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I was finally able to capture a few photons Friday night despite the poor forecast. I could see some clouds on the horizon but the sky in the east didn't look horrible so I set up quickly and hastily picked a target. I decided on M57 because it's bright and I might have some success even with the high clouds.
This target blew me away when I first observed it through my 10" dob 3 years ago and then again when I first imaged it with that same dob and DSLR. I didn't think I would really be able to do well with it but I'm a bit surprised and happy with this result.
My only real mistake this session was not double checking my auto focus with a mask (I'm still trying to sort out the backlash and it's not quite right) so the focus is a bit soft and I will toss this data since it's not worth trying to add to.
I managed to capture (and not totally clip out) the outer envelope and companion galaxy IC 1296.
This is the result of 288 x 30 sec light frames with flats, dark flats and bias frames. No darks.
Thanks for looking!
Larry
Attachments
For visual:
10" Skywatcher collapsible goto dob, various EP's and a Celestron StarSense auto align.
For imaging:
Orion 8" astrograph 800mm @ F3.9
Eq6-R Pro controlled by APT via EQmod with an OTA mounted mini PC
Tele Vue Paracorr Type 2 coma corrector
Altair Hypercam 26C
Jim Thommes Jim's Astrophotography
David Levy Maksutov Newtonian, Celestron Edge 9.25, FSQ-106N Refractor (on loan), WO ZenithStar 66 APO Refractor, WO Megrez II APO, Sigma 150 mm EOS Lens
Losmandy G11/Gemini, iOptron GEM45, Celestron Advanced VX, iOptron CEM70
ST8300M Camera, Atik 383L, Canon 350D (IR cut modified), ASI1600M, ASI294M, ASI260M
Observatory - Desert Astronomy Association (Shelter Valley, CA)