It could be, but if you magnify the Alpha image to about 200% you will see a
slight doubling of the spike. I think it was an artefact of my scope.
raymo
A spectroscopic double is when the stars are too close together to be
separated optically, no matter how large the telescope is, and only a
spectroscope can detect such a double. Put simply, its all to do with the wavelength of light.
raymo
I'm new to IceInSpace and new to astrophotography (I have a Skywatcher Esprit 100ED that is only 6 weeks old). I thought the Crux theme was a good way to post a first image. I'm also new to PixInsight so I couldn't get the colours in the Jewel Box to be as bright as I'd like (although that could have been due to the brightness of the moon).
Thanks for the encouragement. I'm using an unmodified Canon EOS100D attached to a Skywatcher Esprit 100ED. This was 26x 60 second subs at 800 ISO with about 15 darks together with bias and flats. The camera works well on bright targets but not so well on dimmer targets. I've been trying to get the Horsehead nebula before it disappears over the horizon using 180s subs but have been slowed down by clouds, moon and even neighbourhood blackouts. I've accumulated about 40 subs but the images are still really noisy and I may not finish it until Orion comes back up in the east!
Really nice first go Kevin. I think you've got good star colour there and its nicely composed. As Alex says you might be better trying Eta Carina, much better location now. The horsehead is nearly gone (as least for me).
Funny you should mention Eta Carina. I took this on the 14th March from about 60 subs and didn't post it because there were so many better posted recently and because the nova is just outside my field of view.
