For some reason I haven't used my telescope in a
long time. I've been having a blast just pointing my DSLR at the sky (with tracking but unguided) to see what i can achieve.
After imaging Ceres I figured Pluto is next, cause as we all know magnitude 14+ is
logically the next step up from magnitude 6! Didn't even know it was possible until I got that one dot and compared it with Stellarium, what a feeling!
I think I've pushed the limits of this mount. After extensive drift alignment and balancing, the mount still drifts in RA and with blind adjustments every 25 seconds with the silly hand-paddle I can get about 4 minutes of unblurred exposure out of it - up to Mag 15 objects.
Date: 2009/03/23-25
Setup: Canon 450D :: 250mm FL, f/5.6, EQ6 (no GOTO/auto-guiding)
Settings: 240 sec Exp, ISO800, Lights: 4-9, Darks: 2-4
Both regular RGB (indexed) and inverted B&W animations are included below. Enjoy!
http://www.smugmug.com/photos/499274502_g6TmJ-X3-1.gif
http://www.smugmug.com/photos/499281157_BsPgw-X3.gif