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NGC6302 - A Bug's Life
Hello everyone!
Well this image is a "proof of concept" image. I've really been interested in determining just how good my guiding is, whether I could image a DSO at a long focal length and if I'd be able to get a decent number of photons to the chip at a large f ratio. So to try all this in one go, I recently bought a 2" 2x ED Barlow to take my f/6 1200mm 8" newt and make it an f/12 newt with a focal length of 2400mm. I then chose a small target which would benefit from the longer focal length, and the target was NGC6302, the Bug(Butterfly) Nebula.
This image is 22 x 5 minute subs captured using a QHY8L attached to a 2" 2x barlow on an 8" newt mounted on a HEQ5 Pro mount. Guiding was done using a PHD Guiding using a QHY5 attached to an ST80. I also used a Baader UHC-S filter to reduce the effects of light pollution being only 12kms from the Brisbane CBD. Processing was done in DSS and StarTools with final cosmetics in GIMP.
All in all I think this image proves that I will be able to image at longer focal lengths and higher f ratios from my backyard in Brisbane.
Cheers,
Mario
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