Thread: M42
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Old 25-07-2024, 11:39 PM
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strongmanmike (Michael)
Highest Observatory in Oz

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Join Date: May 2006
Location: Canberra
Posts: 17,631
Quote:
Originally Posted by ua1 View Post
Greetings. My name is Andrew Peters and this is my first image posted on this site. I was active in the early 1990's using a variety of instruments including a 6" astrophysics refractor and a 20" f5 newtonian riding on a custom built fork mount. The mounting is old tech with no encoders while an SBIG ST-4 is used for guiding. The scopes incidentally were featured in the October 1994 issue of the magazine "Sky and Space".


After a long hiatus and now retired, the scopes are now set up some 2 hours north of Adelaide under a bortle 2 sky. M42 was imaged with the 20" using a nikon D750 camera and is a composite of 2 subs (16 + 600 secs at ISO 400) taken while experimenting with the coma corrector to sensor spacing. It clearly needed further adjusting. A cooled astro camera has since been acquired but the full frame nikon is still used on occasion for larger objects.

Aaaaaaawesome telescope/s! Looking at your setup brought a tear to my eye in the mid 80's a friend and I were well on the way to completing a very similar rig but an 18" F5, with 5.5" secondary, and the dream of locating ot on a hill north of Canberra but after getting most components purchased or constructed...meah..we discovered beer, women and the gym and never completed it but it was to look just like your masterpiece!

Thanks for poating

Mike.....now please tell me that isn't a Byres drive!!!! we ended up purchasing a 16.8" Thomas Mathis drive and worm assembly.
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