The Pillars and… one year ago today

[Stephane]

Hi all,

One year ago today, I grabbed my wife’s DSLR she had back from high school and her tripod and pointed up for the first time. There were a few clouds, the stars looked like doughnuts, but it didn’t matter. I was completely hooked!

This photo of the Pillars marks one year of astrophotography and I want to thank all of you that have provided assistance to me in the last year. I couldn’t have got anywhere near to where I am now without you. I hope I can continue with this hobby for years to come and hope I continue to improve.

A special thanks to Ryan Jones.

Bigger version of the Pillars here (https://www.astrobin.com/28wpy4/).

Thanks to all.
Stéphane

[Addos]

Nice one mate! The journey is the destination!!

[Kuz]

Awesome image mate well done

[Startrek]

Stephane,
Beautiful image from your Newt
You certainly have grasped this hobby in a very short period of time and are producing some great work. You must be really enjoying Astrophotography
Well done !!!
Are you using your new TS GPU coma corrector ?

Cheers
Martin

[Stephane]

Thanks Addos, Kuz, and Martin. Your comments are appreciated.



Martin, indeed I am really enjoying this hobby. The key for me is to not get too frustrated when things aren’t working, and to savor the moments when everything is working beautifully.

I didn’t use the GPU on this data as the image was captured before I bought it. However, I have experimented with it during full moon. Coma is drastically reduced, but still there at 55mm. I might add a 1mm spacer (I don’t have thinner ones), but this might end up overcorrecting. Diego, from Sidereal, suggested I could unscrew the GPU slightly for fractional millimeter distance increases. I’m quite confident I’ll have coma permanently fixed soon enough. Just need the clear skies to come back! Thanks for all your help.

[Startrek]

Glad your happy wth the TS GPU
It’s a real solid quality piece of kit and works.Diego knows his stuff !!
You might experience the odd brighter star in the extreme corners with a little bit of coma but we all usually crop the edges anyway ( I’ve only had this on my 10” f5 CF newt )
On my little 6” f6 Newt absolutely no coma at all

Yeh these ongoing cloud nights are becoming a real drag and if the forecasters are correct, La Niña is with us for the rest of this year. Might have to relocate to Alice Springs or Broken Hill for a few months just to make up for the past year

Cheers

Martin

[Dave882]

That’s a lovely shot mate- tonnes of detail and beautiful colour!

[RyanJones]

Hey Stephàne,

Thanks for the shout out.

It’s been an absolute pleasure helping you work though the challenges. It’s a real testament to your character that you’ve pursued each step so thoroughly and have strived to refine and optimize everything as you’ve gone along. It’s the reason you’ve come so far so quickly and you should be proud of your effort. Well done and I look forward to following the journey as it unfolds.

Cheers

Ryan

[AstroViking]

That's an impressive journey to complete in just a year. Well done!

[Stephane]

Thanks everyone. I appreciate the kind comments.