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seeker372011
25-03-2005, 10:50 PM
I know that you are not supposed to be imaging DSOs when there is a nearly full moon but when you have a new scope (a C8N), camera (Canon 300D), and you have had two clear nights snce you acquired the new gear two months ago, its hard not to try despite the brilliance of a nearly full moon.

last night was clear after what seemed an eternity , it was the night before the Easter weekend, so I had to give it a go. Tried guiding for the first time ever.

I mounted my 60 mm department store scope piggy back on my C8 and with my Atik 1 c plugged in, used this to manually guide the rig, after a rough polar alignment. (no drift alignment)

soon I discovered I didnt have the dexterity to manually guide an Equatorial mount- but my teenage son -(all those hours playing video games came in handy)-he had no trouble- after a little training -keeping alignment with the hand control- and was persuaded to hand guide the mount

this is one single 5 minute exposure at ISO 800..it got a bit washed out by sky glow but that was fixed by adjusting the blackpoint in Photoshop, and a liitle bit of processing

The framing could have been better but was determined more by the availability of a guide star

the result appears promising-am looking forward to what this arrangement can achieve when there is no moon

Realised after it was too late that I had imaged in medium resolution not high ..yet another operator error
:confused: :confused:

Rodstar
25-03-2005, 11:01 PM
Seeker, what a beautiful image.

Good to hear also that you are putting your teenage son to good use. I am yet to determine how my 6, 3 and 2 year kids can assist me, other than, perhaps, bringing me some chocolate!

With more images like that, we really will have to rename you, "Finder".

Regards to your wife and daughter too!

Rodstar

[1ponders]
25-03-2005, 11:54 PM
Wow!!. :eek:How did you get so much red toning using the 300D? Have you had the IR filter removed. That's great, especially after only having gotten to use the camera for such a short period.

RAJAH235
26-03-2005, 12:30 AM
Really nice pic there Seeker, errrrrr, Founder. :D L.

ballaratdragons
26-03-2005, 01:48 AM
First Shot!!!! WOW!!!! That's brilliant Seek&Find.

It's great to get our kids involved.

I have recently let my 12 y.o. son loose with my 12" Dob and he is pretty good with it, and he is disabled! Goes to show the ease of use of Dobbers for anyone.

iceman
26-03-2005, 06:16 AM
Very very nice Narayan! Brilliant colour and the keyhole looks fantastic!

Astroman
26-03-2005, 07:14 AM
Thats a very nice shot, the young autoguider did a very good job. Oh you did a good job too pressing the button on the camera. :D

gbeal
26-03-2005, 08:40 AM
Nice shot Seeker, and top marks for delegation.
Question I have, is why not use the Aitik to autoguide?
Easier.

Robby
26-03-2005, 09:07 AM
My thoughts as well..! What mount do you have? It may be a simple matter of hooking it up K3CCDTools or Guidedog.
Cheers

seeker372011
26-03-2005, 09:08 AM
well this was my first attempt at guiding so I used the Cyborg-drive...once i get a bit comfortable, I 'll try auto guiding. The mount has an auto guiding port and I think GuideDog should work.

In the meantime continue to use the Cyborg- a little bribery goes a long way

Its a un modded out- of- the box canon. The red was adjusted using levels in photoshop

Thanks for the nice comments folks. Can't wait for a dark night

ving
26-03-2005, 01:37 PM
so rich in colour!
good shot :)

rumples riot
26-03-2005, 02:15 PM
Very Nice Carina, lovely colour. Good to see some nice stuff in the DSO section again.

Rodstar
26-03-2005, 08:37 PM
Seeker, you'll have to put in an entry into the SPSP astrophotography comp next year! An IceinSpacer is due for a prize!

Rodstar