NGC6960 the Western Veil Nebula taken over the last couple of nights. 100 x 3 minute subs, ED100 at F7.2, Astronomik CLS, Baader Semi APO and Lumicon deep sky filters, Pentax K-5, HEQ5 pro, guiding with a 68mm guidescope, video camera and PHD2.

Bigger at Astrobin. NGC6960 The Western Veil Nebula (Kevin) | AstroBin

All the adjectives I could think of seemed trite. Beautiful work.

[nightfly]

A shot with the K-5 IIs and 16mm f/2 Samy @ f/3.2 and 92 seconds at ISO 3200. A bit over-processed, but I was pulling out some decent details from the raw file.

[Tsuken]

A shot with the K-5 IIs and 16mm f/2 Samy @ f/3.2 and 92 seconds at ISO 3200. A bit over-processed, but I was pulling out some decent details from the raw file.

Beautiful.

92 seconds? You used the astrotracer then?

[Learjet]

Comet C/2013 V5 (Oukaimeden) has been scooting past the Rosette nebula over the last couple of days. This is from last night with the ED100 at F7.2 and Pentax K-5. Didn't get as much time on it as I would have liked due to cloud and me screwing things up. It's only 7 minutes. My special interest in astronomy is comets, or at least photographing them.

Attached Images

 

[Digitalis]

The Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8 is a excellent lens for wide field astrophotography with the O-GPS1


Pentax K5IIs - Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8 @ f/1.8 ISO 800 30" astrotrace.

[nightfly]

Beautiful.

92 seconds? You used the astrotracer then?

I used my equatorial mount. I am going to try the Astrotracer at some point, but an equatorial mount guarantees perfect tracking every time without calibration issues that I often hear about. When I shoot a frame I don't want it to be an experiment.

[Tsuken]

I used my equatorial mount. I am going to try the Astrotracer at some point, but an equatorial mount guarantees perfect tracking every time without calibration issues that I often hear about. When I shoot a frame I don't want it to be an experiment.

Ah, even better, yes. I'm thinking of getting a motor drive for my telescope's mount (then I'd just have to learn to polar-align it).

---------- Post added 23rd Aug 2014 at 10:38 PM ----------

The Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8 is a excellent lens for wide field astrophotography with the O-GPS1


Pentax K5IIs - Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8 @ f/1.8 ISO 800 30" astrotrace.

That's great

[weathermon]

Kevin that's awesome! Didn't know that the comet was so close. I'll have to give it a shot tomorrow night now that Rosette has set. I had a blast tonight - Here is M27 the Dumbell Nebula with the ED100, F7.65 with the flattener on... pretty happy with this one!

[weathermon]

Ring Nebula tonight as well - 20x300 seconds @ ISO800

[weathermon]

M31 Andromeda - 20x180 seconds @ ISO800.

[Learjet]

Nice images Mike. You gotta be happy with those. I can't quite get an angle on M31 from my setup point. It's directly behind a street light.

The comet has now moved away from the Rosette nebula as it heads towards perihelion.

[weathermon]

Thanks Kevin! I'm doing the Helix nebula tonight - here's the rig in action (K3 on scope, pic taken with K5. 6 seconds, ISO6400, F3.5x10 frames stacked in PS to reduce noise). I'm making the most out of these unusually clear, calm and crisp nights! Barely a flicker from the stars tonight even though the jetstream is 46m/s. Good seeing conditions though (3)

[weathermon]

Tonights pics - Helix Nebula (20x3 mins @ ISO400) and NGC 253 (5x3 mins @ ISO800)

[Learjet]

Jeez that's a nice helix. I had a go at it a few weeks ago and it was pretty rotten.

[weathermon]

Thanks mate! Am tempted to do some shots tonight but not sure if I can be bothered dealing with 90% humidity with the hair drier every 10 minutes lol. Tomorrow night we're forecast for 40-50% humidity so much better conditions