Finally out imaging. My Eta Carina.

[batema (Mark)]

Thank god I managed to do some imaging. Rough as it is I was just glad to be out there dodging the clouds. 50 minutes worth. No flats or darks and Canon 60Da.

Mark

[LightningNZ (Cam)]

Very pleasing, solid result for only 50 minutes. I like it!
-Cam

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

No flats and no darks huh? Ooooh, you will get in trouble for thaaaat way to go, nice work with even colour balance Mark, looks really good

Mike

[alan meehan (Alan)]

Nice and clean Mark good to see you getting some imaging done
AL

[batema (Mark)]

Thank you all. I got approval from the better half to go ahead and buy my dream set up of an Astrophisics 1100 with a Tec 140 on top of it. Still working on the SBIG 8300STF which I think is the better (maybe but unsure) of the STT.

[RickS (Rick)]

Nice work, Mark, and congrats on the dream set up approval! If you still have credit at some I'd go for a bigger sensor

[batema (Mark)]

There is always some astronomy friend that will offer suggestions that will push me one step closer to divorce. Normally its Paul. lol What would you think about the SBIG 11000?

[RickS (Rick)]

Originally Posted by batema

There is always some astronomy friend that will offer suggestions that will push me one step closer to divorce. Normally its Paul. lol What would you think about the SBIG 11000?

Why should you have an easier life than the rest of us?

It depends on what you're looking for. The 8300 will give you an image scale of 1.14 arcsec/pixel and a FOV of 47.4x62.9 arcmin. That's decent for a wide view of smaller objects but if you're going for smaller objects I'd be tempted by a camera with an ICX694 sensor: 0.95 arcsec/pixel and a FOV of 35x43.7 arcmin with lower noise and better QE. You could make like Mike and refuse to do darks and flats!

For a nice wide FOV, mostly immune to poor seeing, the 11000 would be a great choice. Image scale of 1.89 arcsec/pixel and a grand FOV of 84.2x126.4 arcmin.

Realistically, you need the TEC140 with a huge sensor and also a wide aperture, long focal length scope for the small objects. The good news is that you only need the one mount The AP1100 will do fine with a small scope or a big one.

Cheers,
Rick.