· Get a Cloudy Nights T-Shirt · Submit a Review / Article    Click here if you are having trouble logging into the forums Cloudy Nights - Official Forums of the 2009 International Year of Astronomy Privacy Policy | Please read our Terms of Service | Signup and Troubleshooting FAQ | Problems? PM a Red or a Green Gu.... uh, User   You are not logged in. [Login] Forum Archives · Entrance · Main Index · Search · New user · Who's Online FAQ · Calendar Astrophotography and Sketching >> DSLR & Digital Camera Astro Imaging & Processing Previous   Index   Next   Threaded   Pages: 1 waassaabee Carpal Tunnel Reged: 11/26/07 Posts: 2692 Loc: Central California Coast Five sisters and an Owl       #3423575 - 11/01/09 11:16 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   This past Friday night had been dedicated to establishing a fast and simple method of focus for the AT8RC. The Bahtinov mask I had made previously had come out very crude, so I recut another and glued it to the foam core frame. Set all the gear up and started aligning the mount, scope was heading for a point somewhere below the horizon when I stopped it... Then the dreaded Error code 17!! I did a factory reset, and all was fine. Final calibration star was Caph, so I set the BMask on and went to focus. Click, check, focus... click, check focus... got to be a quicker way. I started the IP Focus routine, snapped a test frame, selected a subframe, zoomed in a bit, set 2.5 second exposure/3 second interval and loop. Ignoring the numerical and graph displays, I could now concentrate on centering the spike. Had the focuser locked down in about a minute! A little swing over to NGC457 and shot a handful of 2 minute frames. The big moon was washing out my guide stars, and I hadn't done real precise balance, so tracking was not as good as I'd have liked it, but what the hey, I'm snagging photons!! Something I rarely do on a moonful night. On to the images. NGC457 - The Owl Cluster (I think I like this one better with my refractor as the spikes take away from the 'eyes') ISO800/2minutes/(salvaged) 8 frames. Dinked around with the guider and tried a little balance shift for a 'little' better guiding, and over to M45. I tried to convince all of the sisters to squeeze together for the photo, but they all ignored me and held their place, so I only got five.. M45 - The Pleiades ISO800/2 minutes/15frames I shot a couple of other clusters (M35 & M50), but a friend had stopped by with an excellent offering from some Trappist monks and I started to get a bit 'sidetracked'... -------------------- Gary 34N 120W -My kingdom for blue squares!- WO Megrez 90FD/TV 0.8x FR/FF AT8RC mini Borg 50/Q-Guide/PHD CGEM Canon 350D Hap Griffin Baader mod - o.o My Friend Flickr Post Extras:       Nils_Lars Post Laureate Reged: 01/04/08 Posts: 3395 Loc: Santa Cruz Mountains , CA Re: Five sisters and an Owl [Re: waassaabee]       #3423782 - 11/01/09 01:14 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Looks like a success Gary , some cool targets. The M45 has some really good nebulosity. -------------------- Erik Orion Atlas Self Hypertuned (EQMOD) Orion ED 80 Williams Optics VII reducer Celestron 8" SCT Orion Starshoot Autoguider PHD guide Canon 400D Hap Griffin Mod w/Baader filter Astronomik clip-in LP filter and 12nm Ha Stilleto CVF and Bahtinov mask Tamron 75-300mm&28-80mm lenses NexImage webcam http://www.flickr.com/photos/31986095@N05/ Post Extras:       justabob Carpal Tunnel Reged: 05/05/07 Posts: 1676 Re: Five sisters and an Owl [Re: waassaabee]       #3423889 - 11/01/09 02:35 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Sounds like you got a good focus routine worked out. At least you have been able to get out, been in the clouds here for three weeks. Never give focus a second thought with the 1000d, if this one feature is worth the price of a new camera I don't know. -------------------- http://www.pbase.com/rkn/astro&page=all Vixen Sphinx SXW Meade sn6 Canon EF 200mm f/2.8L II USM Lens Hutech 1000d Self modded 350d ST8300c on order DSI PRO II Bob Post Extras:       waassaabee Carpal Tunnel Reged: 11/26/07 Posts: 2692 Loc: Central California Coast Re: Five sisters and an Owl [Re: justabob]       #3424376 - 11/01/09 07:41 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Erik & Bob, Thanks for stopping by! Success? I call it a total relief, and easy. I guess everybody else has already figured something like this out. In the past I just did a single frame, waited for a RAW conversion, checked the spike, adjusted the focuser, take another frame (ad nauseum)... Now it's a small section of a small image, giving me the results immediately. Set it on loop and adjust during the 3 second interval. You can get a lot done in a minute. The nebulosity in M45 surprised me actually. Practically full moon, ISO800 2 minutes..? I was going for the spike!! I'm guessing as soon as the moon starts getting smaller, the fog will come back. New camera? (make a note...) -------------------- Gary 34N 120W -My kingdom for blue squares!- WO Megrez 90FD/TV 0.8x FR/FF AT8RC mini Borg 50/Q-Guide/PHD CGEM Canon 350D Hap Griffin Baader mod - o.o My Friend Flickr Post Extras:       Agnotio sage Reged: 08/29/08 Posts: 228 Loc: Ottawa, Canada Re: Five sisters and an Owl [Re: waassaabee]       #3425957 - 11/02/09 05:53 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Ah, jewels on a black canvas, my favorite sight. The stars are tight like they should be, probably helped by the relatively short exposures. Sorry, it's my pet peeve to see others taking subs that are too long and ending up with wonky or bloated stars, but this is very well done, especially M45. Post Extras:       nickatnight Carpal Tunnel Reged: 04/14/08 Posts: 1751 Loc: Santa Clarita, CA (LA Suburbs) Re: Five sisters and an Owl [Re: Agnotio]       #3426123 - 11/02/09 07:35 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Very pretty shots Gary. Makes me want IP just for the focus deal. I often wind up saying close enough. -------------------- nickatnight Celestron CPC 9.25" GPS Lumicon 2" LumiBrite Diagonal Meade s5000 18mm UWA, Meade 6.7mm UWA, Parks G.S-5 10mm, Celestrom 40mm Plossl Parks 2x Barlow, Meade Tele-Extender Celestron f6.3 Focal Reducer Lumicon UHC Filter and Deep Sky Filter Canon Rebel XTi (prime) Canon Powershot G9 (afocal) Canon EOS T-Ring and Parks T-Adapter Lumicon Univ DigiCam Adapter Post Extras:       Star surfer8 super member Reged: 05/15/06 Posts: 493 Re: Five sisters and an Owl [Re: nickatnight]       #3426198 - 11/02/09 08:15 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Nice looking stars Gary. Focus looks right on. Are you using an electric focuser? -------------------- Tom Post Extras:       waassaabee Carpal Tunnel Reged: 11/26/07 Posts: 2692 Loc: Central California Coast Re: Five sisters and an Owl [Re: Star surfer8]       #3426439 - 11/02/09 10:53 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Thanks Gents!! Agnotio, I do prefer the tight stars as well, and usually don't shoot over 3 minutes for that purpose. Nick, If you tried IP you'd realize it has a lot to offer, the Focus is a bonus!! Star Surfer8, No electric focuser here... Just the stock unit that came with the scope. It is a two speed, but I'm thinking a Moonlite might go well on this bad boy. -------------------- Gary 34N 120W -My kingdom for blue squares!- WO Megrez 90FD/TV 0.8x FR/FF AT8RC mini Borg 50/Q-Guide/PHD CGEM Canon 350D Hap Griffin Baader mod - o.o My Friend Flickr Post Extras:       waassaabee Carpal Tunnel Reged: 11/26/07 Posts: 2692 Loc: Central California Coast Re: Five sisters and an Owl [Re: waassaabee]       #3426706 - 11/03/09 01:07 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Another test shot.. from another night. -------------------- Gary 34N 120W -My kingdom for blue squares!- WO Megrez 90FD/TV 0.8x FR/FF AT8RC mini Borg 50/Q-Guide/PHD CGEM Canon 350D Hap Griffin Baader mod - o.o My Friend Flickr Post Extras:       Pages: 1 Previous   Index   Next   Threaded   Extra information 16 registered and 17 anonymous users are browsing this forum. 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