Had a night of very good seeing last night in Sydney so I got the opportunity to take the C11 out to do some long(ish) FL imaging. I pointed to M42 in Orion with a QHY9 and a 7nm Ha filter at prime. This is 60x1min as I wanted to show the trapezium area.
The other shot is from Snake Valley in Victoria. I shot it in colour with a QHY8 and a Takahashi Mewlon 210 at prime focus. This one was 36x2min, done Sunday the 8th of November, which was the best night at the camp. Pretty good seeing and transparency again although it was challenging to guide at 2.5m FL on a grassy field.
The fov and image scale are very similar. The Mewlon is 2415mm FL and F11.5. The C11 is 2800mm FL and F/10 but the image scale is virtually the same ~ 0.5 seconds of arc. The Mewlon seems to have sharper optics.
Two superb shots, Marc. I agree that the faint dust lanes look sharper in the Mewlon shot, and some stars with great colour differences (eg white with faint yellow companion) are better resolved, although that could be an RGB versus H-alpha differences. Conversely, the Trapezium is beautifully resolved in the 60 sec H-alpha subs. When I explore, I can see at least four faint stars in the Trapezium in addition to the four main ones, which is pretty good. The Mewlon shot is less noisy, which could be a dark site versus urban glow difference.
That's a good project Mark, imaging a good old favourite. I agree with MnT about the improved resolution of some stars in the Mewlon scope. Very nice detail in both images.
nice stuff Marc, really like the Mewlon shot!
I think i'm too scared to attempt dealing with the HDR of M42 ... maybe next season ...
Rusty
Thanks Rusty. It's bright enough to take short exposures. This way you don't have to HDR the core.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Placidus
Two superb shots, Marc. I agree that the faint dust lanes look sharper in the Mewlon shot, and some stars with great colour differences (eg white with faint yellow companion) are better resolved, although that could be an RGB versus H-alpha differences. Conversely, the Trapezium is beautifully resolved in the 60 sec H-alpha subs. When I explore, I can see at least four faint stars in the Trapezium in addition to the four main ones, which is pretty good. The Mewlon shot is less noisy, which could be a dark site versus urban glow difference.
Nice processing in both cases.
Cheers.
Thanks Mike. I suspect the Mewlon is a lot sharper than the C11 yes. The C11 shot is in Ha and I don't think it would give tight stars in RGB as the Mewlon did. Also my guiding on the field left a lot to be desired so I think the Mewlon shot could be a lot sharper. Looking forward to play with it on some galaxies and dabble a bit in moonage and planetary maybe.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rod771
Ah, the mighty M42, Mr S Claus is not far away now.
Great images Marc! Last night was good, quite cool too.
Thanks Rod. Yes it was.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ryderscope
That's a good project Mark, imaging a good old favourite. I agree with MnT about the improved resolution of some stars in the Mewlon scope. Very nice detail in both images.
Thanks Rodney. Yes it will take some practice to get the full potential out of the scope.
Quote:
Originally Posted by barx1963
Marc
Great images! Can I use the one from SV on our camp website? With attribution of course.
Malcolm
No worries mate and thanks again for organising a great camp. I've emailed you.
Nice results Marc, was great to meet you in person at SV as well
I too prefer the Mewlon image, well controlled ad those stars are sharp alright. Will be interesting to see what else you come up with using that 'scope and maybe the QHY9 combo in future.
Hi Marc,
Yes two great Orions there and I must agree the Mewlon does appear sharper. It was also very nice to meet you face to face at camp the other week.
Enjoy the Mewlon it looks like a pretty good scope.
Nice results Marc, was great to meet you in person at SV as well
I too prefer the Mewlon image, well controlled ad those stars are sharp alright. Will be interesting to see what else you come up with using that 'scope and maybe the QHY9 combo in future.
Thanks Andy. Was good to catch up too. The mewlon should be great for long FL color work on the field. A lot easier to lug around at 8kg than my C11 which is 26kg now. Looking forward to do some galaxies and small planetaries with the FFC in color from Wiruna.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nico13
Hi Marc,
Yes two great Orions there and I must agree the Mewlon does appear sharper. It was also very nice to meet you face to face at camp the other week.
Enjoy the Mewlon it looks like a pretty good scope.
