Tuesday, April 17, 2018

Astrophotography Aquila 90mm 500mm Refractor with SVBony CLS Filter Melbourne


I've recently bought a very reasonably priced Aquila 90mm 500mm Refractor.
These are made by the "Yuzhong Optical Instrument Company" and available from Chinese sellers on eBay.
It comes with a"Vixen" style Dovetail so it went straight on to my EQ5 Mount.

Cost: Optical Tube Assembly = $360 free shipping
          Diagonal                       = $100  
          Finder Scope                = $100



DewShield/Hood Extended



DewShield/Hood Retracted

I've fitted it with a Bintel (GSO) 2 inch mirror diagonal and 1.25 inch adapter. It came with a T mount tube so after purchasing a T ring for my camera I was set to go. I also bought a Bintel 50 x 8 Right Angle Finder, I like it, but don't use much as the laser pointer is fantastic.


"Bintel" (GSO) Diagonal with 1.25mm Adapter and Eyepiece







DIY 6V Regulator and RA Controller Clipped to Leg with some PVC tube





















My first pictures showed quite a lot of purple fringing, which I could reduce in post processing but I wasn't really happy. 



This is a 4 sec exposure (All I had left after deleting longer exposures) 
RAW converted to jpg straight out of camera no filter


I had on order from China an SVBony "CLS" filter. It arrived today and as luck would have it the sky was clear.
This is the first output from the scope and filter. I'm very happy now. Light Pollution and "Purple Fringing" suppressed. Which makes sense, as the filter cuts off a lot of the blue end of the spectrum.


This is a 20 sec exposure RAW converted to jpg straight out of camera with CLS Filter.
This is one of the "sub frames" used in the next image

Eta Carinae and Nebula NGC 3372
Approx 7,500 Light Years from Earth

Location: Melbourne Australia "Bortle 6"
Scope: Aquila 90mm f5.5 Refractor
Filter: "SVBony" "CLS" Light Pollution
Imager: Fuji XT1 at Prime Focus 2inch diameter extension tube through "T mount"
Mount: SkyWatcher EQ5 RA motor Drive

Stack of 25 x 20 sec asa 6400 Raw "subs"
Stacked using "Lynkeos"
 Post Processed in "GIMP" 17-4-2018


Southern Pleiades

Just a test image using the CLS Filter

Running Chicken Nebula

Location: Melbourne Australia "Bortle 6"
Scope: Aquila 90mm f5.5 Refractor
Filter: SVBony CLS Light Pollution

Imager: Fuji XT1 at Prime Focus 2inch diameter extension tube through "T mount"
Mount: SkyWatcher EQ5 RA motor Drive

Stack of 20 x 30 sec asa 6400 Raw "subs"
20-4-2018





Tarantula Nebula
Distance: 160,000 Light years
Part of the "LMC" Galaxy

Location: Melbourne Australia "Bortle 6"
Scope: Aquila 90mm f5.5 Refractor
Filter: SVBony CLS Light Pollution

Imager: Fuji XT1 at Prime Focus 2inch diameter extension tube through "T mount"
Mount: SkyWatcher EQ5 RA motor Drive

Stack of 25 x 25 sec asa 6400 Raw "subs"
22-4-2018
Rosette Nebula NGC 2244

Distance: app 5200 Light Years
Diameter: app 170 Light Years

Location: Melbourne Australia "Bortle 6"
Scope: Aquila 90mm f5.5 Refractor
Filter: SVBony CLS Light Pollution
Imager: Fuji XT1 at Prime Focus 2inch diameter extension tube through "T mount"
Mount: SkyWatcher EQ5 RA motor Drive

Stack of 15 x 60sec 6400asa Raw "subs"
31-1-2019 



Orion Nebula
1344 light years away

Location: Melbourne Australia "Bortle 6"
Scope: Aquila 90mm f5.5 Refractor
Filter: SVBony CLS Light Pollution
Imager: Fuji XT1 at Prime Focus 2inch diameter extension tube through "T mount"
Mount: SkyWatcher EQ5 RA motor Drive

Stack of 45 x 30 sec asa 6400 Raw "subs"
31-1-2019



Horse Head and Flame Nebula


Location: Melbourne Australia "Bortle 6"
Scope: Aquila 90mm f5.5 Refractor
Filter: SVBony CLS Light Pollution
Imager: Fuji XT1 at Prime Focus 2inch diameter extension tube through "T mount"
Mount: SkyWatcher EQ5 RA motor Drive

Stack of 50 x 30 sec asa 6400 Raw "subs"
28-1-2019





















Saturday, March 3, 2018

Astrophotography Using "RAW" files, Still from My Backyard.



So far all the images on this blog are "SOOC" Straight out of camera jpeg files.
I've decided it's time to start using "Raw" files for my Astrophotography.
More to follow.
This is my first output.




Eta Carina and Nebulae

Radius: 230 Light Years
Distance: 8000 Light Years
Scope: Meade ETX 125
Imager: Fuji XT1 at Prime Focus
Mount: SkyWatcher EQ5 RA motor Drive
Stack of 28 x 25 sec asa 6400 Raw "subs"
3-3-2018
Converted to tif files, stacked with Hugin tools and 
post processed with "Rawtherapee"
All in 16bit, converted to an 8 bit jpg for Blog upload.

Tarantula Nebula

Distance: 160,000 Light years

 Meade ETX 125
Imager: Fuji XT1 at Prime Focus
Mount: SkyWatcher EQ5 RA motor Drive
Stack of 17 x 25 sec asa 6400 Raw "subs"
5-3-2018
Converted to tif files, stacked with Hugin tools and 
post processed with "Rawtherapee"
All in 16bit, converted to an 8 bit jpg for Blog upload.
Large Magellanic Cloud
Imager: Fuji XT1 
Lens: Takumar 300mm f4 at f5.6
Mount: SkyWatcher EQ5 RA motor Drive
Stack of 14 x 20 sec asa 3200 Raw "subs"
7-3-2018


M42 Orion Nebula

Imager: Fuji XT1 
Lens: Takumar 300mm f4 at f5.6
Mount: SkyWatcher EQ5 RA motor Drive
Stack of 18 x 30 sec asa 6400 Raw "subs"
Cropped
13-3-2018




Large Magellanic Cloud
Imager: Fuji XT1 
Lens: Takumar 200mm f4 at f5.6
Mount: SkyWatcher EQ5 RA motor Drive
Stack of 14 x 30 sec asa 3200 Raw "subs"
7-3-2018














Sunday, February 11, 2018

Astrophotography. Bright, Victoria, Australia "Dark Sky"


Just a few shots from "Bright" Victoria.

Bright is a 19th century gold mining town in the Alpine region of Victoria Australia.
Today it focuses on Wine Making, Produce, outdoor activities in the summer and winter.

It's a long way from city lights, so the skies are nice and dark.
Dark Skies mean a lot less post processing, to remove "Light Polution" and better imaging quality in general.



Eta Carina Region
Imaging: Fuji XT1. Fuji XC 16-50 at 50mm
15 secs f5.6 Stack of 11 shots

Piggy Backed on EQ5 Mount



"The Jewel Box"
ETX 125. Fuji XT1





Eta Carina and Keyhole Nebular
 Scope: ETX 125
 Imager: Fuji XT1




Large Magellanic Cloud
Fuji XT1 XC16-50mm Zoom at 50mm

Piggy Backed on EQ5 Mount
Cropped.



Omega Centauri
 ETX 125
 Fuji XT1