[bloodhound31]

Finally! A new moon and no clouds!!

http://www.asignobservatory.com/imag...usA10Mar08.JPG
http://www.asignobservatory.com/imag...fid10Mar08.JPG

Baz.

[slotdrag]

very nice

[alvin]

We must be on the same page. Doing a lot of testing with the upcoming LightBuckets.com -

Not a very long duration capture for LRGB but it worked out okay for now-

[bloodhound31]

Absolutely awesome Alvin! I can't hold a candle to that!

Can you tell me how this was done? Do you have a good photo of your set-up?

I am getting rather dissapointed with mine. I have a BIG scope, a decent camera, pc, all that, but just cant seem to get images of this clarity and quality, no matter what I try. It's not as if I'm not spending enough time in the dome!

Baz.

[alvin]

I made a more detailed post about it here :)

Messier 20, 83, NGC 5128 - LightBuckets.com

Maybe you may want to adjust the levels to eliminate noise and darken the area around Cent A?

[sgcullen]

Originally Posted by bloodhound31

Absolutely awesome Alvin! I can't hold a candle to that!

Can you tell me how this was done? Do you have a good photo of your set-up?

I am getting rather dissapointed with mine. I have a BIG scope, a decent camera, pc, all that, but just cant seem to get images of this clarity and quality, no matter what I try. It's not as if I'm not spending enough time in the dome!

Baz.

Alvin is using a telescope that is part of a new online telescope rental company I started called LightBuckets. In fact, Alvin is the engineer responsible for all of the web development of the business. In the process, he has become quite a nifty astrophotographer. Basically, LightBuckets provides very large aperture telescopes online for rent. These are very high-end instruments that are the best tools available for astrophotography. We currently have two telescopes ready when we launch on April 1st and a third coming online shortly after that:

1. 24" RC Optical Systems scope with ion-milled optics on a RCOS Equatorial Fork mount with a Apogee Alta U42 CCD

2. 14.5" RC Optical Systems scope with ion-milled optics and an SBIG STL-11000 CCD on a Paramount ME

3. Takahashi TOA-150 (150mm) refractor on a Paramount ME with an SBIG STL-11000 CCD for wide-field imaging

We are also negotiating many other telescopes to become part of the LightBuckets Telescope Network. We will provide a great interface for setting up your imaging runs and getting your image data painlessly. We hope to show everyone that renting scopes make MUCH more sense than owning.

I have attached a few pics of our 24" telescope and the 14.5" setup. I'm happy to answer any questions you might have. Be sure to visit LightBuckets - we bring the biggest telescopes, best optics, highest-quality CCDs, and the darkest skies to you. soon also...we will be "live" on April 1st, 2008.

Steve

[slotdrag]

ok now im just droooooooolin.