Mu Cephei - Herschel's Garnet Star

[Roy Foreman]

Taken last night with my Stella Lyra 10" Classical Cassegrain while I was waiting for Saturn and Jupiter to be better placed.

I've tried imaging this star many times but this is my best rendition to date.

12 x 8 sec at 3045mm F/12 and gain 400

ZWO ASI 6200 MC Pro

Processed in DSS and Photoshop.

 

Clear skies to all.

 

 

Edited September 16, 2023 by Roy Foreman
Corrected silly typo in title !

[JonHigh]

Hi Roy. As you know I have been tinkering around with my 150 Mak which has got me thinking about getting a Classical Cassegrain or a RC. Do you have any experience with an RC as I’m not sure which to start looking for? I understand that collimating an RC is a bit of a business, is the CC easier/more straight forward? The results look extremely good on your 10” though! Would need to upgrade the mount for that! 

[Roy Foreman]

Hi Jon, I have no experience with an RC but I imagine its characteristics are similar to the CC, except for F/8 as opposed to F/12.

I can vouch for my 10" CC. Nice and sharp across all but the extreme corners of a full frame sensor. And being an all mirror system it has good colour rendition and purity.

However, it's a beast. Very bulky and heavy. An EQ6 AZ will carry it but it is at its limits. The EQ6 R definately will not. Mine is on CQ350 which holds it so solidly that manual focussing is a breeze with no image wobble.

I found collimation no more difficult than an SCT or Newt. Just don't use a collimator made for CC/RC. Use an ordinary laser for the focusser and secondary, and visual on a star for primary.

The 10" is a true 10", but the 8 is only 7.3. Not sure about the 6 though.

Lots to consider and think about. Good luck.

[JonHigh]

Hi Roy and thanks for the reply. That’s food for thought especially collimating! Thank you for the tip should I buy one. I think the 10” would be far to heavy for my humble HEQ5 setup but was just looking at 6” as it be absolutely fine with the guide and cameras etc regarding weight but would prefer the 8” even though I would be losing a bit of aperture. Maybe I’ll sell the Mak. How is it with solar system objects as I know the Mak is hard to beat! That said, as you can tell my interest is more with DSO’s. 

Edited September 16, 2023 by JonHigh

[Roy Foreman]

Two good alternatives are the 180 mak and C9.25 both of which I own and will give the CC a run for its money and are much less expensive and will fit on your HEQ5. However neither has the field coverage of the CC, unless you get the edge version of the Celestron.

Both the C9.25 and CC are good on brighter DSOs but the Mak is a bit too slow. I've used both to image M57, M27 and many globular as can been seen in my earlier posts from a few weeks ago.

The plot just gets thicker and thicker  doesn't it. We've all been there !

[Swoop1]

Images of stars don't really do a lot for me but, this image is very pretty.

I like the colour defraction in the spikes.

[JonHigh]

Just had a look at your website. Lovely images to browse through. Thank you for sharing your hard work over the years. Inspirational! 
I have some decisions to make if I want to carry on persisting with the Mak or sell it for something else more suited for my longer focal length needs. 

[Roy Foreman]

Just be aware that imaging at focal lengths of 2-3m is very challenging and puts greater demands on every aspect of the process. The easier everything is the easier it is to get good results and easier to keep inspired.

Good luck with your eventual choice and glad to like my website.