Rather than address the recent run of individual comments, for which I thank one and all
...including Paul's frank and fearless view (we'll have to agree to disagree
)
Here's what I've discovered so far about the new scope:
It's big. With nearly double the light collecting area of a 12", data comes in remarkably quickly.
The optics are superbly figured and quantified (26th wave RMS and a Strehl of 95% ).....but I didn't need the interferogram (supplied with the manual) to tell me this was the case.....The star test shows bright intra and extra focal rings it that are so identical it's hard to tell them apart.
The Zerodur mirrors show absolutely no focal drift from the optics as the temperature changes. Collimation is rock-solid regardless of the 'scopes orientation.
At the instrument end the system is also super stable. The 100m diameter fixed instrument couplings don't even creep a pixel with the AOX-FW5-STX16803 attached.
The Alluna 90mm field corrector and focal reducer ensure stars are perfect to the edge of a 16803 sensor field......I'll post some images to illustrate this soon. (Off-axis stars are needle-points out to 65mm odd...i.e. way beyond my 16803 sensor)
There is zero focus shift in the secondary focuser. Starlight stays on the same pixels when you reverse focus direction. Sure an Atlas focuser is great too...but this 'scope doesn't compel you to buy one.
The control software is slick, robust and Ascom compatible. SkyX picked up the focuser without a hitch, and worked flawlessly.
Back to the NGC253 data... I agree 6 subs in 2-3 arc second seeing does not make for a Hubble-esque image.
But...the rub for me was I did not have to spend months failing to get a result, then toss the entire OTA and install the optics in a more functional OTA version. Same with the focuser, then still have nagging issues with flexure.
Instead, after two nights of tinkering, I managed to pop out this image, in a bit over an hour.
As best as I can tell, it is seeing limited.
Yeah...I'm very comfortable with that.
