Have you tried just searching around in here? http://www.blackwaterskies.co.uk/imaging-toolbox/
I figure anything bright enough to blow out is probably good for beginners (ie, the usual suspects, omega, prawn, eta carinae, triffid, etc) It's fun just to wander around. I've even found a few new ones I wouldn't mind checking out.
Is this something I'm going to be able to capture with my baby scope ? Or is there a specific target within that I could aim to capture ? I'd love to join in the fun
You know what I think.....it’d be great if some of our more seasoned guys/girls provide advice on the target. I mean how they would shoot it. It’d be a great developmental thing for the novices.
Looking at that pic you have the dark and light......so where would the experienced imagers set their exposure length....hmmmm.
Personally I’d run a ‘suck it and see’ campaign......various exposure lengths and see what works then go from there
Is this something I'm going to be able to capture with my baby scope ? Or is there a specific target within that I could aim to capture ? I'd love to join in the fun
Attached is just half a dozen luminance files stacked together from last night (stretched but otherwise not processed). My goto mount was centred on NGC 6726 but I don't think that's the best framing for my fov - although it might show the dust well. This was 100mm aperture at 550mm focal length. Your fov will be much smaller than mine but if you aimed at NGC 6726 you'd probably get nice framing. At f/13 you'll need long exposures. It is it on an alt-az mount because field rotation might be an issue? I'll defer to more experienced advice... As long as you can get good exposure times with round stars you should be ok.
Attached is just half a dozen luminance files stacked together from last night (stretched but otherwise not processed). My goto mount was centred on NGC 6726 but I don't think that's the best framing for my fov - although it might show the dust well. This was 100mm aperture at 550mm focal length. Your fov will be much smaller than mine but if you aimed at NGC 6726 you'd probably get nice framing. At f/13 you'll need long exposures. It is it on an alt-az mount because field rotation might be an issue? I'll defer to more experienced advice... As long as you can get good exposure times with round stars you should be ok.
Kevin
Thank you for your advice Kevin.
Based on that, I think I'll give it a go and see what I can get. My alt-az mount has a wedge and although not perfect, I tend to only get 0.1 Deg of rotation over about an hour of exposures. My biggest issue with it is that although tracked, the tracking stutters so I can get around 20 secs with marginal movement per shot until is star trails to it's next rest point. This means that around 1 in every 5-6 20sec subs has a small star trail and has to be thrown out of the stack. On average, once I've cut the bad ones out and DSS has used the best 80%, I get about 25-27 mins of exposure out of 40 mins of subs.
I'm keen to join the party though with my limited equipment so I'll see what I can get
If I was going to do it right now I’d be using my Zeiss 135mm @ F/2.8 or F/4 and my QHY163M. It doesn’t have the light gathering ability or resolution of the larger apertures but it does get a nice wide field
My alternative is large mosaics which I do quite enjoy.
I don't know if the target has been decided, but by coincidence I had already started gathering data on Corona Australis. The first night there was high cloud and a moon and the second night there was moon and my focus was off. Because of that I won't post a high res version which will only show blurry stars. Hopefully I will find a gap in the clouds to have a second go at it without the moon...
Well, that's very nice Kevin. LOvely work. Been meaning to do this for a long time, but somehow the clouds have always managed to align...
Quote:
Originally Posted by RyanJones
Nice work Kevin
I'm looking forward o some clear sky's too to get in on the action
Thank you both. I'm on my way (by road) to Byron Bay without my telescope so I'm hoping there'll be some clear skies when I get back home so I can try again with proper focus and no moon!
