...that makes a nerd smile.
If anyone tries to tell you that it's not worth spending the money on quality optics, just slap them in their silly head.
I finally bit the bullet and bought a parracor II for my F/3.9 astrograph, and the difference in resolution and detail is astounding (not to mention the coma correction of course).
I was shooting one of my favorite targets, Abell 426, with a very tight FWHM filter to get only the best frames I could on a windy night in suburban OKC. After 2-1/2 hours of total exposure (10-second subs), I saw something unexpected. When I zoomed in on a small area, I was able to clearly see two galaxies almost perfectly hidden behind foreground stars.
This is a screen capture directly off the SC window...not even an actual image file.
http://www.jcsautomation.com/temp/hidden_galaxies.png
It's the simplest things...
Forum rules
Please upload large images to photo sharing sites (flickr, etc) rather than trying to upload them as forum attachments.
Please share the equipment used and if possible camera settings to help others.
Please upload large images to photo sharing sites (flickr, etc) rather than trying to upload them as forum attachments.
Please share the equipment used and if possible camera settings to help others.
It's the simplest things...
Last edited by calan on Sun Sep 18, 2022 8:30 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Re: It's the simplest things...
That is indeed very cool
And I recognize the nerdiness. Capturing 20 hours of M106 @f/10 and processing it is cool and all. But capturing that hard to capture faint, tiny galaxy does give much more "satisfaction".
Menno
And I recognize the nerdiness. Capturing 20 hours of M106 @f/10 and processing it is cool and all. But capturing that hard to capture faint, tiny galaxy does give much more "satisfaction".
Menno
Re: It's the simplest things...
So -as a true nerd - you now have me imagining a bar chart plotting the range of hobbies and interests versus some objective index of nerdiness. I am afraid that we astroimagers are all right up there alongside the train spotters, experts on electric pylon design etc
Really like that image btw -- and can well understand the satisfaction of seeing such perfect round stars and subtle detail. It is rare that I can get my Newtonian (plus paracorr) tuned up to better than ~ r= 0.95
Tim
Re: It's the simplest things...
Same. I have an Orion 8" f/3.9 astrograph, and have been fighting a lot of little things that all add up (and being in a windy city suburb doesn't help). I still have a few issues I'm dealing with and trying to nail down, but the parracor alone turned it into a whole new scope.
Main priority right now is a new focuser, if I can ever get hold of Ron at Moonlight.
Re: It's the simplest things...
Here is a good comparison of the scope before and after the parracor, under very similar conditions just two nights apart.
http://jcsautomation.com/temp/able_426_compare.png
http://jcsautomation.com/temp/able_426_compare.png