The great LX850 experiment is complete. I kept the mount significantly longer than usual, which should be interpreted as a hint that I liked it. It performed as expected every time I used it over a period of 2 1/2 years. I captured plenty of images. Now it’s time to move on. In this case, it is really time to move over. I don’t want to commit to any particular astronomy activities. I’ll put one of the other mounts in the observatory and do some casual DSLR work as time and interest permit, but probably nothing worth writing about. Instead, I’ll be using this blog space to talk about homebrewing because that is what interests me now. I may preserve the astronomy posts in one blog and transfer the brewing posts into a separate blog, or I may leave them combined here. The new URL is www.allminebrewery.com but for now that just takes you here.
Mount testing
I guess I’m still in a bicolor rut, but at least I got away from the widefield stuff. Here’s M1 with eight ten minute exposures each Ha and OIII. Working at F/8 instead of F/5 is about one aperture stop decrease, so Ideally I’d be doubling exposure time. I lack the patience so I’m still using 10 minute exposures. Click the thumbnail above for the larger version, or click here for less compressed.
I know – I promised no more bicolor widefields this season. It rained much of the weekend, though, and I can’t swap optical tubes with the roof closed! I decided to make the best of it and grabbed this one. Eight exposures ten minutes each, H-a and OIII. Same equipment lineup as the last several. Less compressed here.
This should be the last one with the Tak for the season. It looks like it will be a while before we have sky here again and I expect to be back on the Meade by then. Less compressed here .
Still trying to get the last widefield shots before Cygnus goes behind the house. This one is six ten minute exposures each, H-a and OIII. Same gear as the last several. Less compressed at http://www.astrobin.com/full/121789
I’ll switch out the optical tubes this weekend, so here’s one last shot with the FSQ-106N. My last M33 was disappointing due to poor transparency so I gave it another try tonight. This one pleases me much more. Uncompressed at: http://www.astrobin.com/full/121620/0/
My refurbished Moonlight focuser is back already (Thanks for the GREAT service, Ron!) so I’ll be switching back to the 12″ Meade when weather permits. Here’s one last FSQ106N shot for now – an old favorite.
Another quick shot from the other night. Nine exposures of five minutes each RGB. FSQ-106N, QSI683WSG-8, LX850.
Grabbed a shot of our nearest spiral galaxy. Nine exposures of seven minutes each R,G,B. FSQ-106N, QSI683WSG-8, LX850 as usual. I lost control of the star colors in this same-night-before-I go-to bed processing session. I’ll clean it up later and stick that version on Astrobin.
I guess I’m still in a narrowband mood, even though the Moon isn’t a problem these days. This one is from the FSQ-106N/QSI683WSG-8/LX850 combo. Clouds rolled in before I was finished but I ended up with five ten minute exposures each, H-a and OIII so this will have to do. Larger version at http://astrob.in/116067/0/