M57 EdgeHD 800

[JonHigh]

Hi all, 

It’s been a while but finally got my EdgeHD 8 last night. Boy was it a challenge. My collimation looked good but the seeing was so bad I also struggled focusing accurately enough. However I think I have a camera tilt issue or mirror flop issue. I did forget to lock it off so not sure if that could have contributed to the egg shape stars. Tracking was good though at .6 total RMS considering the conditions. Also used the reducer but I will go with native focal length next time out. 
 

60x 30sec subs at gain 100. 
And cropped…

 

Edited July 30 by JonHigh
Added cropped image

[Hals]

Nice. The cure for egg shaped stars with my Edge 8HD was using an OAG with a large pixel guidecam. Despite a guiding RMS of 0.5-0.8 with a guide scope they still showed elongation. Once the OAG/174MM combo was used it was like a magic bullet. With my clunky CGEM I am still getting 0.5-0.8 RMS but the stars are round and much tighter. Goes without saying good polar alignment too.

[JonHigh]

Thank you. I was quite happy with it. Yup, I’m using a 60mm guide scope with an ASI178 Mono camera. So the OAG sorted it out! I must admit I’ve been trying to avoid buying one but I’m getting the feeling I’m going to have to pick one up at some point. Which one do you have? 
Sure my PA is about as good as possible. I use SharpCap to align. I align on both sides of the pier and sometimes back for a third check. OCD 😂 

Edited July 28 by JonHigh

[Hals]

I use the Celestron OAG, it's large prism combined with the 174 is a good match. No mirror flop issues using an OAG so one less thing to contend with. Whichever way you go, imaging at long FL is difficult but worth it.