NGC 6946 & NGC 6939 in Cygnus

[russ]

Hi All,

I managed to get out Saturday night for what i was hoping would be an all night session. Unfortunately it is was a crummy old night. Sky was murky and dirty, just full of muck. Transparency was 3/10 at best. I decided to carry on regardless but wish i hadn't.

Took the time to level and balance the mount. The GOTO was working like a charm. But for some reason it decided it couldn't be bothered to track. But it wasn't until i checked the images on the PC the next day that i realised just how badly off the tracking was, oh and my focus. A night to forget!

Out of the 30 images I took of NGC6946 and NGC6939, only 7 were useable and on any other day i would have discarded the entire lot.

So here we are, 7 x 90secs. Canon 10D prime focus on the ED80, all mounted on the LXD75. ISO1600 and Baader Neodymium filter.

NGC6939 is a beautiful dense open cluster and lies just a very short distance from NGC6946. NGC6946 is an equally beautiful face on spiral galaxy of mag 9.7. You can just see the spiral arms in the image, may need a bit of imagination for this one. Will be trying this object again at the first chance i get. Would be absolutely fantastic with a good number of images to stack.

Russ

[GordonCopestake]

Not as bad as you think it is Russ! I'de be happy with that one hehe. And I CAN see the spiral arms in NGC6946! You might even be able to process out some of the trailing but another go over the next few nights is a better idea. The weather forcast here says hot hot hot, which usually means clear nights... Although im about to place an order for a 102SLT as my CG5 has just gone through the door into parcel forces (less than ) careful hands. Im fully expecting rain, thunder and lightening here in Stoke dispite the rest of the country having 35*C weather!

[russ]

Thanks Gordon. Fully intend to try again either tonight or tomorrow. Fingers crossed.

You are going to love the SLT judging by how much Rob is raving about his.

Russ