413 replies to this topic

[matt_astro_tx]

It's officially summer in Texas which means mosquitoes the size of dragonflies, hurricanes to the south, tornados up north, and the start of nebula season.  I'll lead us off by posting last nights quarry, a 4-hour shot of Barnard 72 in Sagittarius.  I have not done a lot of work with dark nebulas so this was fun.  I intended to collect 10+ hours before sharing anything, but here we are...

 

 

120 x 120" Lights (4 hours flat!)

30 Dark, Flat, Bias

 

Equipment in signature

Processed using Siril, GraXpert, Starnet, Photoshop, and Lightroom

 

It looks a little washed out on the right side of the image because toward the end of the night my scope was pointed directly at the sun thanks to the neighbors...

 

 

Anyway the spirit of these Texas threads is that everyone's welcome and the only rule is to keep it friendly, the Texas way!  We're glad you're here.

 

Cheers and clear skies

[fmendes]

Present! Not a lot of time to process anything - I have data from two nights, two rigs that I need to download to my desktop and play with it.

[fmendes]

It's officially summer in Texas which means mosquitoes the size of dragonflies, hurricanes to the south, tornados up north, and the start of nebula season.  I'll lead us off by posting last nights quarry, a 4-hour shot of Barnard 72 in Sagittarius.  I have not done a lot of work with dark nebulas so this was fun.  I intended to collect 10+ hours before sharing anything, but here we are...

 

This is looking promising! One of the targets I mentioned above is the LDN 234. At first I had problems with my flats, but I'm trying again. 2 nights so far. Time to stack and see how it looks.

[rlmxracer]

It's officially summer in Texas which means mosquitoes the size of dragonflies, hurricanes to the south, tornados up north, and the start of nebula season.  I'll lead us off by posting last nights quarry, a 4-hour shot of Barnard 72 in Sagittarius.  I have not done a lot of work with dark nebulas so this was fun.  I intended to collect 10+ hours before sharing anything, but here we are...

 

 

120 x 120" Lights (4 hours flat!)

30 Dark, Flat, Bias

 

Equipment in signature

Processed using Siril, GraXpert, Starnet, Photoshop, and Lightroom

 

It looks a little washed out on the right side of the image because toward the end of the night my scope was pointed directly at the sun thanks to the neighbors...

 

 

 

Anyway the spirit of these Texas threads is that everyone's welcome and the only rule is to keep it friendly, the Texas way!  We're glad you're here.

 

Cheers and clear skies

Nice shot Matt! I have been wondering if dark nebulae were even possible to get in washed out city skies. There's my answer.

My new to me AT60ED is due to be delivered any minute so hopefully I can get it on the mount tomorrow night. After a bit of research it looks like my ES 0.8x reducer will probably work for the ED80. The reducers specs claim its good for f5.5-7 and the 60ED is f6. Fingers crossed I can save $160.

Edited by rlmxracer, 20 June 2025 - 10:27 AM.

[jpengstrom]

Apologies to Stealers Wheel - Mosquitos to the left of me, hurricanes to the right, here I am stuck in the middle with you.

Matt, gorgeous image you got going there.  I really like that!  And that's quite the counterweight-up position of your mount pointing into your neighbor's sun.  

I'm currently working on my green subs for M20 from last night and, hopefully, the wind won't be too bad tonight and I can collect blue.  My M20 might end up being the shortest integration time picture I've taken in a while.  If I can get a couple hours on blue tonight it'll be roughly 7 hours of data.

[matt_astro_tx]

As an Astro Tech fan I really like the look of the new line of quads.  Eager to see how they perform.

 

https://astronomics....-quad-refractor

[rlmxracer]

As an Astro Tech fan I really like the look of the new line of quads.  Eager to see how they perform.

 

https://astronomics....-quad-refractor

After I move next year I hope to get the 106mm version and a better mount. 

[gcardona]

It's officially summer in Texas which means mosquitoes the size of dragonflies, hurricanes to the south, tornados up north, and the start of nebula season.  I'll lead us off by posting last nights quarry, a 4-hour shot of Barnard 72 in Sagittarius.  I have not done a lot of work with dark nebulas so this was fun.  I intended to collect 10+ hours before sharing anything, but here we are...

 

Hi Matt,

 

Nice dark nebula! Where are you imaging from? I'm in Richardson and the LP is so bad here I can't even think of trying for dark nebulae. If I want to do this, I need to go to the TAS dark sky site in OK.

[markalot63]

One of Texas wannabe's checking in

[PirateMike]

That is going to be a wonderful image once you get to the integration time that you are planning.

 

Please post the final image when you're done. 

 

Pirate Mike

 

.

Edited by PirateMike, 20 June 2025 - 10:59 AM.

[Eric Weder]

Like Felipe, I was happy to get a couple of hours this week, almost having to learn everything over again, it's been a long time!

Now to process the data before I forget it's there

[Poynting]

Checking in from south of San Antonio. Spring was depressing and I could barely get any data collected, except near full moons. I got about 10 hours of Ha on M51, and am now trying to scrape some RGB together to make a final image. Here is the Ha:

 

 

 

The cloudiness was so reliable that I had the spare time to trench and install power to my two observatories. One is dedicated to imaging, and the other is used for visual with the AT150EDL

 

 

Astronomics hasn't released a corrector for this scope yet, so I have only been able to do some brief planetary imaging through it:

 

 

I'm hopeful Astronomics will pull through and have a corrector available soon!

[rlmxracer]

I just got my new to me AT60ED. Looks like I may end up buying some rings. The foot doesn’t seem to be square to the scope tube. It is apparent after mounting it to a vixen rail. 

Attached Thumbnails

• 

[jpengstrom]

Checking in from south of San Antonio. Spring was depressing and I could barely get any data collected, except near full moons. I got about 10 hours of Ha on M51, and am now trying to scrape some RGB together to make a final image. Here is the Ha:

 

 

The cloudiness was so reliable that I had the spare time to trench and install power to my two observatories. One is dedicated to imaging, and the other is used for visual with the AT150EDL

 

 

 

Astronomics hasn't released a corrector for this scope yet, so I have only been able to do some brief planetary imaging through it:

 

 

 

I'm hopeful Astronomics will pull through and have a corrector available soon!

Nice looking Ha and nice looking observatory, Poynting.  Also good looking Jupiter and Mars with that AT150EDL.  I hope they release the FF/Reducer for it so you can get some deep sky imaging with it.

 

I just got my new to me AT60ED. Looks like I may end up buying some rings. The foot doesn’t seem to be square to the scope tube. It is apparent after mounting it to a vixen rail. 

rlmxracer, as long as the foot isn't causing any movement it should be fine even if it isn't square.  That is, assuming you're using platesolving to center up your targets.

[rlmxracer]

 

 

rlmxracer, as long as the foot isn't causing any movement it should be fine even if it isn't square.  That is, assuming you're using platesolving to center up your targets.

I was thinking that for PA having it angled down would cause an issue. There does seem to b a bit of movement with it also. Problem is 76mm rings are like hens teeth at this point. Astronomics does have a set of 79mm rings that they say will work on their 60ED with added felt.

[Zambiadarkskies]

Checking in here with the Zed (Zambia) branch of wannabe Texans!  Got this one over the last week or so.... It gets less love than the next door Eagle nebula.   .  

 

[CCD-Freak]

I just got my new to me AT60ED. Looks like I may end up buying some rings. The foot doesn’t seem to be square to the scope tube. It is apparent after mounting it to a vixen rail. 

I have been thinking of getting some rings for my AT60ED.  Do you know of a source for rings that will fit ????

 

[jpengstrom]

Gil, nice picture of the Omega (Swan) swan.  Now get a picture of Alpha Centauri and put it in a diptych with this and you'll have the beginning and the end. 

[jpengstrom]

I was thinking that for PA having it angled down would cause an issue. There does seem to b a bit of movement with it also. Problem is 76mm rings are like hens teeth at this point. Astronomics does have a set of 79mm rings that they say will work on their 60ED with added felt.

I believe the ASI Air will be happy to polar align even with significant cone error.  It just cares about the relative motion of the mount between 3 points while moving just in RA.  As long as the scope isn't moving in the foot ring as it slews you should be fine.  Now, if it does move, then yes, you'll need something else that will hold it steady.

[rlmxracer]

I believe the ASI Air will be happy to polar align even with significant cone error.  It just cares about the relative motion of the mount between 3 points while moving just in RA.  As long as the scope isn't moving in the foot ring as it slews you should be fine.  Now, if it does move, then yes, you'll need something else that will hold it steady.

Hopefully you are correct. I'm going to get it under the stars tomorrow night to test it out. My 40mm guide scope should look a bit large on it lol. I have a 30mm but I don't feel like messing with refocusing my guide scope. Eventually I will just buy a second guide cam to set up the 30mm guide scope on the AT60.

[rlmxracer]

I have been thinking of getting some rings for my AT60ED.  Do you know of a source for rings that will fit ????

 

AT60ED imaging rig-6-sm.JPG

These are the only ones I can find and they are slightly large at 79mm. Reading the reviews several purchasers have used an extra layer of felt and say they work well on the AT60.

https://astronomics....-tube-ring-pair

 

I went ahead and ordered a set. I figure for $40 they are worth a try and my OCD will be better. haha

Edited by rlmxracer, 20 June 2025 - 02:55 PM.

[Zambiadarkskies]

Gil, nice picture of the Omega (Swan) swan.  Now get a picture of Alpha Centauri and put it in a diptych with this and you'll have the beginning and the end. 

Thanks!  It is not the Swan though  .  I should have said and been less obtuse - NGC 6604 and Sh2-54.  

[rlmxracer]

Hmmm, with all of these AT60EDs maybe we should have a 60mm and under friendly Texas Summer imaging contest!?!?

Edited by rlmxracer, 20 June 2025 - 03:08 PM.

[jpengstrom]

Thanks!  It is not the Swan though  .  I should have said and been less obtuse - NGC 6604 and Sh2-54.  

D'oh - well there I go making assumptions again.  I never even knew that Sh2-64 was even there!  Thanks for posting it.  I'll add that to my list of things to image!

[dx_ron]

I had Orion rings that fit the AT60 and were cheap. I recall they were available under other brand names, but I can't recall specifics.