AndrewSingleton
Ring Nebula (Messier 57) (Wide View)
A planetary nebula 2,500 light years away in the constellation Lyra. Planetary Nebula are formed when a shell of ionized gas is expelled into the surrounding area by a star in the last stages of its evolution before becoming a white dwarf. (Wikipedia)
53 180s lights (2 hours 40 minutes) with 39 flats and 53 bias. Dithered.
Telescope: - Skywatcher 130PDS Newtonian.
Camera: - Nikon D3100.
ISO: 400. Automated white balance
Filters: - Baader Mark-III MPCC Coma Corrector. IDAS D2 Light Pollution Suppression Filter
Flats taken with a Huion L4S Light Box and a white t-shirt.
Wireless Remote: PIXEL TW-283 DC2 2.4G.
Mount: - Skywatcher EQ6R.
Guiding: Skywatcher EvoGuide 50ED & ZWO ASI120MM-Mini.
Polar Aligned with SharpCap Pro.
Control Software: - Stellarium Scope, Stellarium, Poth Hub, EQMOD, All Sky Plate Solver, PHD Guiding 2 and PHD Dither Timer.
Processing Software: Stacked in Deep Sky Stacker and edited in Star Tools.
Moon: - 50% waning, rose at 3pm when it was already getting light.
Light Pollution and Location: - Bortle 8 in Davyhulme, Manchester.
Seeing: - Good
Notes: - Having set up for about 9pm it was still very much daytime; the north star finally appear at about 10pm but it was getting on 10.30 before I could do the SharpCap polar alignment. According to the FLO clear skies app, it was the first night with just twilight and no night. I had to do some weeding while waiting to get going. Also, it went down below 0 which is crazy for the middle of May. I am glad I a dithering these days and not relying on darks with the major shifts in temperature.
How I will get on as the days get even longer will be interesting. It must take a week to get any decent exposure time.
Ring Nebula (Messier 57) (Wide View)
A planetary nebula 2,500 light years away in the constellation Lyra. Planetary Nebula are formed when a shell of ionized gas is expelled into the surrounding area by a star in the last stages of its evolution before becoming a white dwarf. (Wikipedia)
53 180s lights (2 hours 40 minutes) with 39 flats and 53 bias. Dithered.
Telescope: - Skywatcher 130PDS Newtonian.
Camera: - Nikon D3100.
ISO: 400. Automated white balance
Filters: - Baader Mark-III MPCC Coma Corrector. IDAS D2 Light Pollution Suppression Filter
Flats taken with a Huion L4S Light Box and a white t-shirt.
Wireless Remote: PIXEL TW-283 DC2 2.4G.
Mount: - Skywatcher EQ6R.
Guiding: Skywatcher EvoGuide 50ED & ZWO ASI120MM-Mini.
Polar Aligned with SharpCap Pro.
Control Software: - Stellarium Scope, Stellarium, Poth Hub, EQMOD, All Sky Plate Solver, PHD Guiding 2 and PHD Dither Timer.
Processing Software: Stacked in Deep Sky Stacker and edited in Star Tools.
Moon: - 50% waning, rose at 3pm when it was already getting light.
Light Pollution and Location: - Bortle 8 in Davyhulme, Manchester.
Seeing: - Good
Notes: - Having set up for about 9pm it was still very much daytime; the north star finally appear at about 10pm but it was getting on 10.30 before I could do the SharpCap polar alignment. According to the FLO clear skies app, it was the first night with just twilight and no night. I had to do some weeding while waiting to get going. Also, it went down below 0 which is crazy for the middle of May. I am glad I a dithering these days and not relying on darks with the major shifts in temperature.
How I will get on as the days get even longer will be interesting. It must take a week to get any decent exposure time.