Ryderscope
06-06-2021, 11:00 AM
An area of nebulosity in Centaurus surrounding the star Lambda Centauri a.k.a. the "Running Chicken Nebula". This image has been taken with a Canon 60Da / Tak FSQ106 piggy backed on top of my main imaging rig, a Tak TSA120 and QSI683. See attached thumbnail for a picture of the setup.
I was curious to see how the Skywatcher EQ8 mount would perform carrying the extra payload - it worked fine and guiding was operating very well throughout the data capture. I also wanted to test out the concept of capturing wide field data simultaneously whilst imaging a smaller field with the main scope.
Guiding and mount control was operating through the main scope whilst the piggybacked set up was only capturing data. Auto focus was operating on both the main scope and the piggyback scope. To keep things simple (and maintain my sanity :D), I had a second computer running the capture software and auto focus for the 60Da/FSQ106.
Throughout the data capture session that was being run on the main scope, the Canon 60Da was clacking away taking 3 minute exposures at ISO 800. The set up worked well and has established the concept as a workable option for future projects.
I was pleased to see how well the Canon 60Da brought out the colour and depth of the Ha present in this region. I have had this camera for a few years and produced some good images from it but this is the first time that I have pushed it with a solid 3+ hours of integration time. This worked well to the extent that I hardly had to apply any noise reduction at all. Pixinsight is the main processing software and I used the Starnet process to remove the stars prior to enhancing the nebula and then recombining with the original image.
Link to Astrobin post here. (https://astrob.in/o0l5f5/B/)
Click on image in Astrobin for a larger version.
Edit: And - also, for those that want to look a little closer - see if you can find the planetary nebula PK294-00.1 :)
Clear skies,
Rodney
I was curious to see how the Skywatcher EQ8 mount would perform carrying the extra payload - it worked fine and guiding was operating very well throughout the data capture. I also wanted to test out the concept of capturing wide field data simultaneously whilst imaging a smaller field with the main scope.
Guiding and mount control was operating through the main scope whilst the piggybacked set up was only capturing data. Auto focus was operating on both the main scope and the piggyback scope. To keep things simple (and maintain my sanity :D), I had a second computer running the capture software and auto focus for the 60Da/FSQ106.
Throughout the data capture session that was being run on the main scope, the Canon 60Da was clacking away taking 3 minute exposures at ISO 800. The set up worked well and has established the concept as a workable option for future projects.
I was pleased to see how well the Canon 60Da brought out the colour and depth of the Ha present in this region. I have had this camera for a few years and produced some good images from it but this is the first time that I have pushed it with a solid 3+ hours of integration time. This worked well to the extent that I hardly had to apply any noise reduction at all. Pixinsight is the main processing software and I used the Starnet process to remove the stars prior to enhancing the nebula and then recombining with the original image.
Link to Astrobin post here. (https://astrob.in/o0l5f5/B/)
Click on image in Astrobin for a larger version.
Edit: And - also, for those that want to look a little closer - see if you can find the planetary nebula PK294-00.1 :)
Clear skies,
Rodney