11529 replies to this topic

[mgCatskills]

Last night was a dubious forecast and the Mid-Hudson Astronomical Society monthly star party.  Part of me wanted to stay home and, in the unlikely case it turned into a decent night, focus on the December challenge.

 

But MHAA are my new homies, so instead I spent about half a day packing stuff up and prepping for the party.  Turned out the forecast was pretty much spot on... seeing wasn't very good, but I captured a couple of so-so challenge images, not including the Pleiades, which I'd already captured.  So I'm showing here the night's haul that I didn't post on my most recent December Challenge post...  All taken from the parking lot at Taghkanic State Park with me freezing my butt.

 

Funny story about Andromeda, which is a 4 minute 15s capture.  A couple  came over with M74 on the screen.  They looked at it, but didn’t seem very impressed.  The man said, “Isn’t there a BIG galaxy that’s like super-visible right now?”  

 

“Andromeda?“,  asked I. 

 

“Maybe.”  was the reply.  Anyway, I fired up SharpCap’s catalog, slewed automatically to Andromeda (takes less than a minute, and it platesolves so it’s alway right on).  The first 15s image popped up in all its glory (the framing was pure luck).  I think they liked that.

 

All taken with my Askar V configured to 600mm f7.5.  UV/IR camera.  15s exposures @ 305 gain.  ASI294mc-pro camera.

 

Andromeda | 4m15s

 

Triangulum Galaxy | 24m30s

 

Pleiades | 15m30s

Edited by mgCatskills, Yesterday, 10:31 AM.

[MarMax]

The seeing was mediocre but it was cloud free so I did the seasonal M42, this time with the R200SS.

 

G11G guided, R200SS at f/3, ASI2600MC-Pro with AR protect window and Antlia Ultimate filter
Gain=101,Exposure=60, Brightness=25, WB (B)=62, (Red)=54,Temp=0
SharpCap 4.1, flat(bias) and dark, linear gradient removal, satellite removal,
histogram stretch=4, no enhancements

 

I tried a gain of 101 and used the WB Balanced approach for the calibration frames and lights.

 

Messier 42 (Great Orion Nebula), [60" / 60'], Link to Large

 

 

It framed up perfectly so I got lucky with that. I'm still having a large improperly flat-corrected area in the bottom of the frame and cropped most of it out. And the nebula must have been on the satellite super highway as the satellite removal had to work diligently to keep up.

Edited by MarMax, Yesterday, 12:02 PM.

[Borodog]

Cool. How does one get dashed diffraction spikes???

[MarMax]

Cool. How does one get dashed diffraction spikes???

I have no idea how that happens. I did have a friend mill the spider vanes down which reduced the diffraction spikes quite a bit.

 

https://www.cloudyni...nes/?p=12851516

[TheWhistler]

I recently upgraded my 533MC (uncooled) to the 533MC Pro. Last night was the first opportunity to take it outside. I've also been wanting to use the C8 on Jupiter to try Sharpcap's new feature. I got carried away watching these three stacks that I missed my short window to capture Jupiter over the roof. The C8 stayed inside and will be in action whenever the next clear night pops up.

 

The L-Ultimate filter has been getting a lot of use lately. I switched things up and used the L-Enhance because why not? I was going to let NGC 1499 stack even longer until I remembered I wanted to squeeze Jupiter in at some point. 

 

Date: 12/8/23
EAA Target: NGC 1499
Scope: AT60ED
Camera: ZWO 533MC Pro
Filter: Optolong L-Enhance
Exposure: 15 seconds
Time: 35 minutes

 

M45 was next on the list. I went a little heavy on the stretch. This stack also went longer than intended. By the time I was done, Jupiter fell behind the tree line. 

 

 

Date: 12/8/23
EAA Target: M45
Scope: AT60ED
Camera: ZWO 533MC Pro
Filter: ZWO UV/IR
Exposure: 30 seconds
Time: 25 minutes

 

 

Since Jupiter was out of sight, I scrolled through Stellarium to find something I haven't viewed before. I framed this one several different ways and ditched a few short stacks before letting this one stack for 30 minutes. I was really tempted to swap to the FMA180 Pro for this. It was nearing 2AM and decided to proceed with the AT60ED. There will be time to revisit this for an even wider shot.

 

Date: 12/8/23
EAA Target: IC 405 & NGC 1893
Scope: AT60ED
Camera: ZWO 533MC Pro
Filter: Optolong L-Enhance
Exposure: 30 seconds
Time: 30 minutes