[Dennis]

Originally Posted by jase

A pleasing "fill in" image Dennis. At F/12 I wouldn't expect the ST7 to bloom very quickly. Perhaps could have gone longer subs, though there are a few bright stars in the FOV. Hope to see more of your DSO imaging adventures at 2160mm FL.

Thanks Jase. I tried a 5 min sub frame and one of the stars bloomed, so I reduced the subs to 4 mins to help prevent the blooming. LRGB imaging at this fl requires a lot of skill and dedication to all aspects of the process, from equipment set up and tuning through acquisition followed by hours of reducing, calibration, aligning, combining and processing. I’m not too sure I’m up for this just yet.

I’m still at the point and shoot phase of my development, and have a long, long way to go before I move into the arena of capturing optimised data over several nights for a single target using large chips. A daunting path to follow!

However, these occasional excursions at over 2000mm do help me appreciate the technical skills and mastery behind some of the deeper images I see on IIS, especially yours!

Originally Posted by AlexN

Oh yeah! captured those pillars marvelously Dennis.

Well done. Esp. under full moon conditions.

Thanks Alex – I was pleasantly surprised with the outcome given the conditions.

Originally Posted by Ric

A lovely up close capture of the pillars Dennis.
A top shot.

Thanks Ric - it was nice to point the scope at a DSO once more. Without a 25” dob, this is the only way I’ll get to see some of the beauty of these amazing celestial sights.

Originally Posted by iceman

That's some serious FL, Dennis. very challenging indeed but a very nice result.

Thanks Mike. The set up and system all worked well, which was a really pleasant surprise after such a relatively long lay off. However, I’m not too sure if I’ll make a career of long fl DSO imaging just yet though, it certainly is one tough journey.

Cheers

Dennis