First light for Ceravolo 300 - NGC 5139

[RickS]

With the briefly improved weather I was able to spend some time at home testing and tweaking a newish addition to my scope collection.

Imaging was cut short by clouds followed by rain, the moon was up and I was imaging with light-polluted skies (inner suburbs of Brisbane) so I wasn't expecting a masterpiece, but I think it turned out OK.

Scope: Ceravolo 300 Astrograph at f/4.9 (1470mm focal length)
Camera: Apogee Alta U16M, Astrodon Gen 2 LRGB filters
Guiding: Lodestar and MMOAG
Mount: Astro-Physics AP900

There's about 155 mins of data: 35 mins Lum and 40 mins each of R, G, B. Subs were a mix of very short (0.5s for Lum, 1s for colour) and 5 mins for the rest. Processing done in PixInsight.

Higher res versions here: http://rickstevenson.smugmug.com/Astro-Photography/2013-05/i-fbzhLzj/0/X3/NGC5139_LRGB_sRGB_med-X3.jpg
and here: http://rickstevenson.smugmug.com/Astro-Photography/2013-05/i-B2F4xLv/0/X3/NGC5139_LRGB_sRGB_crop-X3.jpg

I'm looking forward to getting this scope out to some darker skies!

Cheers,
Rick.

[sjastro]

Very nice first light Rick.

Steven

[jsmoraes]

Very nice pic. I liked very much. We can perceive how much stars populate the cluster. Colors and definition are excellent.

[Shiraz]

cracker image Rick - fine resolution and excellent colour - looks like the dynamic range management technique delivers the goods. regards Ray

[DavidTrap]

Looks impressive Rick!

Is there some elongation of the stars in bottom corners??

DT

[Larryp]

Superb, Rick!

[DavidNg]

Nice shots from mighty arsenals. really like to star colors

[RickS]

Thanks, Steven!



Yes, it's an impressive ball of stars. Thanks, Jorge.



Thanks, Ray. I did some 3d plots of the star profiles with and without HDR and the improvement is very obvious.



Thanks, David. Yes, there's still a bit of tilt that I have to fix. The downside of a big sensor in a heavy camera.



Thank you, Laurie.



And thanks, David.

[ozstronomer]

Nice work Rick, that scope is producing lovely results.

Stars are sharp and the field looks flat, no sign of any tilt.

Geoff

[multiweb]

What a beauty! :thumbsup: Someone's been splashing real hard. Should we blame you for the weather?

[gregbradley]

Whoa, beautiful image. Gorgeous. Looks more like a high quality APO shot than a compound scope.

That minor elongation in the very corners looks more like slightly wrong corrector spacing as its on all 4 corners.

Greg.

[pmrid]

It's going to be a great winter if that's any indication of what is to come from that scope Rick.
Peter

[RickS]

Thanks, Geoff, but you need to look more closely ;)



Thanks, Marc. I also have an AG12 sitting here waiting for first light so I'm surprised it hasn't been raining salamanders!



Thanks, Greg. The problem in the corners seems to move around. I think something in the secondary assembly is moving. Peter Ceravolo has given me some things to check and suggested some washers to increase tension in the springs that hold collimation. I think I have a little tilt as well so it's probably a combination of problems.



It was a promising start, thanks Peter. I hope to get the Ceravolo up to Ten Chain some time soon and see what it can do under better skies.

[Tandum]

Are you guys living in a caravan in the driveway while the house is full of astro gear :lol:

Looking good mate.

[Dennis]

That is one of the very few large image scale Omega Centauri images that I have seen that is bitingly and naturally sharp without being artificially sharpened due to processing. The star colours are gorgeous too.

Cheers

Dennis

[astronobob]

Wow, very nice Rick :thumbsup: Winter, here you come :P

[RickS]

Both the kids have left home. Heaps of scope storage space, Robin ;)



Ta, Dennis! I tried deconvolution and it really wasn't an improvement. I settled for an almost imperceptible wavelet sharpening but it was probably unnecessary.



Thanks, Bob. Looking forward to some clear nights for all of us!

[DavidU]

Awesome ! That is one drool type scope.:thumbsup:

[RobF]

Wowser, what a rig. Looking VERY good for starters Rick :thumbsup:
If I bump into this at 10Chain I'll just smell and listen to it all humming for a while I think :D

[RickS]

Thanks, Dave. I wouldn't have been able to sneak the expense of a new one past my darling wife but she was OK with secondhand when I told her it was just like it was on special ;)



Thanks, Rob. Hope to have it up there soon!

[Paul Haese]

Nice work Rick. I like the saturation but maybe the blue is a little too much for my taste. Great resolution.

[multiweb]

AG12 as well... wow!... you're going for a bino set up? ;)

[RickS]

Thanks, Paul. I don't mind the blue but I can see it might not be to everybody's taste :D



Might use the AG12 for RGB while the Ceravolo collects Luminance :thumbsup:

[multiweb]

:lol: man of leisure.

[strongmanmike]

Two fast 12" astrographs...oh the decadence.... :evil:

Nice first light mate - good'ol Omega huh? :thumbsup:

Mike

[naskies]

Wow, what a set up! Glad to see that after all the grief with the camera you're ready to winter data collection :thumbsup:

[RickS]

I'd like two 20" ones but I'm not that decadent yet, Mike :D Omega is one of the few targets that is bright enough to image well despite the light pollution here at home.



Thanks, Dave. The camera is working well now with its "a few days from end of warranty sensor transplant." Just hoping for a few months of great weather. I think we deserve it after the last few months!

Cheers,
Rick.

[Ross G]

Hi Rick,

Great photo and great equipment.

Good luck.

Ross.

[Stevec35]

Nice work Rick!

Cheers

Steve

[RickS]

Thanks, Ross & Steve!

[David Fitz-Henr]

That's an impressive first light image Rick, very nice indeed! Well done :thumbsup:

[RickS]

Thanks, David.