Hello everyone!
Despite the gusty conditions yesterday afternoon I set up for an imaging session on M17, The Swan (or Omega or Horseshoe) Nebula. Unfortunately the gusts of wind were a problem and I only managed 1.25 hrs of capture before the clouds rolled in. Confident that they would clear I waited for about half an hour until the was a loud rumble. My wife looked at me and asked "Was that thunder?" A quick check of the radar showed there was a considerable storm just to the south of my place and some smaller ones in the Brisbane environs.
Danger Will Robinson, danger!!
It's times like this that you realise just how much gear you have!! I managed to drag everything inside before some largish drops of rain started falling. Phew...
So this is an object that I will go back to and acquire more data - something I've never done before. The attached image is 25 x 3 minute subs, captured using a QHY8L OSC with a Baader MPCC and a Baader UHC-S filter attached to an 8" newt on a HEQ5 Pro mount. Guiding with A QHY5/ST80 combination and PHD Guiding. Processing using DSS, StarTools and final cosmetics in GIMP.
I hope you enjoy my version of
M17 - The Swan/Omega/Horseshoe Nebula.
Cheers,
Mario