It's been a really long time since I have wrote an experience on imaging with a telescope (or more relevant - an astrograph), and thought I would share an account of a new purchase that is finally good to go on an imaging journey. It is the Veloce Riccardi-Honders 200, an astrograph from Officina Stellare designed by the fabled Massimo Riccardi. It was a really short/stubby and hence portable instrument, that could soak in photons really fast - at F3. In essence, this was a 600mm F3 instrument that would take over my Epsilon 210 with a greater portability factor and almost half the weight (8.5kg). It has a really thick corrector with a Mangin primary mirror where the mirror coating is behind the glass. Nevertheless, even though I bought the instrument new several months back, it was only during last month's Mersing trip (May 2015) that I managed to use it with minimal or no issues. There were initial halo issues that were mitigated with a supplied black velvet adhesive kit from the manufacturer. Initially, when encountering this problem, it took a long time to identify what was causing the halos, and lots of time was spent on ensuring everything in the imaging train was OK. Finally, OS identified the problem and has now ensure that the later batches of the RH200 would be halo-free.
Now, it looks set and ready to capture as many photons as it could per unit time. Here are some unpacking photos followed by a couple of first light LRGB imagery from this "stubby fella that could!".
Astrograph was double-boxed when arrived.
Manual and brochure.
Finally, it is seen.
Glass-eyed.
An indication of Massimo Riccardi's fine work.
The astrograph with the carbon-fibre extension shield (retracted).
The business end of the astrograph.
Some first light RGB imagery:
VDB106
The Eagle
NGC6589-90
