Andromeda Galaxy - captured before the haze comes back!

mch3898 · Post by **mch3898** » Sun Oct 31, 2010 9:47 pm

Took advantage of the relatively clear sky last thursday and did a quick image of the Andromeda Galaxy. I may have over-stretched it a bit to bring out the dark band. It is a stack of seven 5-min subs using the StarShoot Pro Color v2 through the WO Megrez 90. Mount is Sirius and autoguided by PHD.

Picture is not too great. Guess I will try longer subs when the sky allows.

[img][img]http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4036/513 ... 93ce_b.jpg[/img] andromeda galaxy by mch3898, on Flickr[/img]

timatworksg · Post by **timatworksg** » Sun Oct 31, 2010 10:42 pm

Hey Chris!! Using the new toy I see!! Wonderful as always!
Was setting up for it on Thursday as well...but interrupted by little princesses!
Hey when we catch up soon...I'll go thru with you the PS masking.

Great job by the way!

wintertriangle22 · Post by **wintertriangle22** » Mon Nov 01, 2010 8:37 pm

Good effort ! nice photo of our nearest galactic neighbour

orly_andico · Post by **orly_andico** » Mon Nov 01, 2010 11:38 pm

I see that the Meg 90 also suffers from egg stars near the edges... :-P

timatworksg · Post by **timatworksg** » Mon Nov 01, 2010 11:48 pm

Thats why Flatterners are sold seperately...to make some extra bucks!

If only we could get out hands on some lenses, be able to grind them...HECK we could DIY lots from barlows, to EP's!

orly_andico · Post by **orly_andico** » Mon Nov 01, 2010 11:55 pm

@Tim, grinding one's own lenses is probably not worth the effort... too much work!

Grinding a mirror is OK, because it's only one surface. And you can grind a better mirror than the Chinese mirror-grinder machines.

But even an achromatic doublet has two lenses, and each lens has two surfaces.... so that's four surfaces to grind. :-P

If you want to DIY (I did this before) buy one of the lens kits from Surplus Shed.

I made a 36mm, 60-degree eyepiece (an Erfle) and a 24mm, 70-degree one.

mch3898 · Post by **mch3898** » Tue Nov 02, 2010 9:05 am

Thanks all for looking and your helpful comments.

@Tim. Oh, yeah. I forgot to use the flattener which was attached to my filter wheel and my monochrome DSI. Will try it again with the flattener and see what's the difference.

timatworksg · Post by **timatworksg** » Tue Nov 02, 2010 10:30 am

@Chris: Always worth the try! Thats the fun part about it!

@Orly: Was just a thought. Here to do something like this it's not very likely possible. And yeah buying one is so much more feasible in terms of cost than making one.

orly_andico · Post by **orly_andico** » Tue Nov 02, 2010 12:23 pm

as an aside... is a flattener even needed for the DSI? the DSI has such a teeny tiny chip...

and how to attach flattener to DSI? mine (WO Flat-2) has an SCT thread or 2" barrel on one end, and a T-thread on the other end. But my DSI nosepiece is a 1.25" barrel..

cloud_cover · Post by **cloud_cover** » Tue Nov 02, 2010 12:35 pm

Orly --> There are radially smeared stars visible at the edges of the picture so yeah, I think a flattener is a good idea. Its definitely not poor tracking or movement since the stars in the centre are pin point.
Tim--> They do sell telescopes with integrated flatteners. The're called quadruplets and cost an arm and a leg