PN ngc246, Galaxies ngc1232 & ngc1365

[Dennis]

Hello,

We’ve enjoyed a couple of clear nights with good seeing recently and I had the opportunity to use the C9.25 and ST7 to image a few DSO’s; Planetary Nebula NGC246 in Cetus, Galaxy NGC1232 in Eridanus and Galaxy NGC1365 in Fornax. The images were self guided using the dual chip of the ST7 (TC211). I had problems finding bright guide stars for the self guiding chip, so was only able to capture Luminance data – RGB filters would have swamped the faint guide stars.

The last quarter Moon was a bit of a challenge, but the relatively small size of the ST7 chip (756x510) meant that gradients weren’t a real issue.

C9.25 with F6.3 Reducer/Corrector.
NGC246. 10x5 minute subs.
NGC1232. 8x15 minute subs.
NGC1356. 6x10 minute subs.
ST7E CCD camera.

Thanks for looking.

Cheers

Dennis

[mick pinner]

excellent pics x 3 Dennis.

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

Yes excellent work Big D!

I love shots like these, they remind me of the shots taken by the 200" Hale back in its hay day in the 50's and 60's

NGC 1232 and 1365 are my equal favourite "famous" spiral galaxies along with NGC 6744 and M83.

Mike

[rogerg (Roger)]

Excellent shots Dennis, reminds me of when my ST7 used to return me some nice images . Really is great to see such nice images from a fellow ST7 owner.

[jjjnettie (Jeanette)]

Very nice Dennis.

[AlexN]

Lovely triplet of shot Dennis! 1356 pushes all the right buttons for me!

Good to see that other Brisbanites were taking advantage of the beautiful skies!

[Octane (Humayun)]

Dennis,

Great work!

NGC 1232 for me!

Regards,
Humayun

[winensky]

Yea, 1365 is a very dynamic galaxy and you have a great shot there!

[Matty P (Matt)]

Fantastic set of shots Dennis. 1356 is my favourite.

Very well done.

[h0ughy (David)]

awesome result dennis, and all focussed how?

[RobF (Rob)]

Another vote for 1356 here!

[spearo (Frank)]

Nice work!
I'll be aiming for NGC246 this weekend weather permitting, I'm inspired!
well done
frank

[Dennis]

Originally Posted by mick pinner

excellent pics x 3 Dennis.

Thanks Mick – I appreciate your nice words.

Originally Posted by strongmanmike

Yes excellent work Big D!
I love shots like these, they remind me of the shots taken by the 200" Hale back in its hay day in the 50's and 60's
NGC 1232 and 1365 are my equal favourite "famous" spiral galaxies along with NGC 6744 and M83.
Mike

Thanks Mike – the ST7 is a nice camera to learn with. The simplicity of B&W and the relatively small size chip means that I can concentrate on the more simple aspects of setting the correct levels, making tonal adjustments, managing noise, etc., leaving the harder stuff such as large FOV’s, Gradients, RGB combining, balancing, etc. for later on.

Originally Posted by rogerg

Excellent shots Dennis, reminds me of when my ST7 used to return me some nice images . Really is great to see such nice images from a fellow ST7 owner.

Thanks Roger – the ST7 remains a good work horse, despite the slowish downloads (mine is the older parallel version), relatively small chip (765x510) and the even smaller auto guider chip, the TC211 at 192x164 pixels.

However, some of the benefits are that it is relatively immune to gradients and is quite a sensitive camera. I have the dual stage cooling model, which comes in useful during the summer months, where the extra -6 deg cooling comes in useful.

Of late, I’ve been getting a lot of rogue pixels that I repair using the Hot and Cold pixel repair tools in CCDSoft – I’m not sure if my CCD chip is wearing out – LOL!

Originally Posted by jjjnettie

Very nice Dennis.

Thanks Jeanette – I appreciate you looking and for writing those nice words of encouragement.

Originally Posted by AlexN

Lovely triplet of shot Dennis! 1356 pushes all the right buttons for me!
Good to see that other Brisbanites were taking advantage of the beautiful skies!

Thanks Alex – I hope you manage to fix your auto guiding problems and I look forward to seeing the full potential of the C11 and QHY8.

Originally Posted by Octane

Dennis,
Great work!
NGC 1232 for me!
Regards,
Humayun

Thanks Humayun – I think NGC1232 is my pick of the bunch too!

Originally Posted by winensky

Yea, 1365 is a very dynamic galaxy and you have a great shot there!

Thanks winesky – NGC1365 is certainly a beautiful galaxy.

Originally Posted by Matty P

Fantastic set of shots Dennis. 1356 is my favourite.
Very well done.

Thanks Matt – next time I’ll try to add some RGB data to finish of the job.

Originally Posted by h0ughy

awesome result dennis, and all focussed how?

Thanks Dave – Ah yes, the good old Bahtinov Mask; it makes focusing a real pleasure. Using it also helped me see that as the C9.25 climbed towards the meridian, something was “changing” as the focus changed. Not sure if it’s in the F6.3 RC / JMI NGFM motorised focuser / ST7 train or whatever. More investigation required!

Originally Posted by RobF

Another vote for 1356 here!

Thanks Rob – Yes, that sure is a pretty galaxy although somewhat starved of its true LRGB majesty with my luminance only effort.

Originally Posted by spearo

Nice work!
I'll be aiming for NGC246 this weekend weather permitting, I'm inspired!
well done
frank

Thanks Frank – This was a surprise find and it appears to be quite large with some interesting detail that is just emerging in my effort. I look forward to see the results from your C14!

Cheers

Dennis

[bluescope]

1232 looks great .... fantastic detail of the spiral .... good work !

[gregbradley]

Fabulous shots. I love the NGC 1232. I haven't seen that one before. Looks like M101.

Greg.

[allan gould]

Very nice shots Dennis. I agree with you about the ST7 - mine is the parallel version as well and the download times can be a little slow but it sure beats the light pollution. Sometimes I just fire mine up and love the shots it can produce.

[Dennis]

Originally Posted by bluescope

1232 looks great .... fantastic detail of the spiral .... good work !

Thanks Steve – as always, more data would do this beautiful galaxy more justice, not to mention more aperture and a bigger chip camera! LOL!

Originally Posted by gregbradley

Fabulous shots. I love the NGC 1232. I haven't seen that one before. Looks like M101.
Greg.

Thanks Greg – I was flicking through the pages of the “Night Sky Observer's Guide - Vol 3” which I picked up from Bintel at the Queensland Astrofest when I came across this lovely little galaxy.

Originally Posted by allan gould

Very nice shots Dennis. I agree with you about the ST7 - mine is the parallel version as well and the download times can be a little slow but it sure beats the light pollution. Sometimes I just fire mine up and love the shots it can produce.

Thanks Allan – the ST7 is a very nice camera indeed for learning the craft of ccd imaging.

Cheers

Dennis

[Ric]

Three very lovely images Dennis.

Fine work indeed.

[Dennis]

Originally Posted by Ric

Three very lovely images Dennis.
Fine work indeed.

Thanks Ric – I appreciate you looking and writing those encouraging words. I’m slowly climbing the precipitous mountain of 1200mm+ fl DSO imaging, tuning the mount and improving my set up procedures, etc., but I am woefully lacking in the processing department.

My data is rapidly overtaking my processing skills. However, it is a good place to be, so I’m not complaining!

Cheers

Dennis