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NGC 2246 (Mon)
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| Date/Site: |
March 7., 2010, AAR-observatory in Presberg |
Exposure/
Filter: |
1 x 5 minutes, 4 x 10 minutes
13 nm Astronomik Hα |
| Camera: |
SBIG ST10XME (-25°) |
Optics/
Instrument: |
26 cm-Newton on Gemini 41 Observatory |
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Focusing with Robofocus |
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Darks, flats, deblooming, alignment and stacking: MaximDL 5,
Levels and curves: Photoshop CS3. |
For the first time the autoguiding-commands were not routed from the laptop via an USB-to-serial-adapter to the FS2, but directly from the camera to the ST4-port of the electronics.
Guiding precision was much better immediately.
In order to organize all cabling, trimming it to one central box with adapters, one USB-hub and one single USB-cable to the laptop I actually sacrificed the overall performance of the system.
The nebula was captured two years earlier with totally different equipment:
Rosette Nebula, NGC 2237, NGC 2238, NGC 2239 and NGC 2246 with open cluster NGC 2244 (Mon)
Click on the image for a larger version
| Date/Site: |
Februaryyy 15., 2008, AAR-observatory in Presberg |
Exposure/
Filter: |
8 x 10 minutes, Hα |
| Camera: |
Sigma 1603 (-20°) |
Optics/
Instrument: |
4"-TMB on the Gemini 41 Field mount of the AAR |
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focusing by hand with the aid of MaximDL 4.6 |
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webcam-guiding by MaximDL with a 4"-FH-refractor |
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Deblooming, darks, alignment and stacking: MaximDL,
levels and curves: Photoshop CS |
Imaged together with Thomas Arndt.
In the winter of 2008 I bought a CCD camera from a German manufacturer, Astroelektronik Fischer, a Sigma 1603.
A wonderful camera, compact, rugged, fast and easy to use.
Soon a motorized filter-wheel, RGB- and UBVR-filter for photometry were ordered.
But the camera's chip - although according to Kodak a class 1-chip - showed artifacts, many vertical columns that were slowly filled with signal during an exposure while the adjacent columns already showed significant saturation.
The chip didn't react linear preventing accurate photometrical measurements and there was no fix to the problem. Reluctantly I gave the camera back.
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