M16

[AlexN]

Heres another image from my first night with the QHY8..

10x45sec subs + 10x60sec subs.

Obviously not deep enough for the target... took a lot of stretching to get it to this point...

Thanks for looking.
Alex.

[gregbradley]

Not bad for such short exposures.

The focus seems off a bit.

These QHY8's are popular. How much are they?

Are you setup for autoguiding?

Greg.

[AlexN]

The QHY8 costs around $1900 plus shipping, which for what it is, is incredibly well priced in my opinion.

Last week when this image was taken I wasn't set up for autoguiding, hence the short exposures and slight trailing at only 1 minute.. (I also hadnt learnt drift aligning.. which I think I have under control now...)
I got a guide cable today... and the clouds rolled in thick and fast... :)
I'll give it some 5 or 10 minute subs as soon as this weather clears up :)

oh, and I agree, the focus is a bit soft... got a focus mask half made, so that should sort out that little hiccup.

[bluescope]

Autoguiding will certainly help your imaging Alex. M16 needs at least 6-10 minute subs depending on your skyglow conditions etc. I did some 15 minute exposures the other week but the light from nearby city / car yards etc really started to effect things badly so while I am still living here I will probably have to stick to 6-7 minutes subs just to keep things under control.

Looks like you will have a good image scale or is this a crop ?

:thumbsup:

[AlexN]

thats a crop re sized for the forums. With the c11 should bring it right up close though.

[bluescope]

Oh yeah it will indeed !

:thumbsup:

[strongmanmike]

You will look back at this image in a little while Alex and have a little giggle I am sure :) nice job none the less though, imaging is fun no matter what (mostly)...but I'm not doing much these days...dam light pollution, dam street lights, dam trees, bloody wife who made me buy this house....:mad2:

Mike
..err?..love my wife :)

aaand, nice house... as far as astronomy unfriendly houses go anyway :doh:

ah sigh...........

[Matty P]

Not bad at all Alex, I'd love to see what you can do with your C11 on the Eagle. :) It will give you a nice close up view of the pillars.

Well done. :thumbsup:

[AlexN]

Matty, So would I... Its been cloudy since the I got the 2 extra counterweights I need to run it.. :) Prior to that I'd just mounted it and manually moved the scope around with the mount turned off to have a look through it.....

Im about to check the BOM site, hopefully this weekend the weather clears, I'll have a shot at jupiter and a shot at NGC253 I suppose... Maybe a full frame shot of the helix.. :)

[bluescope]

What a waste of all that nice gear Mike. If you need someone to keep it greased and running for you just let me know. Next year I'll be in dark skies, can't wait !

:thumbsup: