M101 and friends (my new-new setup)

[Jake]

After the troubles I had with the LXD650 mount, I never got to image with my new scopes.
Meade did take it back, and I am now the happy owner of an Orion Atlas EQ-G.!   

The mount is worlds better, and honestly one of the nicest mounts I have used at any price. 
It has very good PE, excellent gotos (dead center stars at 250x), and is SUPER QUIET.  It is
proving to be a good match for my imaging rig - it handles the load very well and is stable.

At any rate, I finally had my "first light" imaging session with this rig which has taken me
almost 6 months to assemble.  This is a quick/dirty process, and I will probably have to go
back and re-do it a bit, but I think it shows the potential of my new system.  I shot this through
the Vixen ED80sf - it was really a treat to get such a wide field without all the excess coma. 
I have counted 19 galaxies in this image, but there are probably more. 

-Jake

[Jake]

And here is a photo of the mount/scopes combintaion.

-Jake

[twilbur]

Ooooooooo!
Great first light Jake, congratulations! Great color and lots of background galaxies! I'm glad your trials and tribulations are resolved and you can get back to enjoying the sky again!

I love the picture of your new-new setup and location! What are those white things in the sky?...
The mount looks beefy and the refractors look yummy. I've heard good things about the Atlas.

That looks like a really beautiful location, I'm envious!

[Ron]

Jake,

I was wondering when you were going to get back in here, and you sure did with a bang up job

Nice looking equipment and a super nice image.

I haven't counted all of the Galaxies yet but it sure looks like there are a bunch in there.

Can you give a little detail on your method of acquiring the image?

I too am interested in the background scenery.  Looks like some place in the high desert.

Thanks for sharing,

Ron

[dsnay]

Hey Jake,

Very, very nice images. Not sure which makes me drewl more, tho.  

clear skies,
Dave

[Jake]

Thanks guys!

Ron, you nailed it - high desert it is.  I was shooting in Joshua Tree NP - if any of y'all
ever get out this way, be sure to visit it, it is a beautiful park with nice dark skies.   

The Atlas performed very well - it is hard to tell from my overprocessed jpeg, but the stars
were nice and round before I got to them.    
I will have to have another go at processing later this week, and post the image again. 

Ron -  here is my method with the Digital Rebel.

After connecting to scope, I slew to a bright star and focus in the viewfinder as best I can (a Hartmann
mask can be very helpful in this step).  Then I set the camera to ISO 1600 and take a quick 10 sec or so
image - I then check the image on the preview screen fully zoomed to make sure focus is good.  Once it is
good, I lock the focuser and slew the telescope to the object and frame accordingly.  Then I start the autoguider
and start taking subexposures - I like to go with 10min subs tops (800iso or less) as amp glow starts to get ugly.  Once I have
gotten all the subs I want, I take 3 - 4 dark frames of the same exposure length.   Once I get home, I average the
dark frames, then subtract from each image.  Then combine the images and process (or overprocess!    )

-Jake

[Ron]

Ron -  here is my method with the Digital Rebel.

After connecting to scope, I slew to a bright star and focus in the viewfinder as best I can (a Hartmann
mask can be very helpful in this step).  Then I set the camera to ISO 1600 and take a quick 10 sec or so
image - I then check the image on the preview screen fully zoomed to make sure focus is good.  Once it is
good, I lock the focuser and slew the telescope to the object and frame accordingly.  Then I start the autoguider
and start taking subexposures - I like to go with 10min subs tops (800iso or less) as amp glow starts to get ugly.  Once I have
gotten all the subs I want, I take 3 - 4 dark frames of the same exposure length.   Once I get home, I average the
dark frames, then subtract from each image.  Then combine the images and process (or overprocess!    )

-Jake

Jake,

Thanks for the method.  You sure are getting some good images out of that Canon.

Ron

[dsnay]

Jake,

10 minute subs!!!!!!!
Guess that's why your on a GEM, eh?
My wedge doesn't allow much more than 30" even when carefully aligned. Just too much bounce...

Dave

[Jake]

I got to spend a little more time on this image today.  I got the color balance corrected, and not so heavy-handed
on the processing.  Here is the full shot:

http://www.astromart.com/images/forums/421000-421999/421580.jpg

I have counted more than 20 background galaxies in this shot, although they are a bit harder to pick out at such a reduced size.

And here is the cropped version: 

http://www.astromart.com/images/forums/421000-421999/421588.jpg

I still have a bit of strange background noise I'm trying to figure out how to get out - hopefully
Rick or Steve will stop in and give a few pointers!

DAVE -

Sorry to hear about your bouncy wedge - is there something you can do to stiffen it up?  I've heard there
are aftermarket kits of some kind that might help.....

-Jake

[twilbur]

Nice re-process Jake!

[ricksastro]

Sweet setup, Jake...it looks like you've got it running very well...


That's one nice image!  As far as backgound noise, about the best way is to put a coldpack on the camera.  This was discussed in the Digital Astro a while back.  Especially being in a desert area, this will lower the overall noise of the system.

I, personally, don't need one tonight, as it's about 15F out and I"m imaging with my XT...very low noise, very cold fingers!

Rick