Quote:
Originally Posted by leon
Absolutely beautiful,  so crisp and clear, do i say well done or another one for the pool room, with the others 
Leon  |
Thanks Leon.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Stevec35
Definitely not shabby at all Peter. I dream about data like that.
Cheers
Steve
|
You have a superb system Steve...just a matter of being there on the right night.
Quote:
Originally Posted by alpal
Sharp pic Peter,
You know it's good when the "finger of God"
stands out so well.
That has to be sub arc second seeing?
cheers
Allan
|
Thanks for your input....but as for sub arc second seeing ...I wish!
No, it's about 2 arc sec. The norm from my backyard is more like 3-4 arc sec. The 16803 CCD is a big chip (you are looking at a 50% sized image) and while the optics should deliver 5 micron stars to the focal plane, sadly, I rarely see single 9-micron pixel illumination!
But during winter, big blocking-high weather systems descend over Sydney (five or six nights a year) and if I'm not away working or have a full moon when it happens, things tighten up remarkably.
The other important aspects of my imaging system are thermal control (via Zerodur optics, Carbon fibre and environmental fans) and Adaptive Optics. Particularly the AO. During nights with slow seeing, the AO simply works. Needle like stars are eazy-peezy at 300mm.....but they lack resolution..and heroic exposure times to make a stand-out image.
Imaging at the Alluna's native FL of 3300mm it's rare to see needles to say the least! ...seeing dominates the view....so when it finally does co-operate, having perfect guiding, optical correction and focus all ready to roll seems like a no-brainer to me.
Occasionally you do get lucky and it all comes together.... as it did for me here.