Thanks everyone for the interesting points. I am going to go through a bit of a learning curve with getting on of these units, but I have ordered an AOX and it should be here by mid week next week. I am not expecting miracles but a significant improvement might be what I would like to see.
Quote:
Originally Posted by PRejto
Paul,
I assume you have followed this thread: http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/s...d.php?t=124461
Yes, different AO system, but the discussion is interesting. From my reading it would seem that amateur AO is not going to help a very good mount when it comes to seeing, unless there is perhaps already excellent seeing. In average seeing it might just make images worse. Anyway, the whole subject seems to invite differing opinions. Perhaps AO adds a degree of complexity without a clear advantage which is why I have so far stayed away even though quite tempted at times.
Good luck with the decision.
Peter |
Yes Peter, I read that thread with a lot of interest at the time. Time will tell if it is a good purchase or not, but everyone I know that has one has said you will not know the difference. Even if the AOX is correcting for mount discrepancies only, as small as they are, then I would be happy to have that little bit extra. The pursuit of perfection can lead to trying to find an extra edge.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bassnut
The elephant in the room, as Allan says, is you need a very bright guide star for AO at 10hz (mag 3?). Simple test, take 1/10th of a second guide exposures on what you think is a normal brightesh guide star and see if you think you can guide on that!.
I dont remember if you have a rotator Paul. A rotator is an absolute necessity with AO (at 10hz) IMO, forget it without one. The chance of getting a sufficiently bright star for 10hz OAG AO with a given object well composed is just about nil without a rotator.
|
Yep rotator on board Fred. I have found for the last three or so galaxy images I have been imaging at 0.5 sec guide exposures and the stars have been there to image with. The guide camera in the STXL filter wheel is pretty good at picking up stars. Though I do agree with you that a rotator is a must and was part of my thinking all along, not only for composition but also with the notion that guide stars at long focal lengths can be hard to find.