First go at 47 Tuc

[Andy01]

I'm making progress...had my first go at drift alignment last night.

Did it by eye using Alpha Centauri for Az & Achenar for Alt. using the method from
http://petesastrophotography.com/index.html?mainframe=http://petesastrophotography.com/polaralignment.html

Then fired up the 3 star alignment on the Synscan and hey presto, there was 47 Tuc sitting pretty much bang on in the viewfinder and not moving (much) either.

This is a single 30 sec frame taken before the camera batteries died on me (d'oh, too cold!), so no subs, darks, flats etc done yet.

Looks like there is some minor movement, but it's much better now. Can't wait to get a bunch of exposures and try some stacking etc.

Do you think I should invest in an illuminated recticle viewfinder?

http://www.bintel.com.au/Eyepieces-and-Barlows/Specialty-eyepieces/Orion-Illuminated-20mm-Centering-Eyepiece/159/productview.aspx

Thoughts, comments welcome.
Andy

[ZeroID]

Definitely some drift there but the focus is good and exposure is good for a single frame. Stars are not bloated. Start tweaking your alignment, have fun.

....and charge your batteries !!