IC5070 - "The interesting bit!"

[Paramount]

Hi
I haven't posted in a while as I have been out of commission due to having major surgery on my right knee (TKR) and didn't want to risk hobbling around in the dark on crutches and tripping over cables etc. I have been able to do some imaging overv the past couple of months though. This is an image of part of IC5070 taken with my Televue NP127/FLI asdtrograph but using a Microline x814 camera in place of the PL16803, FLI provided me with an adapter to convert it to ZTA fitting and top take up the extra back focus but I will need to have some shims made to ensure it sits square to the focal plane as I suspect it isn't perfectly square at the moment (this is due to the way it fits)
Exposure times are
18x10 minutes each for Ha, OIII and SII
The large size image can be seen at the following link
http://m5.i.pbase.com/o9/29/869929/1...070HST2000.jpg
Best wishes
Gordon

[Placidus (Mike and Trish)]

I'm in love!

[gregbradley]

Nice! great resolution.

That's interesting you can get a ZTA adapter. You are using a FLI Filter wheel I take it? I'll have to ask them about that. Those ZTA fittings are a nice engineering touch.

Greg.

[Paramount]

Hi Greg
As you are probably aware, the FLI cameras come with a standard nose piece which fits in the back of the CFW series filter wheels. The Centreline filter wheel that I use is different in that it has ZTA built in. I had to change the front plate on my PL16803 to the ZTA plate when I started beta testing the Televue NP127/FLI astrograph. The astrograph is designed to work with PL cameras because of the ZTA and the critical chip to focal plane distance. The Microline cameras present a problem in this respect in that a Microline to ZTA adapter from Precise Parts takes the sensor chip outside the focus range of the Atlas focuser with my system. I was with Jim Moronski at NEAIC where I picked up my ML x814 camera and he said that FLI had just made an adapter that fits over the standard nose piece of the ML camera, converts it to ZTA and compensates for the difference between chip to flange distance between the PL and ML cameras. I think this came about when Wolfgang Promper wanted to try a ML camera on the other beta test model. Precise parts and FLI can provide adapters to fit equipment such as cameras, OAGS, etc to ZTA equipment such as the Atlas and Centreline, I believe the actual mechanism though is patented
Best wishes
Gordon

[Rex]

Beautiful detail and contrast.

[Geoff45 (Geoff)]

Exquisitely sharp Gordon. Pity such a nice object is in the wrong part of the sky (well, at least for us -33 degree southerners)
Geoff