Best NGC 253 with new setup!

[Garyh]

Hi all, :hi:
Well a have been busy setting up my new g-8 mount and my finally completed 6" f/5.6 newt. Had a go imaging M20 and ngc253 over the last three days. Had to adjust the Ra for slop and still needs more attention as well as my guiding. Not used to guiding at the longer focal lenght!! Hard by hand guide and many frames are too trailed to stack..:doh:.Don`t know how you guys go with handguiding 10-12" stuff!!
Anyways here is the best of NGC 253 which is 5 frames at 5min at 800 iso with darks subtracted and processed in PS..
Comments welcome..
Cheers Gary

[Striker]

Very nice 253 Gary,

I'm with you on the handguiding.....I'ts not as easy as it sounds....I have lots of respect and admiration for the guys who handguide but I also think there mad...lol

Great job.

[RB]

Very nice indeed Gary. I like it.
Yes I have the utmost respect for handguiders.

[iceman]

Beautiful work Gary, no more blue halos around stars!

Lovely shot.

[Lee]

Looks good Gary..... Lots of fine detail there....

[tornado33]

great colouration there, yellow core and blue arms, as it should be :)
Good handguiding too.
Hand guiding isnt too bad if the polar alingment is spot on, though I dont have an observatory, the mount itself is permanently set up, and well covered against sun and rain. Getting a nice bright guidestar is the key too, makes it so much easier. I also have my mount slightly out of balance so theres always a light load on the drive, avoiding slop in the gears and reducing periodic errors.
Scott

[EzyStyles]

thats a great NGC253 gary. i like how the background is so smooth and dark.

[Lester]

Nice one Gary.

another help with hand guiding is to magnify guide star at least 6x more than the capture device.

[Ric]

Great image Gary,
theres a lot clarity and detail in that shot

cheers

[Garyh]

Hi everyone,
Thanks for the comments. At least I was able to salvage a pic from it. I done a total of 15 frames till midnight only to get 5 ok ones..
I use a 70x500 scope with a 5x powermate and a 12mm eyepiece for guiding which I thought would give me enough magnification which is about 200x ? Maybe I need a little more magnification? Mind you I made the crosshairs in the eyepiece with copper wire and a led with the guiding box about .7mm in the middle.
As a guess it gives me a box 20 arc secs across,I can usually keep the star in the centre fairly well but maybe thats my problem?
I thought there was some sort of sagging happening but was always in RA so must be my guiding.
Any cheers everyone and CS
Gary...:thumbsup:

[Lee]

was this shot taken through the 6" Newt Gary?

[Garyh]

Hi Lee, yes with the 6" newt. Still a few things to fix up but up and running..:thumbsup:
Heres Sundays night go at it also..Registax would not do it so had to stack in PS...11 frames at 3min 1600 iso. All done in PS..
Cheers Gary

[cristian abarca]

Beautiful work Gary. See what a good mirror can do. Now for more apperture.:lol:

Regards Cristian

[Garyh]

Ohh no not more.. Cristian...:lol:
Thanks for the help with the ronchi testing, saved me a heap of time....
and very happy with the final mirror even at 360x image is good though a little soft. Looking at the moon feels like you are in orbit!!!
Cheers Gary

[beren]

Nice work to go with your new mount :D