Hi All,
I have been working on getting more of the outer halo in to the image without losing the core detail.....I posted a version 2... a repro for comparison....how much power we have with processing to do good ...or bad.....!
Maybe this is bad.....
https://savannahskies.smugmug.com/Nebula/i-fBwH2Kw/A
Let me know...thanks!
Hi Mike,
Yes with my 0.39arcsec/pixel image scale, I have found the Adaptive Optics guiding helps my system significantly, especially as I still have a bit of residual hysteresis in the Dec axis on the PME2, that I have not been able yet to adjust out with adjustment of the spring plungers or worm block adjustments. I haven't formally tested the reduction in FWHMs yet though I do notice much better FWHMs in general - each night gives a slightly different FWHM and everything I do is automated through the night - since I have returned to using an AO.....I had to swap back from a FLI PL16803 to the STX16803 to get the AO again (I had enjoyed using a AOL with a STL11000 with the same scope on a PME back a few years ago).
It is the AO-X:
http://diffractionlimited.com/product/ao-x/
A photo of my imaging train is attached showing the red AO-X in front of the off-axis guider which is in turn in front of the big black filter wheel in front of the STX.
I sometimes have to settle for a guide star that gives 3 to 4 Hz, but if I can get a guide star of better than mag 10.7, I usually find the AO guiding works well. I have a camera rotator, of course to rotate the FOV to hopefully get a bright enough guide star. Only occasionally I can't get a target with a guide star - usually in a sparse star field around a galaxy....
Cheers,
Tim