Hi all,
I am selling my beloved C11 based imaging system. The system has a Carbon fibre 11" at its core with the legendary Hyperstar at the prime focus giving a whopping 2.5 degrees FOV with a Nikon D7000 DSLR attached.
This great system is faithfully and sturdily supported by that workhorse of a mount, the Losmandy G11 mount with the Gemini II control system. This can be controlled by most planetarium programs. I have used Sky Safari Pro and Sky Tools Pro with this system with no problems. A hand paddle is also provided which allows planetarium over ride.
All this sits on a very strong steel pier which is included.
This system has been used by me for the past 2 years searching for new comets. But with the encroachment of 1 metre and even 2 metre robotic surveys which find comets out past Magnitude 20, years before they are discoverable by amateurs, my hobby is caput for all intents and purposes!
To see the potential of this system for imaging,
have a look at this page. The images of M83, Omega Centauri and the Trifid are SINGLE EXPOSURES of 20-30 seconds with little processing. The Orion Nebula is a stack of 9 images of 20 seconds each - minimal when you think about it! And because the system is so fast,
no guiding is required at these exposure times .
This system is
very, very fast at F2 and the amount of detail that can be picked up in very short exposures is remarkable - hence its outstanding utility as a comet hunting machine - or supernovae if that's your bent.
I am asking $6,000.