Keyhole Ha with AO

[multiweb]

Got my AO working this week-end. :cool: Saturday was a bit more like figuring things out and getting frustrated (mostly with MAXIM) but it finally worked on Sunday night. I got about an hour and a half in 5min subs on the keyhole. Little noisy but way better than my first attempt. I have a higher res here (http://www.astropic.net/astro/keyhole_ha_AO_HD.jpg). Now I have to work out how to hold my focus better and a tilt I have with the camera sensor. Not sure what it is yet but the guiding was excellent. Just left the rig for 2h unattended and watched the F1 on telly. That's the life. :lol:

[Mighty_oz]

That's a nice image u got there Marc, what was the image train ?

[RickS]

Nice job, Marc. I spent half the weekend trying to get ACP to guide after a meridian flip so I understand the frustration bit :lol:

[multiweb]

Thanks mate. 90mm APO. Rig pic is here (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showpost.php?p=981513&postcount=22).



Thanks Rick. Yep that's how it felt. :)

[alistairsam]

wow, those stars are tiny. Can't get better than that.
But it does look a bit soft, can't be focusing cause your stars are pin point, maybe processing? was it 1x1 bin?
would you have a fit file to play with?

Cheers
Alistair

[alpal]

Wow - they are the smallest stars in town.
I didn't know Adaptive Optics was that good.

Please post a pic of your setup.

cheers
Allan

[multiweb]

Sure. Here it is (http://www.astropic.net/astro/keyhole_ha_AO.rar). [16.5MB]. Most of the nebs in the region are fairly soft features but for a few boks and ridges. Most people are used to see it sharpened at lower res.


No worries . Here it is (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showpost.php?p=981513&postcount=22).

[DavidU]

Killa image Marc !

[multiweb]

Thanks David. :thumbsup:

[peter_4059]

Great image Marc. The gear pic is a killa! Why is the CW bar threaded?

[multiweb]

Thanks Peter. :thumbsup: That G11 I got was a custom job. It's reinforced to carry a little more weight and it has a titan shaft.

[alpal]

Thanks Marc for the photos of your setup.
Does it use 2 guide cameras - one for the Lodestar OAG
& another in the SX-AOL ?

It would certainly be a difficult system to setup on a portable mount
but it must be a great feeling to have it all working?

cheers
Allan

[multiweb]

Hi Allan, the only guide camera is the lodestar on a pick up prism. It's behind the AO which is only a big 10mm piece of glass and in front of the imaging camera which has the Ha filter on it. The lodestar takes a picture of a guide star 5 times per second through the glass plate and the glass plate tilts to recenter the star when it moves. When the star goes out of the tilt range of the glass plate, then the mount is bumped into guiding mode to recenter the star then falls back into tracking.

[alpal]

Thanks Marc,
how many times per minute does the tilt mirror go out of range
& require the mount to move?

[multiweb]

Depends on your mount and how well aligned you are. Last night it was bumping once or twice per minute while I was watching it.

[alpal]

Thanks Marc,
Yes of course it depends on how close the polar alignment is.

As an interesting aside:
Has anyone ever run 2 cameras - one for the OAG & another
for the SX-AOL which would surely give even better pics?
( Then the SX-AOL would never go out of range. )

[SkyViking]

Wow that resolution is incredible Marc! :eyepop:
Seems like a fantastic piece of gear you've got there, now I want one as well... :lol:
I'm certainly looking forward to more of this:thumbsup:

[multiweb]

Yes I did guide once with a QHY5 on a finder 8x50 with PHD. Then had the AO doing its thing with the lodestar. That was on a C11 at prime focus.

The thing is that the AO never goes out of range. 50%/50% is centered. You select a threshold so if it hits let's say 30% or 70% on any axis then the mount is bumped. The bump doesn't affect the AO because it corrects faster than the star shift. TBH guiding with another camera didn't improve anything. Just more USB and power cables to worry about,

[alpal]

That's great Marc - I think I want one too but I don't think I have sufficient back focus on my Newt.

You'll do well with that setup - very impressive.

cheers
Allan

[multiweb]

What you do is barlow your newt. This way you'll sink the focal point inside you focuser tube towards the primary and have plenty of room to fit the AO thickness outside.

[E_ri_k]

Love it Marc :) Nice gear too:thumbsup:
Erik

[multiweb]

Thanks Rolf. :thumbsup: I've had the AO for a while actually (2yrs). I bought it to image with the C11 at prime. Figured out really quick that I would never be able to guide at 3m FL. Then the hyperstar got in the way of long FL imaging and all the surgery I did on the poor thing. :lol: It's only recently with your IR work when I tried to do it and dusted off the AO. I plan to use it a lot more to do IR work with the refractor now.



Thanks Erik. :thumbsup:

[gregbradley]

Fantastic resolution Marc. Stars are pinpoint.

Greg.

[Shiraz]

that looks really nice Marc - excellent stars. Regards ray

[dvj]

Looking at your large image... I have nothing to add but Well Done!

[ourkind]

Great capture Marc very smooth and detailed! :thumbsup:

[multiweb]

Thanks Greg. :thumbsup: Not as good as they could be. Funny shape still. Bit of flaring on the big ones. Still to track down where that comes from. Can't blame the guiding this time. I had something similar with the QHY8 on occasions when the camera wasn't exactly square in the focuser tube extensions.


Thanks again Ray. :thumbsup:


Thanks a lot John. :thumbsup: Glad you liked it.


Thank you very much Carlos. :thumbsup:

[troypiggo]

Thought I'd commented on this. Lovely tight stars in the centre. Wish I could justify AO :)

[multiweb]

Thanks mate. Look at it this way. It's something you buy only once and you can use it on many scopes. When it works it's beautiful. It's a real pita to setup though, let alone power it.

[David Fitz-Henr]

That's a very nice image Marc, especially for just 90mm of aperture! Some very good detail in there :thumbsup::thumbsup:

[Ross G]

A great photo Marc.

Amazing detail and beautiful tones.

Nice composition too.


Ross.

[multiweb]

Thanks David. :thumbsup: Yeah the resolution is pretty good.


Thanks a lot mate. :thumbsup:

[atalas]

Hi Marc

Hey excellent result mate!so,I can see why your excited with the AO unit and you've convinced me to look into one.

ps.great catching up again last night....

[multiweb]

Thanks mate. Told you. ;)
Yeah good catching up. Let's do it again sometime. Too long between drinks. :thumbsup: