Hi all. I haven't posted many photos here lately cos I've been abducted by Facebook. Sorry. So here's a few exploits over the last month. All taken with the same scope - Bintel 8" F4 newt, same mount - HEQ5 pro, same camera - Pentax K-5. I've been very lazy, haven't bothered with guiding so they are all unguided. All of them with 30 second subs at ISO 1600. All with the scope pointed out the window. The K-5 has a built in interval timer so they are also unattended while I watch TV or whatever. The ultimate in lazy astrophotography.
M8 The Lagoon Nebula is 127 x 30 seconds.
M20 Trifid nebula is 84 x 30 seconds.
M17 is 100 x 30 seconds neat.
M104 Sombrero is 188 x 30 seconds.
M83 is 89 x 30 seconds.
Nice one Kevin
You've done well there with only 30 sec subs. But it goes to show that you don't need 20 min exposures on $5k cooled CCD's to get a decent image.
Cheers
when I did goto dob deep sky photography I thought I was the lazyman astrophotographer - but I never did it from inside! that is next level! the lagoon is my fav of the bunch.
I like the Lagoon's colours too, but it is interesting to observe that when
I posted a similar, but slightly more saturated [a lot more subs] version
of it a couple of years ago, it was not well accepted at all.
raymo
That's impressive. I really like the M104 shot. Maybe I should stop with the squinting into the illuminated reticle trick and do the 30sec thing! I was thinking about Autoguiders and a new mount - maybe I don't need to. Have you got the coma corrector on the f4? And do you throw many dark/flats into the mix or do you find with that many subs that they're not really necessary?
Some great shots there, I always enjoy seeing your "out the bedroom window" jobs, goes a long way to show what a bit of ingenuity can do. I imagine it circumvents a fair measure of setup time, too!
These are fantastic and I can't pick a favourite. Are you able to visually see the Sombrero from your location, or does it only show up in the pics ?
Thanks Jim, The Sombrero usually shows up as a long slender sliver of light visually. On a good dark night the dark dust lane can be seen with larger scopes over 8".
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hoges
That's impressive. I really like the M104 shot. Maybe I should stop with the squinting into the illuminated reticle trick and do the 30sec thing! I was thinking about Autoguiders and a new mount - maybe I don't need to. Have you got the coma corrector on the f4? And do you throw many dark/flats into the mix or do you find with that many subs that they're not really necessary?
I used to spend hours looking through the guiding eyepiece. My neck would kill me afterwards! Then I got the autoguiding working. But when there are clouds (which is kinda always) autoguiding loses the guidestar and the session is messed up without some regular input.
Yes I'm using the Baader MPCC MKIII coma corrector. It does the job at F4 very well and it is absolutely needed.
I usually use 20-30 darks and about 25 flats.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Eden
G'day Kevin,
Some great shots there, I always enjoy seeing your "out the bedroom window" jobs, goes a long way to show what a bit of ingenuity can do. I imagine it circumvents a fair measure of setup time, too!
Thanks Eden, yes setup time is like it would be in an observatory. Just turn the thing on and go.
So here's a few exploits over the last month. All taken with the same scope - Bintel 8" F4 newt, same mount - HEQ5 pro, same camera - Pentax K-5. I've been very lazy, haven't bothered with guiding so they are all unguided. All of them with 30 second subs at ISO 1600. All with the scope pointed out the window. 
