M20 - Revisited one year on

[neurosis3000 (Reggie)]

One year since I started astrophotography.

Revisiting one of my earliest targets.

I included both the first one and the latest one.

A challenging target because it’s an emission nebula, reflection nebula, and dark nebula all in one, that sits in a dense star field with lots of background nebulosity.

This is a HaRGB combination.

Imaged from my backyard.

ASIAIR, AZEQ6 , Skywatcher 10” newt , ASI294MM, ZWO filters.

Processed in Pixinsight and Photoshop CC.

[Sunfish (Ray)]

Lots of detail there. Must be hard to balance that big scope on the eq.

[raymo]

Its actually not, I put my 10" collapsible Newt on my HEQ5, and it did
45 sec unguided subs. I only removed it because it was too heavy for my old body to handle. If I remember rightly Steve Massey uses a 12"
Newt on his HEQ5.
raymo

[Sunfish (Ray)]

Good to hear. Maybe one would just need more weights to go from 8 to 10 or twelve.

Originally Posted by raymo

Its actually not, I put my 10" collapsible Newt on my HEQ5, and it did
45 sec unguided subs. I only removed it because it was too heavy for my old body to handle. If I remember rightly Steve Massey uses a 12"
Newt on his HEQ5.
raymo

[neurosis3000 (Reggie)]

Hehe yeah it’s actually fine on the AZEQ6. I use three 5kg counterweights.

[raymo]

All the SW mounts will handle more than their rated loads mechanically;
the motors are the limiting factors. A lifelong friend of mine in the U.K. has
a 12" Meade SCT on an HEQ5 which he runs at 15v. It works just fine, and of
course is easy to balance, and more importantly has far less windage than a
similar aperture Newt would have. Where there's a will there's a way.
I ran an 8" f/4 Newt on my Super Polaris many years ago, with a full frame Canon SLR + guide scope, no probs.
raymo

[Sunfish (Ray)]

I will have to try it again with three weights and two scopes

:

Originally Posted by neurosis3000

Hehe yeah it’s actually fine on the AZEQ6. I use three 5kg counterweights.

[Startrek (Martin)]

A fine M20 image
Well done !!
I’m assuming a 10” f5 newt (not f4 ) ?
That sure would be a balancing act on a HEQ5 if it’s an f5 ( a 13kg rated mount with 20kg on board )
I have an 8” f5 on a EQ6-R pro and use 3 x 5.1kg counterweights with an extension rod.
You can put a big scope on a small mount but how tight do you want your stars, there is a limit and seeing plays a big part too. Overloading mounts just places more emphasis and reliance on balancing , guiding and seeing conditions ( doesn’t make sense to me )
By the way, guided or unguided rig and your sub lengths ?
If you guide do you use a guide scope or OAG ?
Thanks

[neurosis3000 (Reggie)]

Hi Martin, it’s actually the f/4 Quattro. I use a ZWO OAG with an ASI290MM Mini.