C11 Ha from Hinchinbrook *now with M8*

[multiweb]

Here are a few of my shots from last night from home.

Champignon in Carina

I did 36x10 min in Ha 7nm with the C11/QHY9. Had a few issues with guiding in RA bouncing a lot which I think is because I had the wrong spacing on the lodestar with the OAG giving me funny star shapes not quite in focus. Still the seeing was superb and I was happy to get the C11 off the moth balls to get some good details. This is the mushroom feature like right next to the keyhole in carina.

Couple of highrer res below.

[1920 x 1437 - 715KB] HD (http://www.astropic.net/astro/carina_mushroom_ha_C11_HD.jpg)
[3336 x 2496 - 2MB] 1:1 (http://www.astropic.net/astro/carina_mushroom_ha_C11_100.jpg)

NGC3579 next to Carina

I did 21x10 min on this one.

[1920 x 1437 - 687KB] HD (http://www.astropic.net/astro/NGC3579_ha_C11_HD.jpg)
[3336 x 2496 - 2MB] 1:1 (http://www.astropic.net/astro/NGC3579_ha_C11_100.jpg)

Hourglass Nebula in M8

And finally it is unaustralian to ignore the lagoon on a good night when it's right up so I did 28x10 min on this one. Better than my last attempt three years ago (http://www.astropic.net/astro/HourGlass_ha_C11_HD.jpg). I framed it better. :)

[1920 x 1437 - 687KB] HD (http://www.astropic.net/astro/HourGlassB_ha_C11_HD.jpg)

Enjoy the view. :thumbsup:

[RickS]

Nice image, Marc. I think that mushroom is probably hallucinogenic :lol:

[multiweb]

Thanks mate. :thumbsup: Yeah it has that lava lamp drop like feature on it left side. Very 70. :)

[Placidus]

Bravo, sharp, clear, and poignant. Nicely chosen and well presented.

[Geoff45]

Really good Marc. 3579 is superb. It's just a pity you couldn't get an ever so slightly bigger field.
Geoff

[Atmos]

I particularly like NGC 3579, nicely done Marc :) Considering that the QHY9 is a fairly small sensor I thought that the correction on the C11 was better off-axis.

[strongmanmike]

They look a little soft :confuse3:... the field distortions and tracking issues look like they have negated some of the good seeing, that must be annoying :doh: at least you were out....I was being lazy :P

Mike

[LewisM]

Zut alors, mon petit champignon... :) :lol:

[multiweb]

Thanks Mike. :thumbsup:


Thanks Geoff. :thumbsup: My fov is only 0.4 x 0.3 degrees so only good for close ups.


Thanks Colin. :thumbsup: No way. Stock C11 circa 2000. I was actually slightly out of focus on NGC3579 which just makes the field curvature worse. You have to be spot on with focus to get a relatively flat field.


Yes the guiding has let me down for sure. I figured out overnight why my guiding was jumping. Turned out that the scope tube slightly rotated ~10 degrees in the parallax rings so the guider wasn't squared in regard to RA/DEC. During calibration I noticed the N/S run wasn't horizontal and didn't think too much about it at the time but now it makes sense. Every guiding correction in RA caused the DEC to fire up too and vice versa. At that FL and image scale (0.4asp) with my mount already at its weight limit it's pretty unforgiving. I have a few ideas how to fix that and make the whole thing even stiffer so it doesn't happen again.


Oui, c'est quoi cette merde? :P

[Placidus]

Hi, Marc,

There are those who have noticed the coma in the corners, but wow! Have a look at the on-axis detail in the hourglass! That is really special. And there is faint detail in the surrounding structures that is very hard to capture. By any measure very good, and in terms of bang for buck, brilliant!

:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

[multiweb]

Thanks for the support mate. ;)

Once I've resolved that mechanical issue I reckon my guiding will be x3 better. Last night was bouncing up and down >2 seconds of arc in RA and that wasn't seeing related. From experience it should have been under 1.

Had a look at the OTA this morning with fresh eyes and all I have to do is secure the primary cell to the top and bottom dovetails which are bolted on the rings. 90% of the scope weight is on the back and that's only holding by the CF tube at the moment. So making the primary cell part of the assembly will certainly stiffen things a lot and I expect no more flex issues. Lucky I was guiding with an OAG. But the guider had to work hard with everything moving besides the sky.

Yeah the field will never be TAK flat but you're right, on axis is pretty sweet and that's what I'm interested in along with the aperture. :thumbsup:

[LewisM]

I was empathetic to the mushrooms

[multiweb]

All good. :thumbsup: I was told not "mush room" for guiding error earlier on. Keep'em coming. I'm taking notes. :lol:

[LewisM]

I actually like it. Mike though has reptilian eyes (years of working government :lol:) hence why he sees oblate spheroids.

[multiweb]

There are oblate spheroids everywhere. I just need to make them smaller or do a better job at hiding them so he can't see them or throw him off the trail by adding some deconvolution worms in the mix. I've noticed he's been wearing reading glasses for a while now. Me too unfortunately but I just have to stay ahead of his prescription glasses.

[h0ughy]

It's all black and white with 50 shades of grey

[strongmanmike]

Only been working for (territory) government for 4 years :shrug: before that it was private enterprise for 6 years and a University for 14 years before that... :)



Actually my reading is good, my glasses are for distance (driving etc) only ;) Having said that I do have a little astigmatism, so small points or dots (aka stars) can look elongated at times unless I look closely :astron: which I do....

Mike

[multiweb]

Here's what I have in mind, link the red block to the green block in one solid assembly. I already have the holes lining up and the right screws, just need to make some aluminium spacers and bob's your uncle. :thumbsup:

[LewisM]

Ooh la la! Looks like a French Officina Stellare.... :)

[Retrograde]

Wow fabulous detail - especially in the Lagoon. :thumbsup:

[multiweb]

Thanks Pete. :thumbsup: That's my sharpest to date but once I have sorted my guiding I reckon I can get more details.

[gregbradley]

Good looking Ha's there Marc.

Greg.

[multiweb]

Thanks Greg. :thumbsup:

[SimmoW]

Yes bloody sharp good results there Marc! Getting good value from that gear.

[multiweb]

Thanks Simon. :thumbsup: Yeah I'm pretty happy with it. Does the job nicely and I like the FL when the seeing is good. Just wish it wasn't so bloody heavy. Eventually I'll have it mounted permanently in a rolloff obs and I'll be able to tweak things. It doesn't make it easy to move in and out all the time, polar align, balance, trying to remember the spacing, etc...