M8 Ha SXVR-H16: 2nd light

[richardo]

Hi all,
had a chance to further test corrector spacing, adjust cameras face plate.
Had a bent compression ring in the draw tube that was giving me grief.
Still not 100% happy with the stars.. even at short exposure they weren't completely round. Needs further investigation.

Very impressed with this camera and result, even though it was only 56' worth of 4' subs during a cloud hole that remarkably happened for a short time.
Details:
!0" F4 Newtonian
SXVR-H16 camera
Astronomics 13nM Ha filter.
1.502 arcsec/pix
No darks or anything else.. need to flat field or use 50mm filters.
Excuse me for not cropping the bottom of the image, just a test shot really.
http://www.baytop-observatory.com/ccdimages/Ha%20objects/M8HanewtH16.jpg

Thanks for taking a look.
Rich

[Jeffkop]

Beautiful image Rich ... the camera is doing its thing for sure ... well done mate

[multiweb]

Ha! One of my favorites. :lol: Top shot Rich. The bok globules and details/contrast are really well resolved. Oustanding shot for a test. A really good indication of things to come. Exciting times. :thumbsup:

[TrevorW]

Nice !!!

[gregbradley]

Terrific shot.

If you are getting elongated stars first suspect is the polar alignment. Do several goes through a drift alignment. Its easiest through the CCD camera.

Next would be balance - make sure your rig is balanced.

Greg.

[richardo]

Thanks Jeff, I was wonderfully surprised with how sensitive this chip is!



Cheers for that Marc!
Yes I too have always been a sucker for Ha/ B&W images. This is one of my favourite objects.
Yes once I sort a few things out, things should be grand:thumbsup:



Thanks Trev:thumbsup:



Hi Greg, cheers for that!
My setup has been drift aligned well, always is and balance is something I'm very critical of... this mount is very sensitive to any imbalances. So it's not this as even with 1 sec exposures the stars are elongated in Ra... I'm suspecting it's still something to do with the ccd's face plate not being perfectly square with the imaging train.. there's more to the L/h side than the right.. although the stars seem to be focused reasonably. spikes on the brighter stars look ok.
Will have to find a better way to get this right...
Thanks for your input though Greg.

Cheers for taking a look chaps.
Hopefully the next image will have the bugs sorted and be a real one:thumbsup:

All the best
Rich

[TrevorW]

Could be focuser sag or flex (how are you guiding) only other options that I an think of if it is not alignment

[RB]

What a lovely shot Rich and nicely processed.
The camera's certainly performing well, very sensitive.
Hope you iron out the issue with the star elongation soon.

Looking forward to more from your setup mate.

[jase]

By the looks of this image, you're not too far from getting your new imaging train configuration dialled in Rich. Once you get the elongated stars in order, the set up will be pumping out some impressive results. I enjoyed what you've presented here. Your Ha processing is subtle and effective at portraying details. Well done. Looking forward to seeing what you'll come up with next.

[richardo]

Thanks for you're input Trev,
I'm thinking along the lines of my secondary offset which is set @ 4mm away from tubes centre.. this was what was need to square the incoming light on the F4, 10" configuration.
No focuser sag as this setup is the same weight as my old.
But then bigger chips will show up any little discrepancy.
In my image, to the bottom L/H corner, the stars are slightly out of focus compared to the top L/H corner. Then to the whole R/H side, stars are elongate. To get this right, I might take my camera around to my friends and attach it to his FSQ and square it to his setup then see how things look back on my rig. Won't be happy till this is out of the equation!



Thanks you Andrew:thumbsup:,
was pleasantly impressed with the sensitivity in Ha! The moon was just over head and blaring in.
Very clean chip and I won't be bothering with darks, just flats and possibly
bias.. at this stage untill I get sorted with 50mm filters.
I'm a dog with a bone with finding out things so hopefully the next image will have these things sorted:rolleyes:



Thanks very much Jase!
It's never a dull moment in this game is it! Keeps us on our toes.
One new upgrade turns into something else issues and gear wise..
But we love it... :screwy:
Have found an effective way to remove almost all the vignetting in PS.. even have made an action for it... but still nothing beats real flats, so am in the process of building a light box.
Hopefully have these minor probs sussed when all our favourite and well known objects come into the perfect viewing/ time wise slot.

Stay tuned and thanks again guys.

All the best
Rich

[Hagar]

Very nice Rich well resolved and processed. I like the detail without looking overdone.

[richardo]

Thanks for taking a peek Doug and for the comments!
I've been dong some detective work with my setup, albeit no clear skies to test under, so hopefully have resolved a few issues.
Other than the obvious in this image, am very happy with it's sensitivity and, really didn't do anything much to the image apart from DDP in Maxim and a little curve treatment in PS.

Thanks again:thumbsup:
Rich