Ngc 6164/5

[Bolts_Tweed]

Its been a prolific weekend finishing projects that were grabbed between clouds previously

This was taken this over the last couple of months. I found it really difficult to image so essentially im leaving it at this.

Lum - Ha (120) + R (60) blend
Red - Ha (120) + R (60) blend
G (60) B (60)

I'd like the outer shell to be bit stronger but its there I suppose

AP130EDT, ST8300, Astrodon LRGB filters

[renormalised]

Nice shot, Mark:)

[RB]

Very interesting object.
Nice work.

:)

[Bolts_Tweed]

Thx Andrew & Carl

Im not really happy with it but to get this detail in a 5 inch astounds me. It usually shows a blob (with some resolution) in widefield NGC6188 images and was always an intended target when I got my big RCOS. Thats just not going to happen so I am stretching the friendship with the five inch.

The overexposed lobes worry me a bit - I started taking some shorter Ha last night to try and cover the dynamic range better but gave up - the night was just too good. I can get shorter Ha around hte moonn.

I particularly like the shock wave slamming into the dust cloud associated with NGC6188.

Might develop it a bit further when I get time

Mark Bolton

[allan gould]

Mark
Interesting object and you really are squeezing detail out of the 5" that I didn't think possible.
Great image by the way
Allan

[Bolts_Tweed]

Thx Allan

A lot is in that i am just starting to understand the MLDB technique from Ken. Ive started using it with a tap instead of a sledge hammer thump and it is bringing out detail I am looking for. The Kodak chip helps too a bit I think.

Dave Rigley sends his regards too

Mark bolton

[gregbradley]

Another great shot Mark. Your AP is punching above its weight which is an AP characteristic.

Greg.

[Bolts_Tweed]

Thx greg

Appreciate the comment

Ive always tried to make do with limited hardware ;) - Nah just joking

Mark

[gregbradley]

:lol: There are many astrophotographers around the world who would
give a lot for an AP130. Really a premium instrument. Do you use a flattener
or is it not needed?

The other thing about AP scopes I really like is how incredibly well engineered they are. You never hear any stories about focuser flex
under heavy loads etc like with almost any other brand. Roland Christen just gets it right big time. He is the current optical maestro.

Greg.

[Bolts_Tweed]

No flattener mate this is straight optics. Most images are cropped as I take them over several weekends (months even some time) and LRGB misalignment necessitates cropping. I am pretty vision impaired so I will blame it on that - I know its an undesirable handicap for a astrophotographer but it adds to the challenge. Im dreading my next licence test - I can see big stuff like cars, galaxies etc just the smaller stuff escapes me. Detached retinas from 25 years of rugby league - gotta love the game.

Roland sure knows his stuff. My only comment is that the focuser is so good - when focusing with DL once I get close to the lowest 1/2FD I just grab the focuser and think about turning it in the required direction and that can drop it nearly a pixel. It just snaps into focus - which is good but I tend to find myself chasing seeing when focusing and a little tweak can increase 1/2fd by several pixels.

Mark Bolton

[gregbradley]

AP scopes usually have a massive illuminated circle so that does not surprise me.

Whack a Robofocus on it and it makes focusing a lot easier. Then you are simply looking at the downloads but also watching the graph to make sure it is rising and you've gone past it when it starts to dip.

I haven't used Focus Max but its free and is very a popular way to automate focusing.

Also with an APO focus will shift with falling temps. Roland has said to refocus every 1 degree shift. I think that may be a bit impractical but you can also program a Robofocus to do temp compensation if you are really keen. Certainly I find, depending on the scope, about 3-5C difference you need to adjust focus. An FSQ needs it more often. Also different coloured filters tend to have slightly different focus points. Usually if you have parfocal filters that difference may be small but its still there. Its dependent on the same thickness of the filters and there is some small variation there.

Greg.

[jase]

Lovely work Mark. Most impressed by the ha shock fronts. Well done.

[Bolts_Tweed]

Thanks Jase

Im not an astrophysicist but its intereesting that they look like they are at 90 degrees to each other. Or maybe there are 4 and the other 2 arent slamming into the 6188 dust cloud. Either way it is interesting. They were the real target - thanks to Tom Davis' widefield nb of this region.

Thx again

Mark Bolton