Down but not out

[strongmanmike]

Well..?..long story (don't ask)...but here are the very first images taken with
the ProLine and Starfire 152EDF F7.5

I Had to use a 2" diagonal in the image train to reach focus which is not ideal with such a big camera so I must get an extension tube or better still some adapters so I can use the 4" field flattener.

Two test images only but the Starfire shows promise given I wasn't using
the 4" field flattener - I don't have the adapters to connect it to
the CFW-2-7.

The Omega Cen shot is quite cropped to remove the vignetting (need a
light box, which is coming)and I had trouble with the blue frame as
fog rolled in very quickly so the colour balance isn't quite right.

The Lagoon is full frame but taken through rather heavy fog :-(

The FLI ProLine is a great camera and very easy to use. The super fast download of the 35mm 11 mega pixel frames is great.

The NJP performed flawelessly as usual even not perfectly balanced (I added the diagonal after balancing the scope and this threw it off big time)

Need some practise at doing all these blasted darks and bias and soon flats, flat darks and flat bias etc.. takes up heaps of memory :eyepop:

No APOD's but it's a start :-)

Click on "original" size (not the image) at the bottom of each image
screen to see the largest file.

http://www.pbase.com/strongmanmike2002/gallery/proline_and_starfire_apo (http://www.pbase.com/strongmanmike2002/gallery/proline_and_starfire_apo)

Mike

[Astroman]

Very very nice images there, almost no retouching needed. Very nice scope too.

[iceman]

Great start, Mike! It's always a bit of a learning curve with new equipment.
I have every confidence you'll be on top of it soon and churning out images you'll be happy with.

Me, I'd be happy with those!

[h0ughy]

its great to see some photons, I see the backyard is littered with stolen giant marbles - did someone lose any? All those wires?? wow.

very crisp sharp images

[richardo]

Looks like the Starfire to the rescue here Mike :thumbsup:.
Tried and proven track record with this exquisite scope.
Such crisp tack sharp stars in the Omega image.... and good showing of almost all the extent of M8 ... both with a nice big FOV .. even if cropped... who cares anyway when you have heaps to spare...

Ohhh come on, tell us what's happened.... the ASA????..... been hagin' to see what this newt could do!

Anyway your imaging, that's the main thing, till you get the right adaptors sorted.

Cheers
Rich

[davidpretorius]

lovely equipment, great images and love the oversized golf balls in the garden!

[acropolite]

Great images Mike, I'm sure any of us would be happy to achive those results as our best effort.:thumbsup:

[Ric]

Hi Mike, those are great results with your camera considering the conditions you described. I'm looking forward to the images from a great night out.

Cheers

[Satchmo]

Mike , I think that Omega Cen shot is the best shot of it I have ever seen. Pinpoint sharp and stars not burnt out in the middle. Looks very similar to the visual view in a 20" scope.

Mark

[Garyh]

Very nice and sharp Mike always top notch, BUT like Richard says wheres the ASA...?? have been waiting to see what that beast can do...
cheers Gary

[tornado33]

Very nice shots indeed. Yes I imagine 16 bit 11MP images arent small :)
Scott

[2020BC]

That's beautiful, Mike.

There's a section (the crinkly bit top centre) of M8 which I look at to judge how good an M8 shot is and yours nails it, through fog no less. The "good" shot is going to be something to see...

[Dr Nick]

Nice collection! ;)

[strongmanmike]

Tanks mate - I've already retouched the Omega Cen shot if you want to have another look :P



Thanks Mike, very much test images those and I ordered the necessary adapters from Astrophysics today to make a straight through image train and a more square and rigid one too :) .



LOL yeh they are good garden ornaments now I guess :lol: Could probably still lift all but the largest one though :P



I had some problems with the ASA but all is not lost yet (fingers crossed) ASA are a good company to deal with though - pulling out all the stops to assist.

You are right, after the SXV-H9 I fell like I am imaging from inside a fish bowl :eyepop:



Yes they certainly stand out as dwarf planets in my garden huh? :)



Thanks mate, there are some mighty fine images on this forum though! :thumbsup:



Cheers, Me too :D



Glad you liked it Mark! I have reworked it a tad if you care to take another look? :)



Thanks and see reply to Rich :)



I will need to make a library of darks and bias frames for a couple of different temps. I am thinking -25C should do all year round as the ProLine has a cooling capacity of delta 60C! If I go too cold the Kodak chip experiences ghost images - remnants of bright stars and artifacts from previous images showing up in subsequent images. The Chip must be warmed up and cooled down again to remove the latent image. The fast download speed is 12mega pixels per second so I see an full bin 1X1 image on the screen a mere 1.2 sec after image capture is finished :thumbsup:



Thanks Bill.

Yes I was quite surprised with the Lagoon shot as the fog was pretty thick and I only continued with the 6 X 10min images becasue I wanted to see what the correction was like and I thought I could throw any crappy subs out, as it turned out I used them all anyway so there is sure to be added noise in this image from the fog?



Cheers :D