GSO RC images 21 May 2009

Paul Haese · #1 22-05-2009, 01:53 PM

Well got most of the things sorted with the GSO RC. Focusor works great, holds collimation and the guiding is working nicely. I did have to up the aggression a little to get it right for the focal length.

I reckon these scopes are going to take off.

The only thing I am not happy with is the star bloom in the images. Any advice on this would be greatly appreciated.

NGC5128

Eta Carina

Trifid (M20)

comments welcome.

BTW these images are reasonably large, dial up users might have to wait a little while.

Terry B · #2 22-05-2009, 02:10 PM

What do you mean by "blooming"?
Blooming is leakage across the pixels when they saturate. I think you mostly have scattering which is probably more from the actual scope and the spider.

troypiggo (Troy) · #3 22-05-2009, 02:15 PM

Excellent results. Are you using a flattener or was it a collimation thing that was causing the elongated stars initially?

gbeal · #4 22-05-2009, 02:20 PM

Stunning Paul, simply stunning, especially 5128.

Tamtarn · #5 22-05-2009, 02:33 PM

Three great images there Paul.

Looks like you are on a winner with the RC, you should be pretty happy with the nice sharp detail in these images.

Paul Haese · #6 22-05-2009, 02:36 PM

Terry, that is what I mean, I think the 40D has problems with light leakage across the pixels. I am sure if I had a dedicated Astro camera the bloated stars would be less of an issue.

Troy I am using the Tak flattener, the collimation with the previous focusor was an issue. Not present at all now.

Thanks Gary, yep I am very impressed with this telescope myself. Not hand picked, just given what was on the shelf. If you have got the money get one before they go up in price.

Paul Haese · #7 22-05-2009, 02:37 PM

Thanks David and Barb, really like the scope.

AlexN · #8 22-05-2009, 03:05 PM

Hats off to you.. Lovely, 5128 and eta are stunners!

Alex.

acropolite (Phil) · #9 22-05-2009, 03:11 PM

Quote:

Focusor works great

Nice work Paul, looks like a nice new toy, I can't remember whether it was you who said it but I seem to remember some comment about flex in the focusser did you overcome that or replace the focusser?

Paul Haese · #10 22-05-2009, 03:28 PM

Phil, yeah it was me and perhaps a few of the other guys. I got a Feather Touch and this sorted the issue out. No more flex and the images look flat, mind you CCD inspector says otherwise.

Thanks Alex.

Quark (Trevor) · #11 22-05-2009, 03:41 PM

Lovely images Paul,

You must be really stoked with this result.
All the more satisfying due to working through the initial teething problems.

All of these images look great , your 5128 compares very well with David Malins in his book "The Invisible Universe", cannot find any detail in his that is not in yours.

Well done
Regards
Trevor

Paul Haese · #12 22-05-2009, 03:50 PM

Thanks Trevor,yep very happy but of course there is always more ways of improving upon the data collection and processing.

While the 5128 might compare well with David Malins image, it is still a far cry from one posted by Peter Ward. I guess the extra aperture and STL11000 certainly makes a significant difference, and maybe that extra 20,000 dollars gives you that final crispness to the image. Still beggars cannot be choosers.

Peter Ward · #13 22-05-2009, 03:54 PM

Nice work. All the basics have been covered very well. Beautifully focused,
well guided, good S/N ratio.

The only meaningful step up from here is, as you hinted, tri-colour with a dedicated astro CCD.

Well done

gregbradley · #14 22-05-2009, 03:56 PM

Hi Paul,

They are very high quality images and at the top of DSLR images I have seen.

As far as blooming goes, there is very little of a halo around the brighter stars. You can get that with any camera. Try lassoing the bright stars you would like to look sharper and use a small amount of minimum filter on them.

Or overall use some deconvolution but not overdo it.

To me though those stars don't attract my attention at all and perfectly acceptable.

So much for the guy who said you'd get blobby stars. He should be regretting opening his mouth so wide now.

I guess what he doesn't understand is modern China isn't a bunch of guys in some grotty factory rough hand polishing mirrors. I bet they have the latest gear and it turns out the same quality mirror after mirror and its all computer controlled.

Greg.

Paul Haese · #15 22-05-2009, 04:15 PM

Thanks for the advice Guys.

Peter, you know which one I want, but cannot afford yet.

Greg, I will give that a try with the lasso. Thanks for the tips.

Peter Ward · #16 22-05-2009, 04:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paul Haese

Peter, you know which one I want, but cannot afford yet.

You really have got some excellent results, which are frankly better than many of the dedicated astro-ccd images out there.

As I said, the basics need to be covered, collimation, focus, focus, focus, mount alignment, tracking & guiding....and you've done all of that very well!

Telescopes, cameras, cars, hi-fi's are all very similar, in that the first 80% can be got without fancy engineering or undue cost. With some intelligent tweaks (eg $A500 Taka flattener), a skilled user can maybe squeeze another 10% .

Things tend to get a little exponential in engineering and cost after that.... and for many that last little bit of resolution or S/N is simply not perceptible, or desired given the often significant cost.

bloodhound31 · #17 22-05-2009, 04:48 PM

Paul, these are amazing mate. I don't have a favorite, as they are all stunning!

Oh how I wish I had a RC.....

Baz.

TrevorW · #18 22-05-2009, 05:08 PM

Paul look at the date you posted on the title line

Cheers

Paul Haese · #19 22-05-2009, 05:22 PM

Oops, wrong date. Perhaps a mod can fix the date for me. It should read 2009. Half way through the year and I am still not with it. LOL

RB (Andrew) · #20 22-05-2009, 05:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paul Haese

Oops, wrong date. Perhaps a mod can fix the date for me. It should read 2009. Half way through the year and I am still not with it. LOL

I fixed it Paul.