NGC2442 S shaped galaxy

[Hagar (Doug)]

Hi Greg, This is lovely Mate. The 17 really does do a nice job on these little galaxies. I have been to see Theo and had a look through his 20" and the view was mind numbing, even in the middle of Melbournes light polution. I can see you are really going to image a lot of the tiny items out there that are really out of reach for most of us.

Great Stuff.

[gregbradley]

Originally Posted by renormalised

Here's the lowdown at OPT

http://www.optcorp.com/product.aspx?...-9418&kw=&st=0

Bit pricey, though!!!!

Thanks for that. There is a cheaper PL4240 as well.

Originally Posted by Bassnut

The STX6303 is in production now it seems. With 50deg delta cooling and the tricky guiding features and Ao etc, it would beat the FLI 6303 then I think. Dont know if it has the extra guiding features yet though, SBIG seems to be haveing trouble with that.

The STX seems more competitive with its features. Self guiding is very handy.

Originally Posted by Stevec35

Not bad at all considering the short exposures Greg. Looking forward to seeing it with more data.

Cheers

Steve

Thanks Steve. I was happy it turned out well without mega data.

Originally Posted by allan gould

Very nice image, Greg.
Always great to see what you pull out of the basket next and I just love those little stars around the end of the upper most arm of the galaxy - as if they are framing it. Beautifully executed as well.

Cheers Allan. The weather forecast looks promising for Sunday night. Perhaps more data can be gotten then.

Originally Posted by John Hothersall

I love these curly galaxies, great result.

John.

Thanks John. There seems to be a lot of these unusual galaxies.

Originally Posted by Hagar

Hi Greg, This is lovely Mate. The 17 really does do a nice job on these little galaxies. I have been to see Theo and had a look through his 20" and the view was mind numbing, even in the middle of Melbournes light polution. I can see you are really going to image a lot of the tiny items out there that are really out of reach for most of us.

Great Stuff.

Thanks Dougie. I have to confess I haven't looked through the 17 yet.
I definitely need to do that.

[alexch (Alex)]

What a lovely image, Greg! Brings back fond memories of seeing this "Swan" galaxy visually at SPSP.

[gregbradley]

Originally Posted by alexch

What a lovely image, Greg! Brings back fond memories of seeing this "Swan" galaxy visually at SPSP.

Thanks Alex. Have you got your Malin awards images ready? You're not gonna let Phil Hart take everything are you?

Greg.

[gregbradley]

Originally Posted by Bassnut

The STX6303 is in production now it seems. With 50deg delta cooling and the tricky guiding features and Ao etc, it would beat the FLI 6303 then I think. Dont know if it has the extra guiding features yet though, SBIG seems to be haveing trouble with that.

It might be a very nice camera. My main dislike of SBIG cameras is the driver having to be downloaded from the computer to the camera. The FLI and Apogee cameras connect instantly, are extremely stable, and do not lose their drivers even if disconnected from the computer.

If anything interrupts the connection (which seems to happen to me a lot with several of these cameras) then it requires a shutdown and reboot of CCDsoft after repowering up the camera. Perhaps the STX has onboard flash memory so it can retain its driver now.

Also it needs a frame buffer. I am now used to 1 second downloads of 32.4mb images at 1x1 binning. So if it has those things now then it would be a whole lot nicer.

Self guiding would be handy occassionally and an AO unit would also be neat. Self guiding though is no good for Ha or NB. Unless you use a PME or something that will autoguide accurately with 20-30 second guide exposures. Starlight Express now have a large AO unit so perhaps that is the way to go - FLI camera, SX AO unit - best of both worlds.

Also the chamber needs to be sealed with inert gas so no need for dessicants and they never frost. Power plugs and connections are high quality, robust and never fail. Cooling is fast and strong although my Proline does not do the 50C below ambient - more like 45C.

Proline is a heavy camera and can cause even good focusers to flex. Apogee is a bit lighter and a bit narrower. Microline is a good compromise there. FLI has the lowest noise and cleanest electronics. Apogee is also really clean but slow to cool. RBI control is available in both but noone else. If you are using a KAF chip it is nice to have it available (I don't use it though). If you are using a KAF09000 RBI is supposed to be really bad. STX would be heavy as well. It is priced a bit high also. But overall I am sure it is an excellent camera.

Hey did you know there is an 11 mp Sony CCD out now? Starlight Express are selling it. Its probably super low noise.

Greg.

[ving (David)]

great work. never even hear of this one

[Paul Haese]

Lovely work Greg. Love the star saturation, the galaxy detail and colour are great and the image looks really flat. If I had any critique at all it would be the back ground looks a tiny bit black and not grey to me, but that is so minor it makes no difference to the image. Lovely work mate. Hoping to get these sorts of results out of the RC12.

Edit, let me retract the black background comment. Just not looking at the right angle. Also is the a lensed galaxy at the orange star in the right hand bottom corner?

[gregbradley]

Originally Posted by ving

great work. never even hear of this one

Thanks. There are lots of these obscure galaxies.

Originally Posted by Paul Haese

Lovely work Greg. Love the star saturation, the galaxy detail and colour are great and the image looks really flat. If I had any critique at all it would be the back ground looks a tiny bit black and not grey to me, but that is so minor it makes no difference to the image. Lovely work mate. Hoping to get these sorts of results out of the RC12.

Edit, let me retract the black background comment. Just not looking at the right angle. Also is the a lensed galaxy at the orange star in the right hand bottom corner?

Thanks Paul. That's good about the background as I redid that aspect as one version had the background go too black. There were some gradients and unevenness that I managed to get out.

I think it will come up nicely with another 3 hours.

Perhaps tonight if the weather is clear.

Greg.

[Ross G]

What an amazing galaxy!

A great and unique photo.

Greg, you really are the "Astro Teacher" on this forum!

Thanks.

Ross.

[gregbradley]

Thanks Ross, I appreciate your kind words.

It is clear tonight and I am currently getting another 3 hours or so of additional data which should reduce noise and add a bit more detail.

Greg.