My old Celestron goto mount did fine for a number of years but now it was time to invest in a newer mount... especially since Celestron was have a $200 off sale on it!
While I have not yet given the mount a "dead on" alignment to the North Pole, the mount is doing great, especially with a new ZWO b&w guiding camera and the PHD2 program. I am easily getting 3 minute "subs" (individual shots that will be stacked later with DeepSkyStacker)... and sometime even longer!
With clear skies I headed out to the obs (even though I was fighting a cold) and, using the CATE telescope (480mm refractor) and a Canon T3i camera, I imaged a few galaxies.
While I have not yet given the mount a "dead on" alignment to the North Pole, the mount is doing great, especially with a new ZWO b&w guiding camera and the PHD2 program. I am easily getting 3 minute "subs" (individual shots that will be stacked later with DeepSkyStacker)... and sometime even longer!
With clear skies I headed out to the obs (even though I was fighting a cold) and, using the CATE telescope (480mm refractor) and a Canon T3i camera, I imaged a few galaxies.
M 101 galaxy
DATA: 19 minutes total stacking time
6 subs (about 3 minutes each)
ISO 6400
Image cropped in
M 102 galaxy
DATA: 23 minutes total stacking time
9 subs (about 3 minutes each)
ISO 6400
Image cropped in
NGC 5907 galaxy
DATA: 17 minutes total stacking time
6 subs (about 3 minutes each)
ISO 6400
Image cropped in
Oh, and one more thing...
I use a focusing mask to help get a precise focus. It is placed in front of the telescope
and is to be removed when focusing is done... unless one forgets to remove it.
That's what happened in the first image I took and this is what it looks like:
If you look closely you will see that the stars have 6 points to them
instead of being round as they should be.
It happens... LOL!
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