Backyard LUM M8/M20 - CN-212/QHY9

[multiweb]

We had two decent clear nights in Sydney leading up to this week-end so I got the CN-212 out with a LUM filter as the moon was gone. Friday night was good and seeing was sort of ok. Saturday was also clear but the seeing noticeably worse.

Two good nights to figure this out with the mount and the scope. The mount did a great job tracking/guiding so pretty chuffed with that after all the troubles I went through the past few months.

The scope is well collimated, pretty spot on actually at the zenith and I finally figured out the moonlite focuser at the back has some flex which is what is causing star shapes in some of the fov edges to look slightly oblong. I think the rotator with the three grab screws might be the cause or maybe the draw tube. I'll have to investigate further but I'm seriously looking into fitting the camera at the back and moving the primary to focus now.

I managed 38x5min on M8 Friday night with a Baader UV/IR cut LUM filter and 36x5min on M20 on Saturday. Unfortunately Saturday the seeing let me down big time so I couldn't get the level of details I was expecting. Next time.

Here's M8 first:

1 to 1 (http://www.astropic.space/astro/M8_CN-212_LUM_121.jpg) [3336x2496 - 1.4MB]

HD (http://www.astropic.space/astro/M8_CN-212_LUM_HD.jpg) [1920x1437 - 621KB]

... and M20:

1 to 1 (http://www.astropic.space/astro/M20_CN-212_LUM_121.jpg) [3336x2496 - 1.7MB]

HD (http://www.astropic.space/astro/M20_CN-212_LUM_HD.jpg) [1920x1437 - 722KB]

Will collect more LUM data under better conditions and potentially some colour down the road. :thumbsup:

[Peter Ward]

At 1:1 looks soft.

You'd never see it at a FL of 500mm ;)

..But I know from bitter experience tight stars at FL+2500mm are like rare birds....worth capturing.... if only to see their beauty for a moment :thumbsup:

[multiweb]

Definitely. Looking into rigid camera attachment and AO. Got one, might as well use it. :)

[Atmos]

Really nice Marc! Interested to see what improvement you see with SO :)

[Ryderscope]

Nice to see the result of some good imaging on Fri/Sat Marc. I noticed the same as well where Friday was much better with the seeing. Will be good to track progress with your set up. The CN212 looks to be a nice OTA.

[Placidus]

The hourglass on the Lagoon came out superbly. The way the cluster stars burst forth is also very fine.

[multiweb]

Thanks Colin. :thumbsup: Stars would be a lot tighter with an AO for sure but in the end you need a stable atmosphere at that FL.


Thanks Rodney. :thumbsup: Those two nights were perfect otherwise, no wind, no dew. Love that scope. I haven't used it to its full potential yet but I've had glimpses of what it's capable of.


Thanks Mike. :thumbsup: Yeah it's not too bad considering. Hopefully we get some good nights again to go out and play. Starting to look for Galaxies and small clusters that will fill the fov nicely.

[Dennis]

Hi Marc

Wow - so these were taken at 2650mm focal length, with no Focal Reducer; that is very impressive in terms of the overall system and set up, and of course your skills.:)

Really nice work and I'm looking forward to some colour data being added down the track.:)

5 min subs at 2650mm, very nice.:thumbsup:

Cheers

Dennis

[multiweb]

Thanks mate. :thumbsup: I have a filter wheel somewhere than I've never used so might try some RGB or put the QHY8 at the back and do it the easy way. :)