One minute fun

[cometcatcher (Kevin)]

I'm the sort of person that likes to get something to show from an evening's session. But lately I've been getting into longer and longer sessions where the final result can take days or weeks to put together. The results are great, but I miss having something to show for the night.

So for one night I had some fun. The rules were, no stacking, just a single sub, no guiding, nothing fancy. If I'm lucky I can get a minute unguided without too much trailing. So that's what I did.

Here is M8, M20 and M17. Each were 1 minute, taken with a GSO 10" F4 Newtonian, full spectrum modified Canon 1100D, Baader MPCC MKIII, Baader UV / IR cut filter, HEQ5 Pro unguided.

I'm amazed how fast a full spectrum modified 1100D is.

[Atmos (Colin)]

Nothing to scoff at Kevin! Nicely captured

[Anth10 (Anthony M)]

Kevin, I'm always keen to follow your posts particularly since I have a very similar setup and I've adopted very much the same imaging techniques that you use. I like your concept and this is what I find makes astrophotography fun- the ability as you say to present a result for the nights imaging session. These shots are tip top well done, the Triffid is very good.
I so wish I could use a coma corrector with my uv/ir cut filter but I don't have the distance available to bring it to focus with my f5 Newt.

Keep up your good work,
Anth

[Mickoid (Michael)]

Kevin, they came out really nice for a single sub. It's amazing what you can do with the equipment available today. I shot the same objects last night as well and with my 550mm focal length I was able to get the Lagoon and Triffid in the one field. My subs were 1min f 5.6 so are not quite as bright as yours but I had to throw half away due to windy conditions at my location. 1 min at 1000mm unguided is very good indeed well done.

[johnyb (John)]

Kevin, great pics. :thumbs:
I certainly couldn't get anything like that with my 150 SW at a single 1 minute sub.

As a newly I have a lot to learn, it's good to see that veterans of the sky's you are still having fun.

I guess the weather is better in Mackay than in Melbourne. Another cloudy night for me. I have yet to take m8, m20 or m17. But I am not in any hurry as I am still learning to fine tune settings.

John

[doppler (Rick)]

Nice ones Kevin, that astro modding really brings out the reds. Wait till you get some auto guiding action happening and you can get some multi minute subs.
I have been wondering where the line is between astrophotography just for fun and where it becomes work, where you spend weeks capturing and processing a single object.

[cometcatcher (Kevin)]

Originally Posted by Atmos

Nothing to scoff at Kevin! Nicely captured

Thanks Colin!

Originally Posted by Anth10

Kevin, I'm always keen to follow your posts particularly since I have a very similar setup and I've adopted very much the same imaging techniques that you use. I like your concept and this is what I find makes astrophotography fun- the ability as you say to present a result for the nights imaging session. These shots are tip top well done, the Triffid is very good.
I so wish I could use a coma corrector with my uv/ir cut filter but I don't have the distance available to bring it to focus with my f5 Newt.

Keep up your good work,
Anth

Thanks Anthony. That's a pity with your Newt. I made sure the 10" I got was an imaging Newt so I have enough back focus to play with. You could always move the mirror up the tube a bit, though that would mean cutting it...

Originally Posted by Mickoid

Kevin, they came out really nice for a single sub. It's amazing what you can do with the equipment available today. I shot the same objects last night as well and with my 550mm focal length I was able to get the Lagoon and Triffid in the one field. My subs were 1min f 5.6 so are not quite as bright as yours but I had to throw half away due to windy conditions at my location. 1 min at 1000mm unguided is very good indeed well done.

Thanks Michael. I remember not so long ago it took me an hour of subs to get something like these 1 minute shots when I was using my ED100 and unmodified camera.

Originally Posted by johnyb

Kevin, great pics. :thumbs:
I certainly couldn't get anything like that with my 150 SW at a single 1 minute sub.

As a newly I have a lot to learn, it's good to see that veterans of the sky's you are still having fun.

I guess the weather is better in Mackay than in Melbourne. Another cloudy night for me. I have yet to take m8, m20 or m17. But I am not in any hurry as I am still learning to fine tune settings.

John

Thanks John. We have had a few clear nights here in Mackay. It should be improving now as we usually have clearish winters.

Originally Posted by doppler

Nice ones Kevin, that astro modding really brings out the reds. Wait till you get some auto guiding action happening and you can get some multi minute subs.
I have been wondering where the line is between astrophotography just for fun and where it becomes work, where you spend weeks capturing and processing a single object.

Thanks Rick. I got my new 50mm guidescope in the mail Friday and have been setting up another laptop for it. I've done autoguiding before, but I needed something light as the HEQ5 is overloaded and couldn't take my 68mm guidescope.

Here's a pic of the new 50mm guidescope and camera. I need a lighter camera now.

[doppler (Rick)]

Originally Posted by cometcatcher

Thanks Rick. I got my new 50mm guidescope in the mail Friday and have been setting up another laptop for it. I've done autoguiding before, but I needed something light as the HEQ5 is overloaded and couldn't take my 68mm guidescope.

Here's a pic of the new 50mm guidescope and camera. I need a lighter camera now.

That looks pretty much like the same guider that I have. I think that the asi 120mc that I am using is a great match for the 50mm guider, sensitive but not too many pixels which keeps the magnification up and it's very lightweight. Great planetary imager as well, for those moon filled nights. I have set up my 10" f5 with that guider (on my Heq5 pro) and it guides very well, just need to save some bickies for a coma corrector.