Equus from Rigel Observatory ;-)

[cometcatcher]

Thought I'd have a poke at the Horsehead nebula over the two clear nights we had. This is 331 x 45 seconds with the GSO 10" F4, overloaded HEQ5 Pro unguided, Baader nebula filter, Pentax K-5 at Rigel Observatory. ;)

Yes I've named it Rigel Observatory, cos my cat Rigel likes to go in for a visit. It's his highlight of the day.

Collimation slipped out a bit so stars are a bit long in the top right.

I think this is my best to date but still some improvements to make. I need more Ha sensitivity so will take some further subs at some stage with a full spectrum DSLR as my K-5 is just a standard unmodified off the shelf DSLR. Imaging during the warm nights with an uncooled camera doesn't help the noise levels either.

[Retrograde]

Very nice Kevin - especially for only 45 sec subs!

[cometcatcher]

Thanks Pete! Take enough of them and they add up!

[Placidus]

It's quite a picturesque skyscape. Very pretty.

[gregbradley]

Aah its Horsehead time. This is the classic framing (perhaps a bit wider would be just perfect). Impressive for an unmodded camera.
I like how Alnitak is blaring as it is a very bright star. Nice colour.

Greg.

[cometcatcher]

It is. There's a lot going on in there.



Thanks Greg. That's as wide as the 10" goes. I just cropped a little off the edges where the dithering marks were. An 8" may frame it better.

[Shiraz]

very dramatic and spectacular image - looks good.

[cometcatcher]

Thanks Ray!

[billdan]

Very nice Kevin, lovely framing and good colours. This is one object I cannot do with my QHY12 as Alnitak just presents to me a huge halo from the reflection off the CCD window.

P.S. You will have to fix that twisted spider vane, best method is to look through the focuser barrel and its easy to fix.

Cheers
Bill

[cometcatcher]

Thanks Bill!

RE: The spider... I've been putting off fixing it. One side is quite bent and it looks like a pain to fix. Needs a big "roundtooit" :D