RC6... Collimation, here I come!

[Ags]

First light. I think the collimation can still be tweaked slightly but I am pretty happy with this result. It’s hard to judge the star shapes as there was a bit of a breeze, but the scope is clearly functional now. This is one unprocessed 3-minute sub.

Edited April 22 by Ags

[Ags]

I'm amazed by the detail picked up in just three minutes with city light pollution and a 95% Moon. The scope was reduced (using my trusty SCT 6.3 reducer) to 970 mm focal length, so it was operating around f6.4.

[Ags]

Doing a mini Messier marathon tonight. I’m shooting 15 minuTes on a bunch of targets, just to see what I can get in a short time. With the full moon and a blustery breeze, it’s not the night for anything seriousI a, going for 30 second exposures so there will be more exposures and more benefit from dithering, and binning 2x to compensate for the short exposure time.

[Ags]

I turned the noise reduction dial of Graxpert 3 to "11".

[licho52]

Deconvolution is critical for RC scopes, only then will you see the detail the telescope is able to deliver.  The difference is not small.  Of course that means purchasing PI with BX if you haven't yet and their cost is more than the scope... 

[Ags]

Better software and better processing will definitely help, but for now I am focusing on trying to get more data and get the basics of processing right. 

[Ags]

Using Astrosharp for decon and better stretching in Siril. And more data.