Looks like there could be some decent weather coming up. I am looking at two whole nights of imaging now. I hope the winds stay low. The temps are not bad looks to be mid-upper 20′s which is like a heatwave………I will be dealing with moon but not til between 11pm and Midnight. Will be setting up at friends observatory. I plan on doing quite a bit of imaging with the 80mm, and will do some imaging with the DSI III this time throught the edge ota for some comparison shots. The pixel math does not work out well with the Edge OTA unless a focal reducer is used.

Regards,

Jeff Turner
http://www.daltonskygazer.com

That was one heck of a night out with your CGEM! It seems like there’s lots of SNAFU the first couple of times with a new system. My first shot of M42 with my new setup didn’t come easy. I didn’t get to snap shots of it until it was about to set at 3:00am! But the second time around, I got to start imaging fairly quickly because some things were lined out. I’m with you though, can’t wait for a little warmer weather!

Thanks,
Ray Shore

That second pick is very nice. The detail is outstanding!! Very sharp focus and great post processing work! I am taking baby steps at post processing right now just getting grasp of it all. Will be working with the Adam Block video to improve my post processing skills. Last night was one tough night but I had a few positves #1 first light of new edge 800 OTA, Autoguided for first time in my life, and used the Xsi DSLR for first time. This was also first night out with the new side by side setup. I learned a lot of lessons. I expected some headaches with the new gear and also with the cold weather. I come out of the session with some lessons. After seeing how things went I can not wait til the warm weather comes where I am able to spend more time direct at the scope. I do wish that Celestron would hurry up and release the focal reducers for the new Edge HD ota’s. Keep the pics coming!

Thanks for the nice comments! I am really pleased with this setup. I feel like I can push it a lot further in terms of exposure length. I had to be careful since I was running off the XSi battery for these shots. I have an AC adapter on the way though so I can take longer exposures and WAY more of them. I can’t wait for another clear night to try some more things. I really appreciate your input

Ray Shore

The only word that came to my mouth when I saw the second image was AWESOME!!! Great, really great image. Pinpoint stars, clear definition of the nebula, good amount of nebulosity, stars in proximity to one another can be clearly resolved. Congratulations.

Cheers,
Jose

Those were brutal conditions you were dealing with last night. You wanted m66 badly! That’s what we do though. I froze the other night trying to get that first M42 photo.

I hope your image turns out nice. Will be interesting to see how well the EdgeHD performs!

Thanks,
Ray Shore

Regards,

Jeff

http://www.daltonskygazer.com

Ray Shore

Hope to have some images of own to share with all!
Clear skies for all!

Regards,

J. Turner
http://www.daltonskygazer.com

Robert