Ngc 6188 hoo

[Drac0 (Mark)]

Getting limited time for getting out, weather doesn't seem to want to co-operate...

But despite a forecast for cloud & fog, last night remained pretty clear allowing me to get out & go after one of my favourite targets - NGC 6188, The Dragons of Ara (Rim Nebula) - in HOO.

My mount was was down (replaced the mainboard tonight) so out with a borrowed EQ6-R Pro for a test after making a couple of minor adjustment which went well. After a few sessions with this mount I will be upgrading to one for myself - pick it up Saturday!

Finished with 220 minutes of OIII and 150 minutes of Ha using 10 minute subs.

Gear:
Saxon 102mm triplet @ F5.6 (SvBony 0.8x flattener/reducer)
ASI294MM Pro
Antlia 3nm OIII & Ha
SW EQ6-R Pro
Guide scope: 90mm F5.5 StarSky w/ASI120mm-S

Software:
Astro Photography Tool (APT) v4.23
PHD2, EQMOD
Stacked with ASTAP
Processed with PhotoShop & StarNet++

[xelasnave]

That is a rather decent image Mark...excellent really.
Have I got it right?...this was first time with that mount and you guided for 10 minute subs? If so that is impressive.
Well done all round.
Alex

[Drac0 (Mark)]

Thanks Alex.

Second time with the mount, first time I noticed both axis were too tight with no free movement when the clutches were released, proper balance was impossible. Loosened them up so they moved freely resulting in better guiding & almost no backlash.

Cheers,
Mark

[carlstronomy (Carl)]

Mark, really nice image mate. You should be happy with that one, nice detail.

[Doogs38 (Alex)]

Beautiful image, Mark. I like the darkish finish with the ochre tones Alex

[oska (John)]

Fantastic Mark. That's a really interesting take on the Dragons, very well done.

[Dave882 (David)]

Lovely image!!

[Drac0 (Mark)]

Thanks all

[Doogs38 (Alex)]

Btw, how are you finding the 294MM, Mark? I have one but haven’t used it yet, I’m waiting on the last of the filters (tomorrow hopefully) before I give it a go. Have you tried using both the bin 1 and bin 2 modes? Alex

[Drac0 (Mark)]

Btw, how are you finding the 294MM, Mark? I have one but haven’t used it yet, I’m waiting on the last of the filters (tomorrow hopefully) before I give it a go. Have you tried using both the bin 1 and bin 2 modes? Alex

I like it & it works well for me. I have tried both bin 1 & 2 but stick mainly with bin 2 @ 120 gain as it works for my gear. Another reason is the file size of bin 1 (~90mb vs ~22mb), my processing pc is very old and struggles with stacks of the larger files. I plan on trying some shorter focal length <400mm when I will probably need to go bin 1.

Cheers
Mark

[AstroViking (Steve)]

Well done, sir! That's one very dark and spooky looking set of dragons.

[Drac0 (Mark)]

Thanks Steve. Looks like a couple of good nights here so looking forward to adding a lot more data.

Cheers,
Mark