First Light C9.25 Images

[Tamtarn]

It's been a while since we have had something to submit on Deep Space.

Since receiving our new OTA and accessories a few weeks ago David has spent a great deal of time getting the focal train correct, the collimation and focus tested before we attempted our first light. He says he still has to tweak the focus a little more before he is completely happy.

He managed to capture some data about 10 days ago although he had the moon and not very favourable seeing conditions to deal with but at least we have a starting point :)

The Celestron C9.25 SCT certainly gives us a very nice focal length in comparison to our Skywatcher 8" Newt.

So here we are - Details

Celestron C9.25 - Meade 6.3 focal reducer - Canon 40D unmodded

Stacked DSS - Processed in PS CS2

NGC 253 .......... 9 lights - 8 darks all ISO800 - 6min exposures

M17................. 6 lights - 6 darks all ISO800 - 6min exposures

Higher res can be found on our web page

http://barb.david.1.googlepages.com/home

[Hagar]

WOW... Great images guys. Looks like you have definitely got everything working very well. I can't wait to see some of the images you get when the sky is right as well.
Keep em coming.

[iceman]

Beautiful results, guys. What a great first light.
253 is superb!

[Lester]

Both are very nice images. I like the detail present in both, with subtleties and colour variations that are outstanding.

Well done, and looking forward to more of your images.

[matt]

Excellent result!:thumbsup:

That's tempting me even more to cross over to the dark side and take my 9.25 deeeeeeeppp!!!!

[dugnsuz]

Those are great images B&D.
You must be happy and excited as to the potential you have with the 9.25.
The rig pic on your homepage is drool-worthy too!!!
Like Doug above I let out a "WOW" at the thumbnails alone!!!!!!
Very well done
Doug

[Aster]

What can I say...Which I haven't said the other day :)

Great...especially 253

[Matty P]

Fantastic first light images guys. :)

NGC 253 is superb. The amount of detail present is remarkable and the colour is lovely.

M17 has come out great as well.

This is what I am hoping to achieve with my setup in the future so thankyou for posting your work.

:thumbsup:

[Craig_L]

Lovely colours and detail, especially NGC 253. Those unmodded cameras are great!

[strongmanmike]

Both really nice images Dave and Barb!

The colour balance to me looks perfect in both images and you have achieved a nice smooth look to the images.

Nice work!

Mike

[gregbradley]

They are wonderful images. Well done.
That is a good combo the C9.25 and the 40D. I have a 40D also and it is a beautiful camera.

Greg.

[Tamtarn]

Thanks for the thumbs up Doug, it's taken a little while to be able to test our set up and see where we were at. The optics on the Celestron look real good so we are keen to spend some time under decent skies and see what results we can get.

[Tamtarn]

Thanks Mike appreciate your comments.
We have wanted to try imaging with a longer focal length for some time and the 9.25 seemed like it would suit our needs.

[Tamtarn]

Thanks Lester. Barb has now changed from processing on a CRT monitor to an LCD with a higher resolution and that has helped quite a lot with drawing out the detail in these images.

Thanks again for your comments

[Garyh]

Excellent work Barb ad Dave! :thumbsup: both very nice ex 253!
Great to see you posting again!
Look forwards to many more nice shots with the 9.25!
cheers Gary

[AlexN]

Love the 253 shot... so very detailed for 6 min subs! :D fantastic...

I haven't seen many shots taken with celestron SCT's, and I've yet to give mine first light, I have to say, I'm very excited seeing that the 9.25 can give such stunning detail?

Do you have a micro focuser on that at all? or just using the primary focus?

Very very nice image! I look forward to seeing more

[EzyStyles]

congrats on the new scope guys. Both images are very smooth, alot of details and nicely done. must be very pleased. I have still be lurking around :)

[multiweb]

Two stunning pictures. Great job. :thumbsup:

[spearo]

Well done to both of you!
The C9.25 is hard to beat!
I cant really see how you can improve on the focus, it seems perfect to me!
well done!
frank

[marc4darkskies]

Great images guys - spot on colour balance and a nice overall effect! :thumbsup:

Close examination of the hi-res version of M17 looks like you used the minimum filter in PS (?) Watch out - it can wreak havoc with your star shapes and leave wispy artifacts.

Cheers,
Marcus

[RB]

Congrats guys, on your new scope and the beautiful first light images.
Wonderful to see your work again.

Well done !


Sure makes a difference doesn't it, I love my new monitor.

[Tamtarn]

If your Solar images are any indication you should get into deep sky without a problem Matt :thumbsup:



Thanks Doug. We can't wait for the new moon and just hope we get clear skies ;)



Thanks Alex 253 is our fav as well



You're doing well at this point Matt. Just keep at the processing skills and it will all come together


We're happy with the unmodded Craig



The 40D suits our needs Greg and from this first light we're happy with the combo



Thanks for the comments Mike. I tried a few different things in PS this time and they seemed to work reasonably well. Still heaps to learn though :lol: Barb

[Tamtarn]

Thanks Alex appreciate your comments. Will look forward to you starting up with the C11. If you go on to our web pages and click on the equipment link you will see the William Optics focuser set up for prime focus.

[Ric]

Lovely images guys. A great first light with the new scope.

NGC253 is a pearler, you've captured some great detail in that one.

Cheers

[Tamtarn]

Thanks Gary. It's been a long time between posts. We hope the weather will be kind this coming new moon and can't wait to get back into it



Glad you're lurking Eric :lol: Great to hear from you. We're happy to have a bit more focal length to go deeper now so we're keener than ever :D



Appreciate your comments Marc


Thanks Frank we sure are happy with the 9.25. Glad to see you're up and running with the 14"



I think I may have overdone the processing on M17 Marcus I will try and be more careful in the future.

Thanks for the constructive comments :thumbsup: Barb

[bluescope]

Looking good guys, particularly 253. I see you have a WO focuser on the C9.25 ;) .... good gear !

:thumbsup:

[Jen]

:eyepop: beautiful pics :thumbsup::thumbsup:

[Tandum]

Dave, Excellent result, you must have some nice dark sky there. I've spent night after night trying to get a decent result from 253 and even stacking eveything I have it's still a crap image not worth posting and I post some truely crap images :) Well Done.

[Deeno]

Wow..
Fantastic first images

[Jeffkop]

Well dang it if David hasnt got the focal train to the station AND on time !!!
Bet you are happy with these ... WE ARE

[Tamtarn]

Thanks for the comments Andrew


Thanks Ric 253 did turn out well. We want to get more data on a darker night and try to capture more detail.


Steve the WO focuser is a beauty :thumbsup:


Thanks Jen :):):):):)



We are in a semi dark site out here Robin so we're shooting in reasonable conditions. Considering the light pollution you have to contend with your images are pretty good


Thanks Deeno



That train was was pretty hard to catch Jeff but I managed to get it eventually :lol: