Well it had ta happen...I have started using flats! :-)
Last night was a pearler of a night in Canberra - still, clear and
average to good seeing (at times)..?..oh but there was a moon for
half the night though :-(
It was the first time I had everything operating from one computer
ie the SXV-H9 + SXV guide camera, FS2 scope control and my new
plaentarium software STAR AtlasPRO, by our very own Paul Mayo of
Newcastle, was pointing me everywhere! I have also installed a JMI
moto focus on the AP, with a long cable to the handbox, so "finally"
I could pretty much just sit there and control everything from my
flight deck (fold-out card table with table cloth). The only thing I
still have to do manually is focus of the guide scope (only had to
tweek that a couple of times in the night though). I know this is a
far cry from the likes of the fully automated out there but for me,
who has been producing images with the AP152EDF for the last year
with manual finger focus and no GOTO, it was rather cool!
The use of flats was a fluke really as I wasn't planning on using
them and the night was intended to be used to just try and get all
the hardware and software talking for future sessions when I was
deffinitely going to try flats with a light box. Buuut after
successfully imaging three galaxies (for fun)with the NJP tracking
like a exorcet missile I noticed this stange light creeping across
the sky...?? After at first thinking I was having a dizzy spell, I
realised...oh it's daylight coming!...?...hmm?...flats??? Yeh why
not?
I pointed the scope to the Zenith and out came the grease proof
paper. The actual process of taking the sky flats was a little nerve
racking I have to say as the sky brightens so quickly! Between
typing file names, and the computer freezing right when the ADU
readings were approaching my target levels causing a lightening
reboot frakas, trying to maintain 50-60% saturation was easier said
than done!
Any way I did three galaxies and while the flats were far from
perfect the resulting images are a mile better than the recent Grus
galaxy group I did!
NGC 247
This galaxy in Sculptor is often over looked for it's much brighter
nearby cousin NGC 253. NGC 247 while fainter is almost as big and
being a star burst galaxy (I think?) it has plenty happening in it.
Unfortunately this was taken while the moon was up :-(
http://www.pbase.com/strongmanmike2002/image/67797523/original
NGC 1398
Another over shadowed galaxy is NGC 1398 in Fornax. Most (including
me) tend to go for the more spectacular celebrity and nearby barred
spiral NGC 1365. NGC 1398 is a beautiful and subtle galaxy with
delicate spirl arm structure. It also sports a prominant short bar
and neat molecular inner star forming ring:
http://www.pbase.com/strongmanmike2002/image/67797607/original
NGC 1924
This is a galaxy I have always wanted to image. It is very small
(1.5' X 1.1') and only Mag 13.3 but being just a degree or so from
M42 in this very dusty and HII dominated region of the Orion I
wanted to see how much the AP and SXV-H9 would show in a short
exposure of 30min:
http://www.pbase.com/strongmanmike2002/image/67797628/original
The flats experience was not perfect as the dust motes are not
completely removed but given my crude technique I am happy with the
outcomes. Shame I didn't take any colour for the 247 and 1398 images
oh well, next time?
...?...ahh?..thanks for listening to that ramble! :-)
Mike
So much so that I went and Googled it up. It's a really awesome looking object. Nailing this sucker will become one of my long term goals. It is a great object. Never seen a pic of this until now. Thanks for sharing. Click 
. A 20" scope would be a nice help too though 
..?...one day!
Nearly had a heart attack. I thought Mike was starting to do flats. 
