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- AP130EDT @ f/6.3 Apogee Ascent 694 CCD Atlas EQ-G Mount w/ EQMOD
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- Annotated NGC 7331
Oct 012013
Sep 212013
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- M52, NGC 7635 The Bubble Nebula, SH2-157 The Lobster Claw Nebula, SH2-161
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- (Earlier Work) Annotated
This area is rich in diversity offering the Open Cluster M52, Emission Nebula SH2-157 aka The Lobster Claw Nebula as well as SH2-161. Also included is the more famous Bubble Nebula NGC 7635.
Imaged from my backyard outside Pittsburgh, PA.
Telescope: Tak FSQ-106ED
CCD: Apogee U16
Mount: AP900GTO3
Exposure Time: H-Alpha = 14x20min, O[III] = 9x20min, S[II] = 10x20min
Total Exposure Time = 11 Hours
Aug 302013
Mediocre conditions at my dark site in terms of haze / fog early on turning to all fog later so only 2.5 hours of exposure on this one. Combined with the new light pollution from the gas companies this isn’t a great image but it was a good test for the A694 camera and the Atlas mount throwing the longish AP130EDT f/8 refractor around.
AP130EDT f/8
Apogee A694 CCD
Atlas EQ-G
60 min Lum, 30 min each R,G,B
Aug 282013
The A694 finally saw first light after an extended bought of bad weather and other personal issues. This is a single 20 minute frame without any bias, dark, or flat calibration taken through an AP130EDT f/8 reduced to f/6.35 with the AP 0.75X reducer all riding on an Atlas mount.
Apogee A694 First Light
AP130EDT w/ Reducer
Atlas EQ-G
No Calibration
Aug 242013
FSQ-106ED
Apogee U16 CCD
AP900GTO Mount
Baader Ha & O[III} Filters
Total Exposure 3 hours
Aug 242013
I recently took delivery on a long awaited Apogee A694 CCD Camera. This camera uses the Sony ICX694AGL Chip which sports 4.54 x 4.54 micron sized pixels with a high peak QE of 77% and low read noise / dark current. The small size and light weight of the camera head (1.4 lbs) and integrated filterwheel (1.85 lbs) is a pleasant change from the U8300 and U16 with massive filterwheels requiring very robust focusers. The short backfocus allows allows 1.25″ filters to be used without vignetting on 4/3’s size chips like the A8050 camera which I also have on hand. The short backfocus also allows standard camera lens use in front of the FW and I am working on testing adapters for Pentax M42 screw mount lenses as well as eventually making an adapter for Canon Eos lenses. The 694 is a somewhat smaller chip than the KAI-8050 used int he A8050 but it boasts better sensitivity and improved noise characteristics particularly when looking at Hydrogen Alpha emission line imaging. (Interline chips typically drop off in sensitivity in the red but the Sony chip seems to far better than most in this regard.)
Aug 242013
These two shots were taken within half an hour of each other on the same night. Note the differences in the shadows as they stretch across the lunar surface.
Aug 182013
