Another clear night, this last weekend. Sometimes we do get them around here, we know it's summer when we have 1 good night a week rather than on a bi-monthly basis. I found that I've had good luck with going 8 minutes on exposures, so I gave this little cluster of dim fuzzies another attempt. Sometimes things just work out right and the telescope autoguider will behave for the whole evening. The stars in this image are fairly round indicating that things were tracking fine in 8 minute increments. That does pull in more small details too, and the dust lanes in the spiral galaxy on the left can be seen as well as a line through the edge-on galaxy. Almost like a very small distant version of NGC 891.
As always, click the image for the full size view. Technical details below also.
NGC 5985 in Draco
June 26, 2011 - midnight
- Camera - Canon 350D (with modification)
- Scope - Meade 12" LX200 Classic at f/6.3
- Exposures - 9 x 8 minutes at ISO 800
- Guide scope - Orion 80ED piggyback
- Guider - Starshoot autoguider with PHD Guider
2 comments:
Its a really nice image, I am guessing that the modification that was done on the 350D was a removal of the IR cut filter?
Who/where did you have that done?
I have been considering it for my 450D but the DIY route seems a little daunting, and I am not too keen on shipping it somewhere without a recommendation.
I know I will have to add an IR filter if I want to take regular pictures with the camera and that the AF mechanism is affected by the removal of the filter as well.
Yep. The camera has had the IR modification done to it. I bought the camera used from a guy on Astromart. Not sure where it was done, either Hutech or Hap Griffin, I think those are the 2 most popular places to get it done. I started with a Canon 10D (without the mod) and it worked ok, but I wasn't getting much of a red channel that got annoying after a while. On the 350D I actually go into the camera settings and turn down the red a little bit so I don't get too much. I also have A CLS filter (clip in type) from Astronmics that once I installed that, I've never taken it out again! Does really nice with light pollution. If I did the 8 minute exposures I used on this image without the filter, the whole frame would be almost totally pink with white spots where the stars and objects would be. Best $160 I've spent in a long time. :-)
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