Sticking with the program

[multiweb]

After such an inspirational IOTW here's my go at the cone. Still not perfect, little camera tilt, but way happier with that one than all my previous attempts. That's my personal best to date. In Ha of course because my north horizon is really really bad. Captured over two nights Friday and Staturday with my C11/Hyperstar. First night was ok, second bit hazy and the seeing was noticeably worse. 23x5min so nearly 2h in 5min subs.

Bigger one here (http://www.astropic.net/astro/NGC2264_ha_HS3_HD.jpg).
Thanks for looking. :thumbsup:

[Peter Ward]

Coming along nicely. :thumbsup:

[RickS]

Looks good, Marc, especially for only 2 hours of data. It seems like Hyperstar set ups take some work to get dialed in but work well once that's done.

Cheers,
Rick.

[alocky]

Hi Marc, that's really impressive for such relatively short subs too. I guess the hyper star really speeds things up. What is the pass-band of your H-alpha filter?
Cheers,
Andrew

[allan gould]

Well done Marc as I love Ha images and yours is excellent. The hyperstar is really pulling its weight.
Allan

[Rod771]

Nice one Marc!! Congrats on the PB :thumbsup:

You may have seen this already but in case you haven't, here's (http://www.werbeagentur.org/oldwexi/hyperstar/tipstest_hyperstar.html) how Gerald Wechselberger sets up his hyperstar and removed camera tilt in the QHY8.

[strongmanmike]

Wow and from Sydney burbs too huh? Amazing area that, how high does it get from where you are?

Mike

[gregbradley]

That's looking very smooth.

Greg.

[atalas]

Looking great Marc!

[SkyViking]

Beautiful! I can see what you mean about tilt. It seems stars are tightest in the upper left corner. Where on the frame do you focus btw? I would have thought in the middle.
Cheers,
Rolf

[sjastro]

Very fine image Marc.

Steven

[multiweb]

Thanks Peter. :thumbsup: Way too kind. ;)


Thanks Rick. :thumbsup: Still got to sort out that spacing with the QHY9. Not quite there. It's bugging me. Not enough clear nights yet to dial it in.


Thanks Andrew. :thumbsup: It sure does suck the light in pretty fast but it's hard to get it right, being mobile. Getting there. After a couple of years :P


Thanks Allan. :thumbsup: Yeah it's good ROI. You always get good SNR with relatively little effort. So I end up shooting a lot of crappy pictures instead of one good one. :lol:


Thanks Rod. :thumbsup: Yes I read that article. Very good tips on collimation. I made myself a little starfield with a 100x100mm foam board and 100 little fibre optic stars. Still to try it to check field flatness.


Thanks Mike. :thumbsup: Not as high as I'd like. My north sky has gotten a lot worse since Hoxton Park airport was removed and they built a big distribution centre in its place for wollies, bigW and others. It's now a few square kilometers of warehouses and concrete radiating heat at night with a nice assortment of flood lighst 24/7. Noice!....


Thanks Greg. :thumbsup:


Thanks Louie. :thumbsup: That would look better from Coona hey? ;) Bummer I could not make it. Ross told me about a month ago but I got stuck with work. Still waiting for his pictures.


Thanks Rolf. :thumbsup: I always focus centre field. The side is out of focus due to offset and field curvature.


Thanks Steven. :thumbsup:

[DavidNg]

Nicely done Marc, little noise for 2 hours worth. Hope you will have a colored version soon.

Regards

[multiweb]

Thanks David. :thumbsup: Yeah color would be really nice but I'd have to get to a dark site this year to do that. Maybe next new moon if the weather and temperature cooperate.

[peeb61]

Wow! Nice capture Marc!

Paul

[David Fitz-Henr]

Nice capture Marc, quite smooth for just 2 hrs of data in Ha. 5mins are quite short sub too; I'm just wondering why you've kept them so short, have you found this to be more effective at f/3 ?

[multiweb]

Thanks Paul. :thumbsup:



THanks David. :thumbsup: Yeah I thought about it then I chickened out. I haven't done imaging/guiding in a while so I'll ease into longer subs later.

[Ross G]

A great looking monochrome photo Marc.

I love this object and you have captured such amazing detail.

The Hyperstar combo is really working well.

Good luck.

Ross.

[multiweb]

Thanks mate. Where are all your Coona shots? No pressure. ;)