect for amassing 28 hrs on this target.👍🏼

[gorann]

Amazing result of what must be regarded as heroic astrophotography!

[simmo39]

Well that is nice! This is on my to-do list but I think I'll have trouble putting in 10 hrs let alone 50! Finally got my scope out and next clear night i will be taking subs for real! 

[raadoo]

@Lee_P That's bananas. Such a good result! Seeing you put in 28h into a target and get such a fine result just fuels my desire for moar inturgrrtion!!! 😂

[teoria_del_big_bang]

Absolutely superb image 🙂 

steve

[carastro]

Quite amazing. 
 

Carole

[Lee_P]

Thanks for your kind comments, everyone. 

@simmo39 I've just bought a new telescope and am currently getting it ready for imaging, so now it's your job to fly the flag for the Askar FRA400! 😁

[simmo39]

32 minutes ago, Lee_P said:

Thanks for your kind comments, everyone. 

@simmo39 I've just bought a new telescope and am currently getting it ready for imaging, so now it's your job to fly the flag for the Askar FRA400! 😁

I will do my best! If its not a secret what have you gone to?

[Lee_P]

6 minutes ago, simmo39 said:

I will do my best! If its not a secret what have you gone to?

TS Optics 8" Ritchey-Chrétien. A lot more complex to set up than the FRA400, I reckon I still need a week of clear nights to get all the components singing in harmony!

[simmo39]

1 minute ago, Lee_P said:

TS Optics 8" Ritchey-Chrétien. A lot more complex to set up than the FRA400, I reckon I still need a week of clear nights to get all the components singing in harmony!

V nice, I expect great things from you Obi-wan!

[raadoo]

1 hour ago, Lee_P said:

TS Optics 8" Ritchey-Chrétien. A lot more complex to set up than the FRA400, I reckon I still need a week of clear nights to get all the components singing in harmony!

Wait a sec... didn't you say you were one of us in the faff-free club? Odd that you went with what is probably the most faffy kind of scope type 😂

That being said, I'm glad you did go for the RC. If you can live with it, coming from the FRA400 and its lack of maintenance and collimation, I'll think twice about RC's in general (though unlikely that I'll follow in your footsteps and get rid of my FRA400).

So, looking forward to your reports, Lee!

[Lee_P]

44 minutes ago, raadoo said:

Wait a sec... didn't you say you were one of us in the faff-free club? Odd that you went with what is probably the most faffy kind of scope type 😂

I know right, this is big step! But after getting lots of valuable advice here on SGL, the other "faff-free" options looked like they'd only be incremental upgrades, whereas the RC8 is quite a jump but still affordable. I also feel like I'm maxing out what I can achieve with the FRA400, and want something quite different to give me more headroom to develop my skills. I like to experiment with my imaging, and I'm expanding that philosophy into hardware now. Will it be a successful or failed experiment though, that's the question..!

Currently, I *think* I've collimated the RC8, but haven't had the clear skies to properly test. RCs are supposed to hold their collimation well, so I'm hopeful that once I overcome all the initial set-up hurdles, the faff-factor shouldn't be much more than the Askar FRA400 🤞

50 minutes ago, raadoo said:

(though unlikely that I'll follow in your footsteps and get rid of my FRA400).

I haven't gotten rid of ol' faithful yet! I'll keep it until I've got the RC8 humming along, and even then I may keep hold of it as a grab 'n' go visual 'scope. No definite decisions made on its fate yet!

[raadoo]

16 minutes ago, Lee_P said:

I know right, this is big step! But after getting lots of valuable advice here on SGL, the other "faff-free" options looked like they'd only be incremental upgrades, whereas the RC8 is quite a jump but still affordable. I also feel like I'm maxing out what I can achieve with the FRA400, and want something quite different to give me more headroom to develop my skills. I like to experiment with my imaging, and I'm expanding that philosophy into hardware now. Will it be a successful or failed experiment though, that's the question..!

Currently, I *think* I've collimated the RC8, but haven't had the clear skies to properly test. RCs are supposed to hold their collimation well, so I'm hopeful that once I overcome all the initial set-up hurdles, the faff-factor shouldn't be much more than the Askar FRA400 🤞

I haven't gotten rid of ol' faithful yet! I'll keep it until I've got the RC8 humming along, and even then I may keep hold of it as a grab 'n' go visual 'scope. No definite decisions made on its fate yet!

That's the spirit!

[peter shah]

outstanding ....it makes it exceptional given your Bortle 8 skies 

[Richard_]

A truly remarkable image, Lee. They say not to bother doing this target unless you have dark skies with long integration times but yet again, you prove that isn't the case. Great work! 

[bob-c]

Very well done Lee. its on my to do list.

 

Bob.