Been very quiet for me on the astro side of things. Mostly work and weather but I've also been unlucky enough to have gear trouble, my old Gemini 1 packing it amongst other things. Got under the stars last night, first time since BSG. Weather in Sydney has been pretty sh||y lately like everywhere else I guess. It was forecast to be clear all night Friday but ended up clouding over around 2:00am. I've managed those few subs testing my new laptop/software and drivers. Love the Mount Hub Pro from Hitecastro. This thing rocks and has cut down heaps on the big bag of noodles that usually hangs off my rig. I also trialed a very cool software called align master. I'm sold. Just what a lazy polar aligner like me needed. I got within 1' of the SCP both axis from scratch picking Canopus and Achenar whithin 5min. From scratch. Everything was very steady and PHD was just there for show I reckon. So I did a couple of 20min exp in Ha without breaking a sweat. Would have liked more but weather didn't play nice. All shot with QHY9, Baader Ha 7nm and 200mm lens.
The LMC and M42 were shot using the native drivers in Nebulosity. The HH and M42 were shot using the ASCOM driver in MAXIM DL.
The LMC is 4x20min. Orion fields are 3x10min each. Orion was pretty high. The LMC very low on the horizon.
If the weather improves I'd like to do a mosaic of the orion constellation.
Marc
Nice photos and I'm glad that you enjoyed Alignmaster as Mathias got me to beta test it for the Southern Hemisphere and Ive been using it continuously for a few years now. Always reliable and good value IMO.
In particular I like your wide shot of M42 and HH. Really nice.
Marc
Nice photos and I'm glad that you enjoyed Alignmaster as Mathias got me to beta test it for the Southern Hemisphere and Ive been using it continuously for a few years now. Always reliable and good value IMO.
In particular I like your wide shot of M42 and HH. Really nice.
Thanks Allan. It's a great software. I was watching John G. using it at BSG and I thought ... what have I been doing all these years... the hard way
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tandum
Marc, Is that a black line running left/right through M42 in the 2nd one? If it is, try turning clamping on/off in the drivers.
Yes it is a read out artefact on the ASCOM drivers in Maxim. It doesn't show on the other shot of M42 alone which is using the native drivers. Clamping was off if I recall. I'm giving up fast on QHYs running as ASCOM cameras right now. Not much luck.
Quote:
Originally Posted by gregbradley
You got that setup running very nicely. Some very nice Ha shots there.
Greg.
Thanks Greg. As you mentioned in another although the transparency was up to it, the seeing was pretty good while it lasted.
Noice! Definitely inspired to try a Ha widefield with my 200mm lens after seeing those - I bought the adapters while the dollar was good, but am yet to blood the setup.
I had a great couple of nights out at Leyburn this weekend. It was amazingly clear for November in SEQ, but this is an extended dry spell for this time of year. Over the two nights, I shot 3 hrs of RGB before moonrise and then 5hrs of Ha before dawn on Rosette at 600mm focal length - tight squeeze on an 8300 chip! I did capture an hour of Luminence, but will have to add to that later in the season. Hopefully I'll get a chance to process it this week, but pretty happy with the Ha subs straight out of the camera.
Welcome back to the posting arena! Grahame told me of some of your mount woes its a downer when stuff like that goes on.
Nice set of subs anyhow! are you planning to put some colour to them? or are they traditional b&w
Thanks Brendan. Yeah S||t happens Would love to do some color but I need two things.
A) Dark site
B) No clouds and new moon
Maybe pushing it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by DavidTrap
Noice! Definitely inspired to try a Ha widefield with my 200mm lens after seeing those - I bought the adapters while the dollar was good, but am yet to blood the setup.
I had a great couple of nights out at Leyburn this weekend. It was amazingly clear for November in SEQ, but this is an extended dry spell for this time of year. Over the two nights, I shot 3 hrs of RGB before moonrise and then 5hrs of Ha before dawn on Rosette at 600mm focal length - tight squeeze on an 8300 chip! I did capture an hour of Luminence, but will have to add to that later in the season. Hopefully I'll get a chance to process it this week, but pretty happy with the Ha subs straight out of the camera.
DT
Thanks David. I'm looking forward to do Monoceros too (Rosette + Cone nebula). I'm pretty sure you can fit them both in one frame with a 100mm or 50mm for sure. But it's much fainter than Orion. RGB from a dark site for sure and 15min subs minimum.
would $50 bucks sort them out? over here in the west we have had the most horrid year for astro. nearly 7 months of nothing but cloud, rain and gale force winds! So next year a few of us are driving into the wilderness..... 15hrs north near Newman central WA
would $50 bucks sort them out? over here in the west we have had the most horrid year for astro. nearly 7 months of nothing but cloud, rain and gale force winds! So next year a few of us are driving into the wilderness..... 15hrs north near Newman central WA
Sounds good. You guys don't have to drive far to get some real dark skies around Perth either.
Quote:
Originally Posted by RickS
Lovely big FOV, Marc. I did some imaging around the Tarantula a month ago with my FSQ-106ED and your pic is on a much grander scale.
Cheers,
Rick.
Thanks Rick. Glad you like it. These fields are 5.2 x 3.9 degrees at an image scale of 5.57 arc seconds per pixel.
Quote:
Originally Posted by DavidTrap
Marc - what f-stop are you using for that lens? Are you stopping it down with the internal diaphragm, or using an external mask?
Ta
DT
Fully opened. No stop. The QHY9 sensor is small enough to get away with corners aberrations.
Got under the stars last night, first time since BSG. Weather in Sydney has been pretty sh||y lately like everywhere else I guess. It was forecast to be clear all night Friday but ended up clouding over around 2:00am. I've managed those few subs testing my new laptop/software and drivers. Love the Mount Hub Pro from Hitecastro. This thing rocks and has cut down heaps on the big bag of noodles that usually hangs off my rig. I also trialed a very cool software called align master. I'm sold. Just what a lazy polar aligner like me needed. I got within 1' of the SCP both axis from scratch picking Canopus and Achenar whithin 5min. From scratch. Everything was very steady and PHD was just there for show I reckon. 
So I did a couple of 20min exp in Ha without breaking a sweat. Would have liked more but weather didn't play nice. All shot with QHY9, Baader Ha 7nm and 200mm lens.
It's the one I like best too.
its a downer when stuff like that goes on.
