M17 Swan, M27 Dumbell and NGC7293 Helix

[peter_4059]

Here's three from last night under surburban Brisbane skies. Great conditions and company (cheers Allan).

All images using the DSI II pro and Meade ED80. Exposures were guided 50x1min.

Thanks for looking.

Peter

[Dennis]

Nice work Peter, as set of lovely images. I was outside too last night, although in our suburb (Holland Park West) we had small patches of thin cloud that seemed to just boil up out of nowhere and on several occasions I lost the guide star so had to temporarily abort the process.

That’ll teach me to sneak inside to peek at the Olympics!

Cheers

Dennis

[peter_4059]

Thanks Dennis - I think we were lucky with the conditions over in the West. There was a large bank of cloud to the South that threatened all night. I had one of those magic nights where everything seemed to work. I also managed to avoid my usual mistake of trying to do a goto with the guider still operating. Not sure what temperature it got down to but I certainly wasn't preapred and had to pack it in around 1am.

Peter

[Phil]

Great shots Peter i started getting data on the Helix last night. Still have to get some more before posting it.
Phil

[dcalleja]

Peter
Looking good. I'm impressed you could get anything of the Helix in the burbs'. I've never had even a hint of the darned thing. Are you using any filters for LP?

[peter_4059]

Dan - These were all through the Baader UV/IR permanently mounted on the front of the DSI and the Meade R filter. There was quite a bit of sky glow and this showed up - especially in the Helix image.

Phil -thanks - I've had a number of attempts at this - learning something each time. Looking forward to seeing your results.

Peter

[AlexN]

a nice set of shots... I was out jupiter imaging last night... Should have been drinking beer... seeing was not nice from where I was sitting..

[peter_4059]

Cheers Alex,

We had a look at Jup on the night and it wasn't too bad early on. Have you considered the option of imaging and drinking beer at the same time? Do-able but focusing becomes more difficult.

Peter

[AlexN]

:) I like the plan!! I have first light for new gear coming up this weekend, so staying sober might be the go! :)

[beren]

:) Top work, nice amount of detail with the short subs

[peter_4059]

Cheers Beren. It's an interesting tradeoff between length of the sub and having enough of them to get good S:N. Meade recommends 50 or more images stacked so going for more than 1 min subs makes for a very long night when you are looking to get RGB.

Alex - should be interesting to see how the C11 goes on the EQ6. My Motofocus arrived today so I'm expecting clouds for the next two weeks - sorry!

Peter

[AlexN]

mate.... theres gonna be clouds flat out for a month at least... I've just ordered (and recieved some of it already...) ....

C11, Giant Easy Guider, dew sheild, 2" Visual Back, DBK31AU, Side by side plate, guide rings, QHY8 got sent to me today, a dew heater band for the C11....

Dude.. If we get a clear night in brisbane in the next 3 months I'll be stoked! :D

[Jen]

:thumbsup::thumbsup: great pics cheers :thumbsup:

[peter_4059]

Thanks Jen.

Alex - you must have won lotto with that shopping list. Hope you've ordered some extra counterweights!

Peter

[drmorbius]

Those are great shots Peter...:thumbsup:

Ok Alex... we're going to have very high expectations of your work at Barambah now... ;)

[AlexN]

if the seeing comes good (ie 8~9/10...) im attacking jupiter with a 14m focal lenght! thats for SURE!!!

[peter_4059]

Gee Alex - with 14m you are going to get impressive image scale. Which half of Jup are you planning to capture first?

Pete.

[AlexN]

I got a DBK31AU, with its bigger chip, I should be able to fit the whole planet in frame without too much trouble... I dont know how the mount will go accuracy wise... but hey... if it has to be only 10~11m then so be it... :) according to a few different programs i've used to calculate the scale, Jupiter itself should be around 690pixels in diameter :) Thats a DAAAMN big jupiter..

[peter_4059]

I've been impressed with the EQ6. Good luck and here's hoping for CS.

[AlexN]

mmm.. I figure, if Mikes' EQ6 can hold his 24kg 12" newt stable enough for 10+m focal length jupiter images, then my EQ6 can hold my 12.3kg SCT and do the same....

Not to mention your setup... 10" + ED80 + side by side bar + cameras... (where did you buy your side by side bar?, BTW... im waiting and waiting and waiting for mine and im getting over waiting)

[peter_4059]

About 1/3 down the page.

http://www.telescopes-astronomy.com.au/

[AlexN]

thats where im waiting from... thinking I'll call bintel and get the Losmandy V-series side by side.. its cheaper than the Telescopes astronomy one anyhow...

[AlexN]

Just ordered one from ADM, and a set of guide scope rings... Got an email almost instantly saying it would be shipped tomorrow, here in 4 ~ 10 days..

[NQLD_Newby]

Lovely renditions of three of my favourites Peter. Love the mono as well, just like looking through the eye piece.

[peter_4059]

Thanks Rex. I'm a big fan of mono also.

Peter