NGC1381 and friends

[Peter Ward]

Not bad conditions last night :) so I decided to finish off this Fornax field with some colour.

Sorry no mega-data, due lack of free time.

The one thing that drove me nuts were satellites. Nearly every colour frame captured some orbiting interloper!

Gradients were also a problem...as you'd expect with imaging from southern Sydney :rolleyes:

I expect when time permits I'll re-jig the data with Pixinsight. For now MaxIm's reduction tools will have to do.

Anyway, the link is here (http://www.atscope.com.au/BRO/gallery284.html)

[alpal]

Looking great Peter,
Might be clear tonight & if so - I'll have a go at NGC 1365.

[Larryp]

Very nice, Peter!

[Peter Ward]

Ta.. Yep NGC1365 is a pearl....but it needs focal length to do justice to.



Thanks Laurie.. I suspect I'll work on it a bit more and post a few unheralded updates from time to time at the same URL.

[dvj]

Really small stars!

[LewisM]

I feel your pain. In 9 of my M78 images I took recently I have either satellite or meteor streaks. One odd one though was an asteroid - I watched it live in the guide cam - quite bright, and took 2.5 minutes to go from the top to the bottom of the frame. Maybe a geo-sync, but not sure.

Don't ***** to me about gradients or I will corner the bacon stock cube market! :mad2: I am going to HAVE to purchase a sodium vapor filter.

[clive milne]

As per your usual form, a very aesthetically pleasing image Peter.
While I am sure the equipment you use helps, kudos for the processing.
c

[multiweb]

Awesome colors. You make it all look too easy. :)

[Peter Ward]

Thanks Marc. Easy? Well certainly getting good raw data helps, the better that looks, the less I have to process afterwards .:thumbsup:


Thanks Clive, I'm not too sure about the gear though...old technology Kodak chips and SBIG cameras after all :lol:


Almost certainly a geosynchronous satellite..... But still, at least there are work arounds.


Ta John, I think the 9 micron pixels work well with the RHA. At full res the sampling still looks good, but with good signal gain as well. :thumbsup:

[gregbradley]

Fabulous. The AOX is showing its presence there as well. Its quite an achievement to get such perfect stars across such a large field.
All those galaxies.

Greg.

[Stevec35]

Very impressive Peter

Cheers

Steve

[Peter Ward]

Ta Steve... You new RC results have not gone unnoticed as well :thumbsup::thumbsup:


Thanks Greg, I was quite pleased with the stars in NGC 1365 as it was at the extreme edge of the field, but they show no elongation whatsoever.

The AOX would pay more dividends in a STXL format (nil filter attenuation) but for my setup, it also has a window big enough for a 16803 sensor. I am pleased to say it worked brilliantly with luminance on the STX. :)

[IanP]

Nice work Peter,
I can stare at this image for ages, so much to see ..
:thumbsup:

[Peter Ward]

Thanks....I'll upload a few 1:1 crops in time....much more to see :thumbsup:

[gregbradley]

The AOX would pay more dividends in a STXL format (nil filter attenuation) but for my setup, it also has a window big enough for a 16803 sensor. I am pleased to say it worked brilliantly with luminance on the STX. :)[/QUOTE]

I see. So can you get the filter wheel with the chip in it for the STX16803? Or would it pay to add a MMOAG (it needs about 40mm of backfocus)?

Greg.

[Peter Ward]

No. The FWG-STXL only supports 50mm filters.

The STX uses 65mm (ok..just to confuse the issue, you can also use a 50mm, seven position carousel...but you can no longer use the internal guide chip)

Certainly an (unfiltered) AO-X solution with the STX is the remote guide head and a MMOAG, but as I am near the limit of the RHA backfocus with the FW5+AOx+STX, it wouldn't work for me on that scope.