An image after a short drought

[strongmanmike]

Hello IIS dudes :hi:

It's been a while...but I'm back :P

I was testing out the SXV-H9 as an autoguider last night to confirm
that I will be able to use it to guide the FLI PL11002 when it arrives and it worked a
dream! Afterwards I decided to take an image from light poluted Canberra
(from behind the Aust War Memorial!) to see how easy it was to get a
reasonable image - first one from new Mt Campbell Observatory! :-).

This was 60min worth of Luminance with the 6" Starfire and I used last years 80ED image
for the RGB.

480K image:

http://www.pbase.com/strongmanmike2002/image/66740531/original (http://www.pbase.com/strongmanmike2002/image/66740531/original)

25K image:

http://www.pbase.com/strongmanmike2002/image/66740531/large (http://www.pbase.com/strongmanmike2002/image/66740531/large)

The seeing was below average and I had a few minor problems with the autoguiding as a result. I have found the tiny pixels of the SXV-H9 coupled with the fine optics of the AP152EDF means autoguiding must be peeeerfect or trails are noticable in the smallest stars after sharpening.

After 2 years under dark skies the milkier skies in a city are not atractive :(

Anyway nice to be back in the land of the imagers again and if anyone is interested here is the strategic plan for Mt Campbell Observatory Mark II :thumbsup:

http://www.pbase.com/strongmanmike2002/new_observatory

Cheers

Mike

Mike

[iceman]

Just a beautiful shot, Mike! So much detail right to the core.

Nice work.

So you're not moving to Newcastle now?

[matt]

At the extreme risk of pointing out the bleedin' obvious ... that is a very nice image!

Well done Mike.

[Ric]

Fantastic image Mike,
The depth and detail is awesome.
The new scope and equipment look great, I can hardly wait to see the images that are produced from it.

cheers

[spearo]

WOAH! seriously detailled shot! OK, they have my permission to shut down the Hubble now, we dont need it anymore I guess...
frank

[[1ponders]]

Lovely image Mike. Almost 3D :thumbsup:


I must admit thought I got a bit of a chuckle at your setup. I don't feel as bad now that I see all the cabling under your table :lol:;)

[h0ughy]

nice, could you burn out the core next time so that it looks like a shot taken by me or others so we can fairly compare:D great image Mike:thumbsup:

[Dennis]

Hi Mike

That is simply a wonderful image – exquisite detail throughout.

I also like the humorous comment: "SXV-H9 CCD (no darks, no flats and no image smoothing - an idiot proof camera!)". Looks like an interesting camera!

Also had a browse of the Austrian site and can see why you are so excited about the new OTA.

Cheers

Dennis

[dugnsuz]

Lovely shot Mike.
And, the sample images from the new OTA site are stunning - that has got to be the best Whirlpool galaxy shot I've seen from an "amateur" scope.
Cheers
Doug:thumbsup:

[Striker]

Really nice Mike,

Look forward to your images when the new camera arrives.

[ballaratdragons]

Mike, just looking at the front end of the Astrograph. Those spider vanes are mighty thick!!! I hope they aren't a problem.

[rogerg]

Very nice image.

Out of curiosity - what software do you use for guiding with the SXV-H9?

Roger.

[strongmanmike]

Thanks Mike

Glad you liked it :-)

Mike

[strongmanmike]

Thanks Matt! :-)

[strongmanmike]

You and me both Ric! :-)

[strongmanmike]

Hi Spero

One can only imagine the full res image produced by Hubble!!! Of course it would need a few frames to capture it all.

Mike

[strongmanmike]

Hi Paul

Yeh the cable tango is a pain and one (big!) thing I miss about the LX200GPS in the dome, all that was necessary then was the Mr Miaggi ie... turn on, turn off - simple! :-)

Mike

[strongmanmike]

Thanks Dave!

It's not hard to not burn the core out, it just takes a little DDP :-)

Mike

[strongmanmike]

Hi Dennis

The SXV-H9 really is an excellent camera and I thourougly recomend it if you are interested in moving up to the finely detailed and smooth images that only a good CCD camera can really deliver (IMHO).

I am sure while of course it is a much bigger chip and an excellent camera the PL11002 from FLI will require more work to complile the real stunners...?

:-)

Mike

[strongmanmike]

Hi Doug

Hmmm?...Wolfgangs M51 shot is good yes but this is the best amateur shot of M51 and by a long way (20" RC on a Paramount though):

http://www.rc-astro.com/php/displayImage.htm?id=1016

The real stunners with the ASA N12 and PL11002 will be the wider field shots of star clouds and nebulae. I have ordered the F7 extender (giving 2000mmFL) though for the closer-up longer focal length galaxy and planetaryimages :-)

Mike

[strongmanmike]

Thanks Striker and so do I LOL :-)

[strongmanmike]

I'm totally with you on this and ASA are modifying them to be thinner per my request he he he. I'm trying to think of everything with this setup as I am hoping it will prove to be THE setup to end all setups (while still being portable of course) which is probably impossible...but heck I'm giving it a go! LOL :-)

Mike

[tornado33]

Good shot there.
yes the scopes are a novel idia. Ive always thought it time for fast Newtonians with corectors. It seems only last few years has it been possible to correct fast Newtonians well. The Multi purpose coma corrector works brilliantly on newtonians down to f4, and even well on my 6inch F3.6 schmidt newt, so custom built ones for F2 to F3 scopes would be great.
So the FLI cameras are better then SBIG ones?
Scott

[strongmanmike]

Hi Scott

Yes the fast Newts are having a resurgence after the market has been dominated by RC's. Exceptional quality fast corrected Newtonians are cheaper too!

I decided on FLI after considering all the options and features. The FLI was better in all respects really, except the self guide capability. I decided that I have good success with piggyback guiding anyway, particularly with the NJP mount and given the fast F3.8 of the ASA my subs need only be 5min in most cases anyway and great signal to noise should be possible even on faint objects, so differencial flexure will be rare anyway. Thus it was a fairly easy choice in the end (fingers crossed) :-)

Mike