Omega Centauri -ED80-Atik314L-20th April

[Screwdriverone]

Hi All,

I had a few clear nights over the 10 day break so I have been trying out the ED80 Takawatcher I bought from Lewis with the Atik camera and the Orion 0.8x Focal Reducer combo.

Tracking seems to be much easier with the lighter and less bulky load and I got an Orion Dual Finder bracket for my birthday so I had the Starship Enterprise going on with the two finderscopes, one for visual alignment and one for guiding with the ZWO ASI120MC. :)

So, here is one of the first out of the batch of images (rusty processed) but seems to look quite good starwise and colourwise.

A lot to learn with the new scope combo, but hey, at least I don't have to collimate the sucker, so that's a plus :D

Just a quicky, 1 hour (main) and 12 mins (core) total exposures, lights, darks, flats and bias used. Processed in PS CS5 and stacked in DSS. This was imaged at F6 using the Focal Reducer. Looks like I need to get a 2" LP filter for the front of it as the 1.25" wont work with the 2" FR....

Hope you like it, critiques are welcome.

Cheers

Chris

[Dennis]

Loving those round stars with the core resolved right to the very centre. That ED80 seems to be punching above its weight – I was surprised at the image scale and resolution when I first viewed the image.

Cheers

Dennis

[Screwdriverone]

Thanks Dennis :D

Yes, the Atik 314L only has 1.4MP at 6.45um size, so the FOV on my 1000mm Newt means I can get in nice and close, with the Orion 0.8x FR in the imaging train, the FL of the scope goes from 600mm to 480mm which is F6, BUT the camera brings it up nice and close, so Omega fills the view :D

I have a few more I am trying to process, namely the Lagoon, Eta Carinae and M104, just shaking the cobwebs out of my brain.

I DO like the round stars without having to collimate, though. Polar alignment was pretty rough but the light weight of the scope and finders meant PHD kept it well under control enough for 5 min subs.

Thanks for the comments ;)

Cheers

Chris

[Dennis]

Hi Chris

Thanks for clarifying the equipment side for me. I mistakenly read that the ‘scope used was the ED80 refractor and not the x0.8 FR…doh!

That explains the absence of any CA!:thumbsup:

Cheers

Dennis

[Screwdriverone]

LOL, nice one Dennis,

It is amazing how good the ED80 performs on the moon and bright stars, I could not find ANY CA on the moon's limbs or in brighter stars at all.

Sure is a corker this one.

Cheers

Chris

[Larryp]

Great result, Chris :thumbsup:

[Screwdriverone]

Thanks Laurie :D

Cheers

Chris