On one side of the Tadpoles Nebula is the Flaming Star Nebula. Going the opposite direction one finds the Spider and Fly Nebulae. The Tadpoles, Spider and Fly nebulae are the targets in this image. Had two very clear nights in a row which allowed for capturing
Ha one night and Oiii the next. I had the best guiding I've ever had with the total RMS in the 0.5-0.8" range. I captured 48 10 minute images and not one had to be discarded due to "guiding errors". The improvement comes courtesy of JayTee (if I remember correctly) who shared the idea of putting a small rotationally adjustable weight on the counterbalance arm to allow correction for off-center weight (like a focusing motor or filter wheel). The picture below shows my implementation using a "SMALLRIG" super clamp (camera accessory) that has 1/4" & 3/8" threaded holes. As suggested by JayTee I used a 1/4-20 bolt to attach several washers to add a little weight. After balancing the rig with the camera and telescope horizontal the mount is then repositioned to the "zero position" and the clamp is rotated until the mount remains in the "zero position --> PERFECT BALANCE. I actually then unbalance slightly to produce a slightly East-heavy balance to eliminate any
RA backlash issues.
Anyway, the picture below shows the modified HOO (R =
Ha, G = 70% Oiii + 30%
Ha, B = Oiii) result.
IMAGE DETAILS:
Equipment:
W.O. Star71 telescope, 3 nm Chroma
Ha & O3 filters, ASI1600MM camera (-15C, Gain=140), CEM40 mount, Orion MMAG autoguider, StarLite stepper motor (focusing)
Mount/ASI1600MM camera/Filter wheel/MMAG autoguider/Focusing stepper motor all controlled remotely using
APT.
APT is on a laptop in the house which is connected by WEme 4-port USB 2.0 extender system with 40 ft ethernet cable connecting the equipment outside to the laptop inside the house.
Images:
24x600 sec
Ha, 24x600 sec O3 (Total Exposure 8
hr), 24 Darks, 30 Flats, 30 Flat Darks
Software:
Captured with
APT, Guided with PHD2, Processed with PixInsight
Thanks for looking.
Steve
Steve King: Light Pollution (Bortle 5)
Telescope + Mount + Guiding: W.O. Star71-ii + iOptron CEM40 EC + Orion Magnificent Mini AutoGuider
Camera: ASI 1600MM Pro + EFW Filter Wheel + Chroma 3nm Siii, Ha, Oiii + ZWO LRGB Filters
Software: PHD2; APT; PixInsight ***** My AP website:
www.steveking.pictures