My "Lobster" revisited

[multiweb (Marc)]

Finally got some clear skies last night and made the trip up to bowen mountain. This time with a box of fuses so I could take it back to where I left a month ago . 21 x 5 min - QHY8 - Gain 1 Offset 110. Baader MPCC + UHC-S Baader filter. G11 - Celestron 5" at prime focus - Guided with PHD on ED80. Bit soft still for my taste (windy conditions) but a big improvement in focus from my latest attempt. I had to bin 10 subs out of 20. The wind between 8:00pm and 10:00pm was terrible.
I did a quick stack as is in CCD stack. No calibration. Full field shows M18 (i think) in the corner too and is available at: http://www.multiweb.com.au/astro/M17_f.jpg
I love wide fields and I have been battling with my newtonian to date to get all those stars looking nice to the edges. My latest modification on my focuser (until I can afford a new one) is at http://www.multiweb.com.au/astro/focusser.jpg. It worked really well last night to keep the camera in line. Thanks for looking. Comments/tips most welcome.

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

Fantastic effort regardless of the horrible conditions!

Lovely natural looking rendition Marc

That focuser looks impressive did you modify with the extra set screws? What F ratio is the 5" Newt? or have I got that wrong?

Mike

[multiweb (Marc)]

Originally Posted by strongmanmike

Fantastic effort regardless of the horrible conditions!

Lovely natural looking rendition Marc

That focuser looks impressive did you modify with the extra set screws? What F ratio is the 5" Newt? or have I got that wrong?

Mike

Thanks Mike. Yeah I did some drilling and tapping with M6 nylon screws. Not pretty but it does the job until I can get something better. F/5 650mm FL, 130mm diameter. http://www.celestron.com/c2/product.php?ProdID=31

[gregbradley]

Nice image. Corrected Newts are really becoming popular.
They seem to produce very tight stars and fine resolution.

Great on your nylon screws fixed. You really went to town on it!

Greg.

[multiweb (Marc)]

Originally Posted by gregbradley

nylon screws fixed. You really went to town on it!

Greg.

Thanks Greg. The bloody thing left me no choice. 3mm axial play on each side? Yeah right... how am I supposed to fit a CatEye infiniti piece in there?

[iceman (Mike)]

Wow Marc, that's a fine image. Beautiful work.

[AlexN]

Very nice indeed!

How much color correction did you have to do after shooting with the UHC filter? my first attempts at this seemed a little blue.. Your shot however looks lovely.

[multiweb (Marc)]

Originally Posted by iceman

Wow Marc, that's a fine image. Beautiful work.

Thanks Mike. Glad you liked it.

Originally Posted by AlexN

Very nice indeed!

How much color correction did you have to do after shooting with the UHC filter? my first attempts at this seemed a little blue.. Your shot however looks lovely.

Thanks Alex. Suprisingly this time I didn't have to color correct it. The channels were pretty much aligned already so I didn't have to move anything. That was a first though... You're right with the UHC filter colors do tend to shift. In my backyard where I have a lot of light pollution I always have to shift down the green and the red channel. Blue for me is always the "weakest" channel.