While most of us like to get in nice and close to NGC 2070, there are times when time doesn't permit a close encounter. On Wednesday night after dinner I had between the end of astronomical twilight and the rising of a waning gibbous moon, about 90 minutes of darkness to capture this interesting part of the sky.
Equipped with an older 50mm Canon EF lens and an even older Pentax 135mm lens I drove to the outer fringe of Melbourne with my trusted tripod and Nano Tracker to a spot not bothered by street lights.
Despite the darkness, the 50mm widefield shot produced plenty of Melbourne sky glow to the south but the 135mm lens cropped most of the glow out of the frame. I used my modded Canon 550d with UVIR cut filter on both lenses.
The 50mm shot was 9 x 30 second and the 135mm was 6 x 30 second, 800 iso. Both were stacked without darks or flats in DSS. Colour adjustment in PS. CA is evident in both lenses but not too bad.
Just had to have another go Saturday night with the same camera on the SW Esprit 100 on the HEQ5 pro, this time unfiltered from my front yard. The problem was I had just set up my alignment when cloud started moving in. Consequently, I only got 8 x 30 second subs before a blanket of clouds ruined the session. Oh well, such is life.
