First Light with C9.25 (NGC104)

[cventer]

Hello All,

After owning my shiny new C9.25 Carbon Fibre XLT for 5 weeks and only having 1 clear night (yes I know Melbourne weather is @#$%!) I have been waiting for a clear night to whack the camera on the back and see how she performs.

Last night it finally cleared up at about 10pm and because of full moon and wanting to test the optics I choose a nice bright Southern Hemisphere globular cluster called 47 Tucanae also known as NGC104.

This shot is a set of 10 x 1 min Luminance Frames and 10 x 1 min R G B all unbinned Taken with an SBIG ST-2000XM. No flats taken or applied.

http://www.asv.org.au/index.php?option=com_zoom&Itemid=42&page=view&catid=4&PageNo=5&key=44&hit=1 (http://www.dslrfocus.com/47Tucanae.jpg)

I also noticed that I had a very stange background pattern In the RAW frames which turned out to be frosting on the chip that I removed with processing so its not the best test of the
optics.

I have not collimated the scope since it arrived in the shipping box from the USA, but the star tests seem pretty good. I have some bobs knobs to install but did not want to waist the 1st night in 5 weeks mucking about collimating.

Overall I am very happy with this first light especially with how
well the scope held focus with a 4 degree temp shift. Any
thoughts/comments appreciated.

Best Regards
Chris Venter

[ballaratdragons]

Very very nice pic Chris! I left a comment :thumbsup:

[[1ponders]]

I can see why your happy Chris. Great first light shot out of the box, excellent resolution and definition. Nice object selection too :)

[davidpretorius]

wow, i want that one, quick dave, get your backside out of bed and finish that tracking and toucam afocal mount and... and.....

thanks mate, now i will get no sleep... thinking how i can tweek this and tweek that, just to get this quality of shot.

well done, wow (have i said that already)

[beren]

Top work Chris , must be pretty cool to get all that gear working together.....the weather 4000km west of you hasnt been to flash either :confuse2: {only used DSLr focus once grrr}

[atalas]

Awsome shot Chris :eyepop: very sharp and tracking is perfect dude.


Louie :thumbsup:

[asimov]

Very, very nice Chris.

[Astroman]

WOW might have to change my mind from getting a C11 to getting a C9.25 AWESOME image. What tracking platform were you using? How much for the OTA :)

[cventer]

Thanks everyone for the nice comments.

The scope was mounted on a very well polar aligned Losmandy G-11 with Gemini Lvl 3.

I imported the OTA directly from OPT in the USA. Ota was $1360 US plus about $300 shipping plus about $200au import duty/gst. Took 5 days from time of order till it was in my hands. I have no affiliation with this company but hey are just awesome to deal with. I have bought a ton of gear off them now and am impressed with service every time.

I looked long and hard for what scope to get. I have a few good APO's but wanted more apperture for higher res deepsky imaging. My search ended up at the C9.25 in terms of bang for buck. They have the best reputation for mirror quality on any of the SCT's, and for that focal range and apperture there is not much under $8000 around.

Best Regards
Chris

[iceman]

Very nice shot Chris, the colours are awesome and the stars are pinpoint right to the edge.

Glad you got some time with the new scope! Have you had an eyepiece in it yet, or just the camera?

[Robby]

Hi Chris,
Welcome to the exclusive club of "down-under" C9.25 owners! I have had mine for about 4months and am rapped by it. I imported mine from Skies Unlimited who were also excellent to deal with.
That's a great first light image Chris!
The C9.25 I have, beats the C8 hands down. I was tossing up between a C11 and the C9.25 to mount on my G-11. Went C9.25 in the end for similar reasons to you. No regrets at all. Sometimes aperture is not all that matters :)
So of the shots I have managed to take with the C9.25, 300D & of course DSLR focus.
http://www.star-mate.com/temp/M20.jpg
http://www.star-mate.com/temp/NGC253.jpg
http://www.star-mate.com/DSO/M8_PRO2.jpg
http://www.star-mate.com/DSO/Taran_Pro2_web.jpg
http://www.star-mate.com/DSO/M65_M66_Pro2.jpg

Ths only problem I have had with mine is that with my portable setup, the collimation seems to drift quite a bit more than the C8 ever did. It's not a major, as I getting pretty good at tweaking it back in. Actaully you've reminded me to order some bob's knobs for it.

Keep us updated on how you go with the new tube. I'm sure you'll like it. Also be keen to see some more images from that ST2000 CCD. Your all set now!

Cheers

[cventer]

Nice Pics with the 300D Robby, Guiding is good and images are well processed and perfectly focused :) .

I notice diffraction spikes on a few. Are you using dowels or string in front of the C925 for that effect ?

Also were these taken with or without a focal reducer ?

Regards
Chris

[Robby]

Hi Chris,
Thanks for your comments.... Earlier ones were focussed manually without DSLRFocus. Once I got the collimation right the focus was easier too.
All were taken using f/6.3 focal reducer.
I experimented with a few with 2 pieces of thin wire across the front to get diffraction spikes. Works quite well. Only need thin wire (0.5mm.sq).
You should be able to get some stunning shots with the ST2000. Make sure you post 'em here first! :D
Cheers