Not that much imaging recently, due to the appaling weather, so I was relieved that the weather was clear for 3 nights in a row over the weekend. Am just getting used to my new QHY8 Cooled CCD camera… yet another learning curve to climb, but am getting there slowly.
I managed to squeeze this one out on Friday night (click on the image for a HUGE version)
Posted by Steve under Astro | Comments Off on Moon shot, 25th August 2007
Despite the high thin clouds, I managed to get some failry decent sequences out of my setup. Last night was the first light for my William Optics Zenith Star 66 SD and the counterweight system…oh man, I wasnt disappointed 🙂
First up, yet another M57, and the first one I`ve captured with some nebulosity round the edges. (Almost cerainly due to my installation of Bob’s Knobs and collimating it to within an inch of its life!)
OTA: NexStar 8 GPS @ f/10
Guiding: PHD + WO66 + DSI (yes, was subpixel guiding at FL 388mm @ f/5.9 without too many hiccups)
Camera: Canon 350D (unmodded)
Sequence: 10 x 240 seconds @ ISO800 (+ 5 darks, no bias or flats)
Stacked: Deep Sky Stacker
Post Process: PSCS2 + Noels Astronomy Tools
(Note:This is cropped but not reduced from RAW image size)
Next M31, and I`ve been waiting for this one to peek its head over the roof/gutter for a few weeks now. For thisone, I reversed the imaging/guiding train, so the WO66 was imaging and the NS8GPS was guiding.
OTA: William Optics ZenithStar 66
Guiding: PHD + NexStar 8 GPS @ f/10 + DSI
Camera: Canon 350D (unmodded)
Sequence: 10 x 120 seconds @ ISO800 (+ 5 darks, no bias or flats)
Stacked: Deep Sky Stacker
Post Process: PSCS2 + Noels Astronomy Tools
(A little distortion at the edges, but I dont have the 0.8 field flattener for it yet)
(Please click on images for a larger version)
Now I understand when people state that the WO66 can punch well above it weight… this “little” OTA rocks!
Posted by Steve under Astro | Comments Off on M57 and M31/M110
Despite the best efforts of the Moon to destroy a perfectly clear sky, I managed to get these:
All images taken with:
OTA: NexStar 8 GPS @ f/10
Camera: Canon 350D (unmodded), Images Plus Camera Control
Guiding: OAG + PHD + DSI-C
Subs: 30 x 30sec, ISO800, (plus 20 darks)
Processed: DeepSkyStacker, PSCS2
M2
M11
M13
M15
M92
Posted by Steve under Astro | Comments Off on 5 Clusters from Friday night
