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This is a very tough target to shoot from my imaging location just south of Las Vegas, NV. It only rises about 10.5° above my horizon so I wasn't expecting extreme resolution and quality. It was just a "Can I do it?" kind of target.
Explore Scientific ED152 CF APO
Explore Scientific 3" 0.7x Reducer/Flattener
ZWO OAG w/ASI290mm Guide Camera
ZWO ASI 2600mc Pro (0°, Gain 100, Offset 50)
iOptron CEM70EC mount
The full-resolution file on Astrobin.com - https://astrob.in/vfowaj/0/ WARNING, IT'S 41MB
37x180sec subs = 1 Hour 51 Min
Captured with NINA 2.1 HF1 RC009
Processed with PixInsight
Thats a cracker. So the answer is "yes you can do it."
Its a target I'd love to do but definitely too low from 53N
Scope: Skywatcher Evostar 80ED (SW 0.85 FR/FF) on a SW NEQ6Pro
Guiding; SW Evoguide 50ED, ASI 120mm mini
Meade 8" LX200 GPS on wedge (Guided with a cheapo 50mm guidescope and a ZWO ASI 120mm mini)
Sharpstar 61EDPH II (with dedicated 0.8 reducer) with wiliam Optics 32mm uniguide
Camera: ASI2600MC pro. QHY 163M with ZWO 7nm NB filters, Canon EOS700D astro mod
Secondary mount: Skywatcher StarAdventurer
Hello again Greg. Another beautiful image from you and this time it's NGC 5128 (Caldwell 77) using your ES ED152 APO refractor. Very nice contrast and the central dust lane really jumps out too. Thanks for sharing this capture with us Greg and I still say keep up the great work.
Marshall
Sky-Watcher 90mm f/13.8 Maksutov-Cassegrain on motorized Multimount
Orion Astroview 120ST f/5 Refractor on EQ3 mount
Celestron Comet Catcher 140mm f/3.64 Schmidt-Newtonian on alt-az mount
Celestron Omni XLT150R f/5 Refractor on CG4 mount with dual axis drives.
Orion 180mm f/15 Maksutov-Cassegrain on CG5-GT Goto mount.
Orion XT12i 12" f/4.9 Dobsonian Intelliscope.
Kamakura 7x35 Binoculars and Celestron SkyMaster 15x70 Binoculars. ZWO ASI 120MC camera.
>)))))*>
JayTee wrote: ↑Mon Mar 20, 2023 10:23 pm
Wow, Greg, superior image. I know that many skills were employed (by you) to achieve this image.
Superbly done,
Ps, this image makes me want to "pick up" my entire observatory and move South!
Haha! I know what you mean. There are so many cool objects in the southern hemisphere. Just remember, they are down there saying the same thing about all the cool northern hemisphere stuff they can't see. Andromeda, M81-82, M51, etc ...
AstroBee wrote: ↑Mon Mar 20, 2023 10:26 pmThere are so many cool objects in the southern hemisphere.
Right!
I thought living in Hawaii would be one of the best places for imaging both hemispheres (N&S) and it would have been if not for the continuously moving cloud cover. There was always about 25% of the sky that would be clear at any given moment but the other 75% with cloud cover wreaked havoc with PHD2. So much so, that imaging with an AVX mount was nearly impossible, even with only an 80mm APO attached.
The image below from SkyTech X shows how little of the southern sky I couldn't see. The great part about those islands is that your southern hemisphere faced 6,000 miles (10,000 Km) of open ocean so needless to say it was a Dark horizon. So the red dashed line is placed at 5° above my southern horizon where I lived on Oahu. This means I lost the remaining 25° of the south-polar skies. Sure, there were a couple of biggies I couldn't see (the LMC & SMC), but there was a LOT of other cool stuff I could see.
Sorry for hijacking your post and going on and on about what could have been!
∞ Primary Scopes: #1: Celestron CPC1100 #2: 8" f/7.5 Dob #3: CR150HD f/8 6" frac ∞ AP Scopes: #1: TPO 6" f/9 RC #2: ES 102 f/7 APO #3: ES 80mm f/6 APO ∞ G&G Scopes: #1: Meade 102mm f/7.8 #2: Bresser 102mm f/4.5 ∞ Guide Scopes: 70 & 80mm fracs -- The El Cheapo Bros. ∞ Mounts: iOptron CEM70AG, SW EQ6R, Celestron AVX, SLT & GT (Alt-Az), Meade DS2000 ∞ Cameras: #1: ZWO ASI294MC Pro #2: 662MC #3: 120MC, Canon T3i, Orion SSAG, WYZE Cam3 ∞ Binos: 10X50,11X70,15X70, 25X100 ∞ AP Gear: ZWO EAF and mini EFW and the Optolong L-eXteme filter ∞ EPs: ES 2": 21mm 100° & 30mm 82° Pentax XW: 7, 10, 14, & 20mm 70°
Searching the skies since 1966. "I never met a scope I didn't want to keep."
Fantastic image especially considering the super low altitude! I can't see below 30 degrees from my backyard!
Jim
Scopes: Explore Scientific ED102 APO, Sharpstar 61 EDPH II APO, Samyang 135 F2 (still on the Nikon).
Mount: Skywatcher HEQ5 Pro with Rowan Belt Mod
Stuff: ASI EAF Focus Motor (x2), ZWO OAG, ZWO 30 mm Guide Scope, ASI 220mm min, ASI 120mm mini, Stellarview 0.8 FR/FF, Sharpstar 0.8 FR/FF, Mele Overloock 3C.
Camera/Filters/Software: ASI 533 mc pro, ASI 120mm mini, ASI 220mm mini , IDAS LPS D-1, Optolong L-Enhance, ZWO UV/IR Cut, N.I.N.A., Green Swamp Server, PHD2, Adobe Photoshop CC, Pixinsight.
Dog and best bud: Jack
Sky: Bortle 6-7
My Astrobin: https://www.astrobin.com/users/Juno16/