NGC 7293 - Helix Nebula from Mackay

[weathermon (Mike)]

Hi all,

I'm pretty happy with the way this one turned out - around 5.5 hours of images in total. Details:

120s, 180s, 300s and 540s at ISO1600 for a total of 5.5 hours.
Camera: Canon CentralDS Astro6D (cooled and modded) + Hutech IDAS
Telescope: GSO830 10" Reflector with moonlite focuser + hires stepper.
Mount: NEQ6 Pro (belt mod kit)
Guiding: Orion 80mm shortscope + SSAG + PHD2
Editing: DSS + Photoshop CC 2015

Larger at Astrobin here: http://www.astrobin.com/full/204480/0/

[DJT (David)]

Nice image Mike. I like the little galaxy at the top enveloped in the outer edges of the nebula.

Wondering why you use multiple exposure lengths for this though. You have done a great job and I don't know what your local conditions are like.

[weathermon (Mike)]

Thanks David!

I originally started off with shorter exposures then kept pushing it further and further until I ended up with 9 minutes. At the time I was really struggling with focus as I didn't have the motorized moonlite focuser at the time so quite a few of the shots ended up out of focus. Seeing was around 2-3 most nights with only a brief bit of seeing around the 4 mark.

Cheers, Mike

[Rex]

Another good image Mike. Looks very natural.

[RickS (Rick)]

Nice image, Mike.