gavbray
sage
Reged: 12/31/06
Posts: 232
Loc: Gold Coast, Australia
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Maybe the Helix nebula is too far south for most people but I'd be interested to hear from anyone who has had a look at it through a Mallincam or other video camera.
Unless I'm doing something wrong, I'm guessing the surface brightness of this planetary is quite low.
Here's the best I can do.
Gavin
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14" LX200R + SV90T + AP1200GTO
31mm, 22mm, 17mm Naglers, 13mm Ethos, 10mm Pentax XW, 2X Powermate, AP MaxBright
Mallincam Hyper Plus Color, DFG/1394 video converter, Optec 0.33 & 0.7 FRs
IDAS LPS, DGM NPB & OIII, Lumicon Deep Sky
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Awesomelenny
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 05/02/04
Posts: 2369
Loc: Long: 81.42 W Lat: 41.23 N
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WOW!! This is an ultra low contrast object. I think you captured that very well!
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Len
Losmandy Titan; G-11; all w/Gemini
Meade 178 ED APO
127mm Astro_Tech ED APO
4" f/15 Model 166 Unitron with UNIWITT Pier
Televue Genesis SDF 101mm f/5.4
Coronado Solarmax 90 Telescope
All in a "Backyard Observatory"
"The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands."
Psalm 19:1
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Awesomelenny
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 05/02/04
Posts: 2369
Loc: Long: 81.42 W Lat: 41.23 N
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WOW!! This is an ultra low contrast object. I think you captured that very well!
Share with us your equipment setup, f/ratio, etc...
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Len
Losmandy Titan; G-11; all w/Gemini
Meade 178 ED APO
127mm Astro_Tech ED APO
4" f/15 Model 166 Unitron with UNIWITT Pier
Televue Genesis SDF 101mm f/5.4
Coronado Solarmax 90 Telescope
All in a "Backyard Observatory"
"The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands."
Psalm 19:1
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gavbray
sage
Reged: 12/31/06
Posts: 232
Loc: Gold Coast, Australia
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Thanks Len.
Sounds like it might be a tough object. That makes me feel better. I'd still be interested to hear from others who have tried this object.
My equipment: 14" LX200R + IDAS LPS + Optec 0.33x FR + MCHP + TheImagingSource video converter.
Gavin
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14" LX200R + SV90T + AP1200GTO
31mm, 22mm, 17mm Naglers, 13mm Ethos, 10mm Pentax XW, 2X Powermate, AP MaxBright
Mallincam Hyper Plus Color, DFG/1394 video converter, Optec 0.33 & 0.7 FRs
IDAS LPS, DGM NPB & OIII, Lumicon Deep Sky
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CESDewar
GorillAstronomer
Reged: 01/16/05
Posts: 1811
Loc: Morganton, GA, USA
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It would be helpful to know how dark your skies are too. Here in North Georgia (34°55'), I have caught the Helix Nebula in 10x42mm binoculars under good dark skies (SQM 21.30 = ~6.5mag+), but up the light pollution even just a bit, and even an 8" Dob is going to have trouble finding it.
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lynnelkriver
member
Reged: 05/14/07
Posts: 72
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I have been searching for the helix nebula with no luck. I have way too much light pollution. This is pretty impressive what you were able to make out! Scott
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mielejr
sage
Reged: 05/29/05
Posts: 311
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Gavin,
The Helix is tough. It has a vero low surface brightness. Your image is very good. Is that a single frame? Here is a single 56 second frame followed by a stack of 13 frames taken with my B/W Hyper plus using my 5.5" f3.6 comet catcher at a dark site.
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mielejr
sage
Reged: 05/29/05
Posts: 311
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And here is the 13 frame stack...
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rolandlinda3
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 01/24/06
Posts: 1619
Loc: Crozet VA 22932
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Yep.....studied and sketched using a 12.5 inch dob with a MallinCAM Hyper Color...projected to a Sanyo Monitor.
HELIX Nebula Sketch from Video Output
Roland
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gavbray
sage
Reged: 12/31/06
Posts: 232
Loc: Gold Coast, Australia
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CESDewar
I live in a city of 1/2 million that's about 50 miles from a city of about 2 million so light pollution is a problem. 
One day I hope to have a more portable setup so I can access dark skies. Without the IDAS LPS filter the Helix was a bit of a lost cause. I'll try again later in the year when it's higher in the sky.
Gavin
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14" LX200R + SV90T + AP1200GTO
31mm, 22mm, 17mm Naglers, 13mm Ethos, 10mm Pentax XW, 2X Powermate, AP MaxBright
Mallincam Hyper Plus Color, DFG/1394 video converter, Optec 0.33 & 0.7 FRs
IDAS LPS, DGM NPB & OIII, Lumicon Deep Sky
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gavbray
sage
Reged: 12/31/06
Posts: 232
Loc: Gold Coast, Australia
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Quote:
I have been searching for the helix nebula with no luck. I have way too much light pollution. This is pretty impressive what you were able to make out! Scott
Thanks Scott.
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14" LX200R + SV90T + AP1200GTO
31mm, 22mm, 17mm Naglers, 13mm Ethos, 10mm Pentax XW, 2X Powermate, AP MaxBright
Mallincam Hyper Plus Color, DFG/1394 video converter, Optec 0.33 & 0.7 FRs
IDAS LPS, DGM NPB & OIII, Lumicon Deep Sky
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gavbray
sage
Reged: 12/31/06
Posts: 232
Loc: Gold Coast, Australia
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Quote:
Gavin,
The Helix is tough. It has a vero low surface brightness. Your image is very good. Is that a single frame? Here is a single 56 second frame followed by a stack of 13 frames taken with my B/W Hyper plus using my 5.5" f3.6 comet catcher at a dark site.
Thanks mielejr for posting those images. My image is a single 56 sec frame - no stacking, no processing, just what I see on the computer screen.
It sounds like I need to be at a dark site. 
Gavin
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14" LX200R + SV90T + AP1200GTO
31mm, 22mm, 17mm Naglers, 13mm Ethos, 10mm Pentax XW, 2X Powermate, AP MaxBright
Mallincam Hyper Plus Color, DFG/1394 video converter, Optec 0.33 & 0.7 FRs
IDAS LPS, DGM NPB & OIII, Lumicon Deep Sky
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gavbray
sage
Reged: 12/31/06
Posts: 232
Loc: Gold Coast, Australia
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Quote:
Yep.....studied and sketched using a 12.5 inch dob with a MallinCAM Hyper Color...projected to a Sanyo Monitor.
HELIX Nebula Sketch from Video Output
Roland
Thanks Roland. As usual, nice sketch.
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14" LX200R + SV90T + AP1200GTO
31mm, 22mm, 17mm Naglers, 13mm Ethos, 10mm Pentax XW, 2X Powermate, AP MaxBright
Mallincam Hyper Plus Color, DFG/1394 video converter, Optec 0.33 & 0.7 FRs
IDAS LPS, DGM NPB & OIII, Lumicon Deep Sky
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cold space
member
Reged: 09/09/07
Posts: 69
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Looks like that .33 optec is doing your 14 justice . Excellent capture, hard object in suburbia. 
Matt.
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gavbray
sage
Reged: 12/31/06
Posts: 232
Loc: Gold Coast, Australia
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Thanks Matt. It sure would be nice to be able to try under dark skies. 
Gavin
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14" LX200R + SV90T + AP1200GTO
31mm, 22mm, 17mm Naglers, 13mm Ethos, 10mm Pentax XW, 2X Powermate, AP MaxBright
Mallincam Hyper Plus Color, DFG/1394 video converter, Optec 0.33 & 0.7 FRs
IDAS LPS, DGM NPB & OIII, Lumicon Deep Sky
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StarStuff1
sage
Reged: 04/01/07
Posts: 437
Loc: East Tennessee
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Well, I tried the Helix tonight. From my moderately light polluted neighborhood. Sorta partly cloudy with thin high clouds. Airplanes taking off every few minutes from the local airport due to the Bristol Nascar race ending. A little after midnight. With an 80mm f/5 refractor. And, my IIE and an Ha filter. Not too tough to see. Close to miejlr's second photo. Used a 100mm f/2.2 lens and it was still pretty obvious. Real time. No cables or moniters. Plugged a 25mm ep and an OIII filter and it was dimmer, but there, barely, I mean really barely.
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Two dozen eyepieces, a dozen binoculars, a half dozen refractors, two reflectors and a homemade Image Intensifier Eyepiece (IIE). All products subject to change by the owner at any time.
Edited by StarStuff1 (08/24/08 02:43 PM)
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Chris Schroeder
Postmaster
Reged: 12/11/04
Posts: 5098
Loc: N.E. WI Sky Glow
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I tried last night and no joy.
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Chris
Mallincam Color Hyper Plus
10" DSH with SC DSC, CPC 800 XLT
M102ED S.V., ZS 80FD 10th Anniv, ZS 66SD, PST
POD XL3 http://POD.SchroederCity.com
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Jack Huerkamp
Vendor - Waning Moon
Reged: 10/13/05
Posts: 519
Loc: Louisiana
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Chris,
On October 13, 2007 I was using my C-8 in my backyard and grabbed this single frame of the Helix. I did not record the exposure time, but it probably was 28 seconds. I was using a focal reducer to get the scope to about f/4.
The moon set about 8:00PM that night, but I don't remember what time I grabbed the image.
Jack
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Orion ED80
Coulter CT-100
Celestron 6" f/8 Refractor
8" Newtonian/Cassegrain on Byers 812 Mount
Classic C-8
Celestron 11" CPC 100 with HyperStar
Tricked-out 17.5" AstroSystems TeleKit
Life Member and ALCOR - PAS New Orleans
 Waning Moon II Observatory
Edited by Jack Huerkamp (08/24/08 04:16 PM)
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rolandlinda3
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 01/24/06
Posts: 1619
Loc: Crozet VA 22932
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It really is pretty faint. When I used the 12.5, I had to boost things a bit and have pretty good conditions. It can get by you, however, because with the higher settings and longer integration time, it can also make the background pretty choppy...making it harder to see some of the arches of red. But understand....the fact that we can discuss such a thing and still work to get a good image in color, it would be utterly hopeless with an EP unless there was good aperture and filters. Roland
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gavbray
sage
Reged: 12/31/06
Posts: 232
Loc: Gold Coast, Australia
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Chris
My skies a fairly light polluted and I didn't have much joy until I tried the IDAS LPS filter.
When I get a chance I'll post an image without the filter for comparison with the image I originally posted which uses this filter.
Gavin
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14" LX200R + SV90T + AP1200GTO
31mm, 22mm, 17mm Naglers, 13mm Ethos, 10mm Pentax XW, 2X Powermate, AP MaxBright
Mallincam Hyper Plus Color, DFG/1394 video converter, Optec 0.33 & 0.7 FRs
IDAS LPS, DGM NPB & OIII, Lumicon Deep Sky
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