M20 Trifid Nebula 6/10/20

[Pepper]

Bit cloudy last night but my last chance to do any imaging this week as poor weather rolls in.
After some success the previous night with 3min subs I decided to ramp it up to 5 min subs which the eq5 handled very well with the 8inch lump on board.
16x300sec
Iso800
8in f5 newt
Nikon d5300
Stacked dss, small process in gimp.

[Sunfish]

Great image there. A lot of colour and detail with the blue outer cloud coming through.

[Startrek]

Steve,
Great image of M20 Trifid considering long subs with a DSLR , just over an an hour of data , a descending target into lower altitudes in the west
Well done !!!
I still find it hard to believe your got this big long newt sitting on a peeny weeny mount and perfect round stars with 5 min subs, great stuff !!
What’s your guiding figures total rms in arc sec ??
I think your being held back in the processing department , this image would have so much more to expose
Startools !!!

Cheers
Martin

[Pepper]

Haha, unfortunately it’s the only mount I have at the moment. Be looking at getting a eq6 in the near future.
With my refractor the guiding total error sits around .9”
With the newt I average around 1.10”-1.30”.
I have my polar alignment and balance pretty good, and my eq5 has been belt modded and I’ve cleaned and greased and replaced all the bearings. So it’s a good runner.
I did download star tools this morning but I need to make my .nef files a tiff or fits somehow.
I must admit, it does look a teency bit undermounted!

[Wilsil]

Nice colors.

[Startrek]

Steve
I just checked out the specs on the eq5 and it’s max payload is 10kg ( therefore in theory Astrophotography max payload should be about 60% of that which is 6kg )
You certainly throw that theory out the door , your 8” f5 would weigh around 9.5kg + DSLR 0.5kg + guide scope and camera 1.0kg + dove tail bar etc.. 0.5kg
Total around 11.5kg ( in theory your overweight on that mount , incredible!!! )
Your guiding error is really good for that payload at around 0.90 to 1.20
I noted your counterweights are not together , they are spread apart , once again you defy physics. In theory your moment of enertia should be terrible , in practice the counterweights should be together and as close as possible to the mount when balanced
What’s your secret ??
I regard to a new mount , can I recommend the EQ6-R mount, I have two of them , one in Sydney and one down the south coast , they track and guide beautifully, max AP payload around 15kg , best all round 20kg class mount for the money ($2,500 )
In regard to Startools, I’m happy to send you info on DSS settings for Startools plus a demo work flow ( there are plenty of tutorials on the Startools site to help you navigate through the software ) Don’t be phased by Startools, is does get easier after a few sessions but there’s no limit to what it can do , I’m still finding great features after 3 years and 3 version upgrades
Cheers
Martin

[Pepper]

i probably ought to weigh it i guess.
i have no secret, just spent some time working on the mount to try to improve it.
haha, i had no idea it went against convention to have the weights seperated! i just plonked the one right at bottom and balanced it with the white one.
only theory i have is that the better balance, the less significant the weight. to a point of course.....

[AdamJL]

beautiful! Care to share processing technique?

[RyanJones]

Hi Pepper,

A very nice M20 there. Well done

I too am a serial undermounter. I’m running a 200mm f/4 on a HEQ5 pro. I think one of the key things that you’ve done which helps your guiding is running your guide scope under the OTA. Despite the excessive weight, I can attest to the difference moving the weight closer to the mount makes. I moved my focus tube directly down so my camera weight is almost on the RA axis. Of all the tuning I did to my setup I think that was one of the biggest differences. Well done for what you’ve achieved!

Cheers

Ryan

[Pepper]

Adam, sorry mate, I really have no rhyme or reason to my processing.
I follow a very very watered down version of a YouTube video I watched.
Basically futz with the levels, black point, then I just experiment with things in gimp. Lots of doing and undoing.
Then I’ll fiddle with the jpg on my iPhone or in photos to add a bit more colour.


Thanks Ryan.
I reckon your right about mounting things closer to the mount down low.
I also eliminated tube rings which are floppy as me grandads ‘you know what’
There is definitely much less movement without them.

[RyanJones]

Eliminating the tube rings has certainly given me food for thought. I’ve got quite robust rings on mine which don’t flop around but add about 1.5kg. I thought about drilling them but I calculated a reduction of only about 200g while maintaining integrity. I may have a look at tube saddles. Loosing 1kg is a 10% gain which isn’t insignificant. Good on you for thinking outside the box and making what you have work. :thumbsup:

Ryan