Brief first light (M42) with APM 130/780mm F6 Triplet Apo

[LucasB]

Hi there Astronomers,

Been very busy being a new dad but finally had a chance to get a brief first light with the new APM 130/780mm F6 Triplet Apo. It has the OK4 LZOS lens and has been tested on the interferometer at 0.987 Strehl ratio. I managed to get just 10x5min subs of M42 using my unmodded Canon 550D DSLR and IDAS-LP2 filter. I was hoping for more data but the clouds rolled in. It does capture a lot more data than my old F9 ED100 (which is for sale in the classifieds by the way!). I guess the next step will be the flattener, a CCD, some filters and......

Thanks for looking,
Lucas

[TrevorW]

Not bad you could probably coax out some more detail in the processing

Cheers

[LucasB]

Thanks for your comments TrevorW. I tried teasing more out of it but didn't go that well. Unfortunately I didn't have time to shoot any accurate darks nor flats and the ambient temp was about 30°C so it gets noisy pretty quickly.

Lucas

[prokyon]

Nice result Lucas! A classical M42. Maybe you can stretch a little more to get more of the faint nebulas in the surrounding area.

[Hagar]

Not bad at all Lucas. Nice to see an image that isn't over worked, naturally smooth and nicely coloured.

Well done. Some work on the core, some longer and shorter subs and it will be a ripper.

[LucasB]

Thanks prokyon. I might have another go at processing but I am also thinking of capturing some more loner exposure data and blending.



Thanks Doug. I think you are spot on. I want to capture more data (longer and shorter) and try my hand at some blending techniques.:thumbsup:

[naskies]

Nice - the red looks very vibrant.

[Ross G]

A very good photo Lucas.

The scope shows great quality.

Ross.

[LucasB]

Thanks Ross G and Naskies. It's a very addictive hobby. I am now going to do the Astrodon Mod to my DSLR....and build a cooler...

[gregbradley]

A very sharp image. It bodes well.

Greg.

[mill]

That camera has a promising result and gets some nice coloring in M42.
Very nice.