The Flame nebula is the faintest object I have thus far managed to image with my ETX 70 and Atik 1 C combination.
This is an object I have seen visually only once and that through some else’s equipment at a star party and it is a bit of a challenge for this scope, given tracking limits exposures to around 20 seconds.
The image was acquired on January 12, seeing was ordinary and the location was my backyard (quite light polluted). The best 15 frames from 50 were selected , aligned, stacked, processed and resized
It is obvious I need to keep on trying to improve image quality…and lie in wait for that perfect windless night...still thanks for looking
Next to try and answer the question as whether the Horsehead is going to be within the capabilities of scope and/or operator
Hi Seeker,
Tha's a nice effort for a 70mm! Well done.
What are the details of the shot? Exposure length, f/ratio etc...
You'd need quite a bit more exposure to get the horsehead as well as a very dark site!
Keep it up!
the ETX 70 is a short tube-350 mm achromat-F/5 on an alt -azimuth mount. The problem is less aperture and more mount tracking capability. I usually have to discard the majority of images because -even with my generous limit of about half a pixel star trails -most exposures have some trailing.
In this instance I stacked 15 out of 50 images-most exposures were 15 seconds, just one was any good at 20 seconds
Yes I agree I need to first try the Flame from a dark site before taking on the horsehead
I know images arent of high quality but the object is recognisable and featrues such as dust lanes can be distinguished. It is fun to see just how far this scope can be pushed.
I dont think meade ever intended this scope for DSO imaging!
