M83 - First Light.

[Tandum]

Found a small hole in the perpetual cloud cover that is Queensland so far this year and mounted up the 10" newt with my 60mm Stellarvue finder as the guide scope and got first light on the stellarvue guider and my new sbig st-8300m.

Managed to get 4x10minutes L's @ 1x1 and 3 x 5minute colour @ 2x2.

The intermittant cloud cover turned to rain, again, so no flats on this one which makes it hard. Obviously seeing was crap but we take what we can get up here these days.

Cropped to make it easier to process ...

[TrevorW]

Robin just needs more frames to show detail in the spirals well done on your new camera

[RobF]

Well done to get that much data Robin. I find it facinating how much colour and detail you have in the star forming regions - its almost like you've mixed in some Ha.

Great start for the new toys!

[mill]

Nicely done Robin, with some more data it will be a stunner and you can process it so the core won't be burned out :thumbsup:

[Tandum]

Seeing wasn't good enough for imaging, it ended up raining again FFS. Got the tak setup at the moment, might get a bit of clear sky tonight and maybe tomorrow before this cyclone closes in :(

[AlexN]

Good luck with getting some data tonight mate... looks pretty iffy to me :D haha..

The M83 shot came out ok given the conditions... However I think you should keep the big beasty inside until we get some "Clear" skys... not "Im looking through a bowl of muddy water" skies.

[RobF]

I spent 2 hrs last night waiting optimistically for it to clear late. Got one 5 min shot and one 5 min shower :P
(good thing I had plenty of covers nearby and the BOM radar site up all night)

Good luck with tonight Robin - looks iffier than last night to me too.

[Tandum]

Yeah of little faith ... not a cloud in the sky :)

But now the sensor is frosting :(

[jjjnettie]

Beaut image Robin!
It's lovely out tonight. Hope your amongst it.

[Tandum]

Its setup nettie, had a couple of false starts and now it's totally clear I have frost on the sensor :(

[Tandum]

Agreed, but I needed to see if that stellarvue would focus etc etc. First light stuff. Found tonight that the M54 thread on the new nosepiece is too long, the wheel sensor fouls on it. Don't use it on the newt.

[RobF]

There's always something when the clouds dies down for while isn't there!
I've been wrestiling with my filterwheel tonight not initialising properly. Seems ok after powering everything down and up, but the odd cloud around by then of course!

[Tandum]

It's raining here ... again .. Just threw the storm covers over everything, it will clear again ... won't it :(

[Octane]

Robin,

Excellent first light -- awesome image scale. Wish I had that at my fingertips!

H

[Tandum]

Can't beat a big dob/newt for value H.
They are cheap so you don't mind screwing with them.
They got a decent FL and suck in buckets of light.
Fiddling with coma correctors and managing weight is the drawback I guess.

This is what a full frame looks like with an 8300 sensor, I haven't fixed it, just for a look.
I'm having another go tonight with the tak@f8 but you'll never get the detail from a lens that you can with a big mirror.
Those 2 tiny galaxies beside it are both around mag 16 (easier to see them in the fixed image above).
I doubt I'll see them at all in the tak image.

[RobF]

That's what I keep trying to tell people. Its hard to beat a 8 inch or bigger Newt at F5 or so. Just on Focal ratio alone you're sucking down light twice as fast as the average Refractor, then there's the resolution and light gathering power from the aperture.

Not everyone can afford a beautiful imaging refractor.....
Fair enough you have balance, cajole, coma correct, collimate, avoid wind,etc - but hey, astrophotography is a challenge anyway....! :)

[Tandum]

Dunno now rob, some nice L coming off M83 from the tak out back at the moment. It's straight up just now but the raws are surprising me. We'll see later I guess ...

[RobF]

Ok - will be interested to see a comparison eventually. I hope for my wallets sake you don't leave the Newt in the dust...!

[Tandum]

I can assure you now that the tak will have better focus, better colour and a flatter field.
You wanna get something for your $3K :)

Here's a rework .. One Newt One Tak. Both are cropped.

[AlexN]

Take 2 looks the goods mate.. Bit wider field of view, but it still does the galaxy justice.. I was wondering how the seeing was last night.. sitting at the brekkie creek hotel for my girlfriends birthday.. looking up at the sky thinking "WHY AM I HERE!??" haha..

At least someone got to use the clear sky..

Gotta ask...

Refractor? Better Colour?? Hows that possible... We're talking about mirrors vs a high quality doublet APO.. Mirrors win for colour reproduction, they are simply reflecting the light they see... Lenses, even we're talking about CaFL instantly shift the colour spectrum, some shift it a little, some shift it a lot..

Agreed - Sharper/flatter/more contrast..

[RobF]

Interesting
Was the Newt cropped at all though Robin? - stars look a bit "blobby"?

I see what you mean about flatter field.

[Tandum]

Yes both are cropped, go back and look for the green image, it's full frame from the newt. The tak is cropped as well, I had frosting issues so the camera was on and off the scope several times. I've updated that blue image from this morning. I probably had this guiding problem (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=58555)with the newt on top and didn't pick up on it plus no flats, it rained instead :) But I think I've solved all the little problems on both scopes and cameras that slow things up. Now we just need these cyclones to go away :rolleyes:

[edit]
Here's the final full frame and cropped images from the tak. Needs more data, it's a back yard image :)