First attempt at B33 with ST-8i

Omaroo (Chris Malikoff) · #1 01-02-2009, 10:16 PM

First go at B33 last night through the ST-8i. Poor polar alignment and not enough clear sky time to fix it. One 15min sub (more sorely needed) and that's it. No darks (sorely needed), no flats (even more sorely needed). It was one of those "I'll grab one of that before it dissapears below the horizon" jobbies. LOL!

After the frosting I was getting at -5C the other evening I'm happy not to see it this time, even at -15C which is what this image was taken at. Baking the dessicant canister for 4 hours at 180C seems to have worked.

It's a wonder it turned out at all!

Oh well....

Next time - LOTS of data - hours worth coming up

renormalised (Carl) · #2 01-02-2009, 10:39 PM

Good for a quick grab n go

montewilson (Monte) · #3 02-02-2009, 06:37 AM

Hi Chris - I didn't know you have an ST-8. Not a bad effort, what scope was used?

Omaroo (Chris Malikoff) · #4 02-02-2009, 07:12 AM

Hi Monte

Yeah - I just bought it from Zane. I'm considering it a stepping stone to a larger one a little later on. I just couldn't quite fork out for yours at the time....

The same as I had at IISAC08:

jjjnettie (Jeanette) · #5 02-02-2009, 09:03 AM

Not bad for a quickie.

theodog (Jeff) · #6 02-02-2009, 09:20 AM

Good start Chris,

Quote:

Originally Posted by Omaroo

Baking the dessicant canister for 4 hours at 180C seems to have worked.

Yes, after 2 years with the ST7 this happened to me. My partner asked me if I'd cooked the "dryer" thing,

.........and I didn't think she cared.

See, now you will be doing longer and longer exp's and subs. looking for fainter stars and detail.
It's called "magnitude sickness", I have it and I'm damn sure Dennis has a bad case as well. It seems that the ST will cause and placate it.

Your stars seem to have a black "shadow around them. Did you use some masking in the processing?

Matty P (Matt) · #7 02-02-2009, 03:38 PM

Nice one Chris. Not bad for one sub. Looking forward to several hours worth on the horsey.

Omaroo (Chris Malikoff) · #8 02-02-2009, 05:05 PM

Thanks Jeanette and Matty

Jeff - yep the dessicant made the difference. Even at 10 degrees lower than the other night and maybe even higher ambient temps it kept frosting at bay. At -15C it was running at 75% capacity. Bring on winter and ambients less than 20C.

"Aperture" fever and now "magnitude" fever... LOL!!

peeb61 (Paul) · #9 02-02-2009, 06:28 PM

Chris, you have the universe at your finger tips - One sub? Geezz, way to go. Such clarity, love it.

Paul

Just love your set up.

Hagar (Doug) · #10 02-02-2009, 07:56 PM

nice one Chris Keep em coming.

Omaroo (Chris Malikoff) · #11 02-02-2009, 10:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by theodog

Your stars seem to have a black "shadow around them. Did you use some masking in the processing?

Sorry Jeff - I missed this before. Yes, I overdid the star/halo reduction script in ImagesPlus a little - I was in a hurry. My bad....

I'll spend the time to re-do it properly on the weekend.

Thanks also Paul & Doug

bluescope · #12 03-02-2009, 02:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Omaroo

At -15C it was running at 75% capacity. Bring on winter and ambients less than 20C.

It makes a difference running at 75% ay Chris ... with a water pump you could get down around -25C ... I have a small submersible for a fish pond but I haven't tried using it yet.

Where I am located the average minimum temp for winter is 2C so it should be fun. Right now it's around 40C outside ... always the good with the bad.