Finally... First Light - SBIG ST-9E.

[AlexN]

Well.. I must say, after having owned this camera for nearly 3 weeks now, I am very happy to say that I've now put it to use.. even if only briefly..

I am utterly amazed at how much more sensitive this camera is in comparison to my old QHY8... This thing SUCKS the photons down...

2 images from first light night.

1. IC434.
9x120sec with 9 darks subtracted.

2. M83 (My first face on spiral galaxy.. Im stoked!)
10x120sec with 10 darks.

I found it rather hard to stop the camera from blooming, as seen in the IC434 image, even in only a 2 min exposure, the stars around the horse head bloomed a little.. (In a 0.2sec image of the trapezium, A B and C all bloomed by about 2 pixels..)

To give a quick idea of how sensitive the camera is, I pointed the scope to where I figured the horse head should be, took a 2sec exposure, and there was the horse head on my screen.. in 2 seconds. The QHY8 couldn't have done that in a minute... :)

Another thing that amazed me, was the ease of self guiding... Fan-Bloody-Tastic! it just... worked... No matter where I pointed the scope, in a 1sec exposure there was always a guide star or 3 in the field of view, tell CCDSoft to auto select one of them, click autoguide... Off it goes.. :) Very pleased...

@Focus - Perhaps the best thing ever.. :) (Those of you who know what it is, know what I mean I'm sure..)

Very pleased with the first night out... Cheers.

Alex.

[renormalised]

Nice first light with the SBIG there, Alex. Now for some NB shots of M42, eta Carina and M8/M20:P:):)

[AlexN]

All on the way mate!! I was considering breaking out the 13nm Ha for the horse head shot, but didnt want to introduce anything that could cause problems.. just wanted a nice, issue free first light, and thats exactly what I got.. (apart from having to come inside at midnight due to the massive influx of mosquitoes..) they bit me through my t-shirt, on my nose, on my eyelids, on my finger tips... you name it, they bit it... :)

Thanks for the comments, And I look forward to providing some NB nebula shots in the not too distant future.. (I also look forward to hunting more galaxies!! :))

Alex.

[strongmanmike]

Well done Alex :clap:can feel the satisfaction :thumbsup:

The NABG cameras are sensitive so they pickup lots, they do bloom though and this introduces it's own set of problems of course but not insurmountable.

Looking forward to seeing more...mozzie bites :whistle:

Mike

[AlexN]

Thanks Mike, The satisfaction is definitely a 9 on a scale of 1 to 10.. The one satisfaction point missing is due to the incessant itching im currently undergoing :)

Next on the list.. M104, Cent A (Oh noes!), and NGC4565... Save those for another weekend... Would also definitely like to add some Ha to that horse head shot...

Cheers.
Alex.

[Tom Davis]

Great start! Yes, with the NABG and pixel size of the ST-9E you will gather the photon FAST. Let the stars bloom -- these are easily removed now days. I use CCD Stack or Maxim.

Again great going!!

Tom

[Bassnut]

Not bad for 2 min subs Alex, and youll find Ha not hard to use with the ST9s hi QE..Yes, auto focus is a dream. If you think @focus is good, you should try FocusMax, much faster.....and free.

[Hagar]

Very nice start Alex.
Keep at it.

[gbeal]

Good looking shots mate, what scope?
I'm with Fred, FoxusMax.
Gary

[Dennis]

Hi Alex

Great images for 1st light with the new ST9. I can feel your euphoria from a night when everything, well, just works!

You have quite graphically described the sensitivity difference arising from the larger pixels of the ST9 and the absence of the Bayer Matrix!

Cheers

Dennis

[atalas]

Congrats on a great start into mono Alex!

[Peter Ward]

Ah...doesn't sound like a ho-hum experience to me!

Glad to hear it went so well Alex :) ...and....I suspect we have another self guide convert ;)

[KenGee]

Great first light Alex...the joy that is selfguide (Well done Sbig) now you'll be saving for a AO-L unit. Happy imaging.

[Matty P]

Excellent first light images Alex. Very very nice. :)

So much detail for only 2 min subs. Really shows how sensitive the camera is. Makes me want an SBIG.

Well done. :thumbsup:

[AlexN]

Thanks all for the great response... I must say I woke up today, had another look at those shots and simply can't believe i was able to obtain images like that with a mere 20mins of total exposure.. I can't wait to go deeper...

Fred & Gary, I'll give FocusMax a go, thanks for the tip,
Gary, The scope was C11 @ F/6.3 ~1756mm focal length, 2.31 arcsec:pixel
Dennis, I did my best to convey my excitement from the night.. everything from having the setup work from go to woah, right through to the extreme sensitivity of the camera...
Peter, Ho-Hum this experience was not. I can safely say I will be using SBIG cameras from now untill the day I croak if this is the kind of satisfaction they can bring... Self-guide convert for sure.. I'll be interested to see how it goes guiding through the 13nm Ha filter.. That will be the test. :)
Ken, Saving is right! Need CFW, Filters, AO-8 and off in the distant distant future, an STL-1001E :)

Thanks again for all the positive feedback guys.. Much appreciated.

Alex.

[JohnG]

Your off to a great start, Alex :thumbsup:

Keep at it, you can only improve. :)

Cheers

[Ric]

Great images Alex, those faint outer arms of M83 look wonderful.

Can't wait to see the longer exposures.

Cheers

[Kevnool]

You should be stoked Alex they are mighty fine shots...cheers Kev.

[Quark]

Hi Alex,
Very nice for the first light, amazing detail in M83, will be looking out for more of your images as you become familiar with your new camera.

Regards
Trevor

[Tilt]

Top stuff Alex, pretty impressive for not a lot of exposure time.

Now for the <drumroll>......... GSO RC! :lol:

Michael

[AlexN]

Thanks John, Ric, Kev, Trevor and Michael..

Michael.. Find me some preliminary shots from the GSO RC's and i'll start seriously considering one! Thats the only thing holding me back.. the lack of test images. I think it would definitely make a nice addition to my gear if the optics turn out as nice as I hope they will.. :) The 1800mm focal length will be a good length for my cameras large pixels to, yielding 2.21 arcsec/pixel... Although, Im half inclined to hold off on the 8" and wait for the 10" :) Ahhh aperture hungry I tells ya!