Still some work to do on spacing and tilt but not a bad result for 30x30s red, 30x30s green and 30x30s blue (gain 200) on a moonlit night from a heavily light polluted back yard. Lens wide open at f/2 and an IDAS filter on the front. Mount was a Star Adventurer (unguided for the moment.) Quick & dirty processing with PixInsight 1.8.5.
I have an hour of Ha and an hour of Oiii to play with next...
Thanks, Colin. The stars are still not as good as I'd like in the corners at 1:1 but I'm getting incremental improvements playing with thin spacers. I plan to change to new filters so I'm not putting too much more effort into sorting out the spacing for now because it will change...
Quote:
Originally Posted by glend
Rick it is encouraging what you have achieved with this setup from Brisbane light polluted backyard. I may find myself living in Brisbane in the near future and was dreading what that meant for astronomy (but I have the ASI1600MM-C and the narrowband and RGB filters.). Does the IDAS block all those hideous Orange lights so popular on the busways and M1,M3, etc?
Thanks, Glen. It's a wonderfully portable system. I just pick it up and carry it out onto our deck, do a quick polar alignment and I'm ready to go.
I did some subs with and without the IDAS and it does make quite a difference to the contrast. Unfortunately, it also added some strange blobs which I think must have been reflections of Saturn (which I have edited out). I believe the filter rejects spectral lines from Mercury and Sodium lights. Not sure what they use on the busways these days.
Very impressive results Rick, and what a portable and quick to set up system.
Did you encounter any flexure issues with the deck as the support structure?
Thanks, Dennis! It's so much less hassle than the AP900 and one of the big scopes so I hope to get a lot more use out of it, especially during summer when good weather is so rare and fleeting.
I have assumed that since I'm imaging at around 6 arcsec/pixel that I can largely ignore that the scope is three floors in the air (and generally pointing over the roof to our kitchen and living room.) So far that assumption seems OK. I focus using a small ROI at greater than 1:1. I should try walking around while I do it to see how much wobble I get. I do walk softly whenever I approach the tripod just in case
That is looking good Rick. Do you find the gaffer tape boots induce low vibrations when walking around the mount? Might be worth trialing duct tape to see if it is any better?
That is looking good Rick. Do you find the gaffer tape boots induce low vibrations when walking around the mount? Might be worth trialing duct tape to see if it is any better?
Thanks, Peter. With the warmer weather I've been wearing tapeless flip flops with integrated bottle openers. I don't know if they are better from a vibration POV but at least I can open a beer with them
Looking good Rick. Maybe you should be putting a reducer on the FSQ and trying in between wide-field with that too?
Ta, Rob. I have a few plans. Might end up with at least a couple of wide field systems imaging in parallel. Would be nice to have a combination effectively running at f/1 or less
Well if you can take a shot like that in moonlight and LP from your place, the sky is yours! That wide lens will be great for close passing comets (when we get one).
Nice start Rick, joining the club eh? It's a refreshing change. Great lens that seems, well the DSW boys get great results at least!
Yeah, thought I'd give it a go after playing around with my D800 at Astrofest, Simon. It's nice to get (relatively) quick results.
Quote:
Originally Posted by cometcatcher
Well if you can take a shot like that in moonlight and LP from your place, the sky is yours! That wide lens will be great for close passing comets (when we get one).
Thanks, Kevin. I haven't imaged a comet before but that sounds like a lot of fun!
Quote:
Originally Posted by ozstronomer
Great image Rick, looks like that combo will give some nice results
How does the Samyang compare to the Zeiss?
Ta, Geoff. The focus isn't quite as smooth but the Samyang seems to be a great lens, especially for the price.
Quote:
Originally Posted by gregbradley
A very good first light Rick. I would prefer the image the other way up though.
Widefield imaging is a lot of fun and opens up larger patterns than our normal view.
The Samyang 135 F2 has a good reputation.
Thanks, Greg. It was a test shot with no real thought given to composition... but I should have known better
Quote:
Originally Posted by willik
Very nice image Rick your images always look good
Thanks, Martin.
Quote:
Originally Posted by LewisM
Time to sell all that Astrophysics junk now Rick...
I might keep it just in case I get sick of wide field, Lewis
