Bob's AstroGallery

A.k.a.: NGC 7078
Type: Globular cluster
Telescope: Robtics 130mm triplet apo @ F/6.9
Camera: Atik 314L
Exposure: 17x300s, 4 darks, no flats
Filters: Hutech IDAS LPS-P2

The first version was made 1 year ago, minus 10 days, with the DSLR.

A.k.a.: Iris Nebula
A.k.a.: Caldwell 4
Type: Reflection Nebula
Distance: 1300 light years
Radius: 3 light years
Camera: Atik 314L Color
Exposure: 20x 300s, 5 darks, no flats
Filters: Hutech IDAS LPS-P2

A.k.a.: Dumbbell Nebula
A.k.a.: NGC6853
Type: Planetary Nebula
Distance from earth: Approx. 1350 light years
Radius: Approx. 1.5 light years
Camera: Atik 314L Color
Exposure: 14x 300s, 5 darks, no flats
Filters: Hutech IDAS LPS-P2

After many weeks of bad weather and no clear skies, last night finally showed proof that there is actually something behind those clouds.
Unfortunately it was short-lived, after setting up my gear, I was able to take only 3 frames of M3; the clouds were already coming back, fast.
But it was worth it, I could finally test the Intes Mikro 0.6x focal reducer.
This reducer does not correct for anything, unlike most SCT focal reducers, and I had hoped it would produce coma-free pictures.
As you can see in the picture, it isn’t nearly coma free – and this was taken with a small CCD camera!
Vignetting is also quite apparent. I didn’t make any flats though, those would take care of this problem perfectly.

This really is unfortunate, because it means I still have to wait for Celestron to produce their dedicated C9.25 EdgeHD focal reducers, which will undoubtedly be very costly.

Wolfgang Ransburg, from Teleskop-Service, was kind enough to sell me a discount Intes Mikro focal reducer, with the option to return it in case it wouldn’t live up to our expectations (he thought, or hoped, that this reducer would fit the EdgeHD series).
So, from this short test alone, I think I can safely conclude that this focal reducer is not compatible with the C9.25 EdgeHD.
If I would use my Canon DSLR, with its much larger CMOS chip, the coma will be much worse.

Type: Globular Cluster
A.k.a.: NGC 5272
Constellation: Canes Venatici
Distance From Earth: 33,900 light years

Camera: Atik 314L color
Exposure: 3x240s light frames, 0 dark frames, 0 flats.
Filters: Hutech IDAS LPS-P2
Telescope: C9.25 EdgeHD
Focal reducer: Intes Mikro 0.6x

Type: Globular Cluster
A.k.a.: NGC 6205
Constellation: Hercules
Distance From Earth: 25,100 light years

Camera: Atik 314L color
Exposure: 26x30s light frames, 0 dark frames, 0 flats.
Filters: Hutech IDAS LPS-P2
Telescope: C9.25 EdgeHD

I still can’t make any new images, so I decided to redo some post-processing some images.
One of these reworked images is M81, hope you like it!

Type: Spiral Galaxy
A.k.a.: NGC3031, Bode’s Galaxy
Constellation: Ursa Major
Distance From Earth: 12,000,000 light years
Diameter: 95,000 light years

Camera: Atik 314L color
Exposure: 43x600s light frames, 0 dark frames, 0 flats
Filters: Hutech IDAS LPS-P2
Telescope: Skywatcher 120 ED Pro

Below is an inverted image, showing all the galaxies visible in this frame:

NGC 3020
Type: Spiral Galaxy
A.k.a.: UGC 5271
Constellation: Leo
Distance From Earth: 100,000,000 light years

Camera: Atik 314L color
Exposure: 20x240s light frames, 0 dark frames, 0 flats.
Filters: Hutech IDAS LPS-P2
Telescope: Skywatcher 120 ED Pro

NGC 3227:
Type: Spiral Galaxy
A.k.a.: UGC 5620, Arp 94
Constellation: Leo
Distance From Earth: 75,000,000 light years
Diameter: 110,000 light years

NGC 3226:
Type: Dwarf Elliptical Galaxy
A.k.a.: UGC 5617, Arp 94
Constellation: Leo
Distance From Earth: 75,000,000 light years
Diameter: 50,000 light years

Camera: Atik 314L color
Exposure: 26x420s light frames, 0 dark frames, 0 flats.
Filters: Hutech IDAS LPS-P2
Telescope: Skywatcher 120 ED Pro

A.k.a.: NGC2682
Type: Open Cluster
Constellation: Cancer
Distance From Earth: 2,600 light years
Diameter: 10 light years

Camera: Atik 314L (color)
Exposure: 36x 150s, no darks, no flats
Filters: Hutech IDAS LPS-P2
Telescope: Skywatcher 120 ED Pro

A.k.a.: NGC7654
Type: Open Cluster
Constellation: Cassiopeia
Distance From Earth: 5,000 light years
Diameter: 19 light years

Camera: Atik 314L (color)
Exposure: 60x 60s, no darks, no flats
Filters: Hutech IDAS LPS-P2
Telescope: Skywatcher 120 ED Pro