Latest M42 Image/A triumph In A War Of Attrition!

[wesdon1]

Hi all. Well last night was one to remember, but for all the WRONG reasons! My goodness me, just about anything that could go wrong, DID!! LOL. The GoTo was playing up, my focuser kept slipping, I spent almost 1 hour imaging before realising I still had the cameras ISO on highest gain (3200 ) so had to stop imaging, and start again!! Then I tripped over the leg of the mounts tripod, knocking my polar alignment out, my GoTo setup out!! Grrrrrr!! LOL. It really did feel like a war of attrition! LOL.

Anyway, I am proud of myself because I just kept going, despite on several occasions wanting to give up! and in the end I managed a few short subs on M42 Orion before my power box ran out! If I had given up and packed everything away before getting those few subs, and having nothing to show for all my efforts, then I'd have been really upset. 

So here is my hardest ever won image so far in my astro-imaging journey! I am most proud of this image, because of the sheer force of will it took to obtain it!

Camera - Canon EOS DSLR "unmodified"

Mount - Skywatcher HEQ5 Pro

Filter - Optolong L-Pro

Telescope - ALTAIR 66/400 ED Apo

Power Supply - Skywatcher 7AH Mobile Power Station

Lights - 7 x 1 minute

Darks - 2 x 1 minute

Bias - 30 x 1/4000th

Flats - 30 x 5sec ( I did the Flats and Bias this morning, because power ran out in Camera when doing my Dark Frames! That's why I only managed 2 Dark Frames! )

Processed in Gimp, stacked and calibrated in Deep Sky Stacker. I did not use guiding, just precise Polar Alignment, and 1 minute subs.

 

[PeterCPC]

Well done for not giving up - I think I would have. We all get nights like that.

[Paul M]

The result was definitely worth the effort!

Luckily it wasn't one of those nights where we battle against the odds and then have nothing to show for it.

[wesdon1]

On 14/02/2023 at 12:54, PeterCPC said:

Well done for not giving up - I think I would have. We all get nights like that.

Thanks @PeterCPC It really was a hard won image! I learned a lot from all the bad stuff though! Thanks mate! 

Wes

[wesdon1]

On 14/02/2023 at 12:58, Paul M said:

The result was definitely worth the effort!

Luckily it wasn't one of those nights where we battle against the odds and then have nothing to show for it.

@Paul M Thanks Paul! Yes that's the exact reason I kept going, I didn't want all my efforts to go to waste! I don't know if you know, but imaging for me involves carrying all my gear, big very heavy HEQ5 mount included, down all the stairs from my 3rd floor flat, all at the same time ( no second trip upstairs and leaving my gear outside unattended! for reasons i'll explain! ) then not being able to go back inside my flat for any reason during imaging, for fear I'll have my expensive gear stolen! My neighbours are great, except for one, who's a drug addict, and he stole my brothers bike a couple months ago, but we couldn't prove it, unfortunately! So any time I want to go outside to image, it's a lot of effort and commitment! I spend on average 4 hours in the freezing cold, unable to leave my rig even for 1 minute, for reasons above! So I like to get as much data as possible whenever the rubbish British weather allows me too! 

Thank You again for kind words Paul! 

Wes

[bosun21]

Lovely capture Wes, it just shows that persistence pays off. I unlike yourself got so peeved that I sold all my AP gear. I’m now beginning to slightly regret this. Keep at it.

   Ian