Albuqshutterbug Loc: Albuquerque NM

Canon 7D Celestron C8 f/10 fixed 2030mm 65 seconds ISO 3200
Not that great but its a start.

Spiral

(Download)

CraigFair Loc: Santa Maria, CA.

Good start Jim. You've got the basics down now it's time to go for the gold. 5 Minutes. I double dare you :lol:
Craig

Albuqshutterbug Loc: Albuquerque NM

You want me to use my entire clear skies time on one photo?
I had almost 2 hours of clear sky last night before the next wave rolled in. I wasted a good chunk shooting with the refractor. I'll post a shot later but blech. Changing scopes and redoing everything was annoying but had to be done. When I finished adding 3 correction stars this was my target and that's where go to left it. Pretty close but not in the center. I couldn't see it in my view finder or in my live view screen so I just started bracketing.
I would like to shoot this with the newt so I'm hoping for some more clear sky.

Oknoder Loc: Western North Dakota

I agree with you whole heartedly Jim finding and centering these objects can be so much harder than any of other issues we face. Especially considering they are usually much dimmer than live view will allow us to view. Let alone some are even so dim that a 30 second exposure with the ISO set to the highest will only show a smudge.

I have wasted hours imaging a thumbprint that was on my focal reducer before realizing my error. I used to keep a log of all the triumphs when doing visual observing, now I try to keep a log of all my drastic errors that have wasted what few precious nights I have, in hopes of avoiding these same errors in future runs.

I do love seeing all the great progress we are all making, especially considering we are almost all using the same mount.

Great capture and composition,
Matthew

Albuqshutterbug Loc: Albuquerque NM

Orion Nebula shot with the Orion refractor that I used for my solar shots yesterday.
ISO 640, 45 seconds at 1000mm X .6 crop = 1600mm
Did I mention this scope has a lot of chromatic issues?
Ouch..
The more I pushed it to get more nebula the worse it got.

Orion Nebula

(Download)

Albuqshutterbug Loc: Albuquerque NM

Thanks both of you but I don't feel that this is a very good effort.
I will get this however. I am like a Pit Bull, I don't back down.
;)

Oknoder Loc: Western North Dakota

Anytime I can get the object I am looking for on the imaging chip to be a success. I wonder if Lightroom's lens correction algorithm would help reduce the amount of CA that is inherent in your scope.

Nice capture of the heavy dust clouds in the center of this star forming nebula.
Matthew

astroturf Loc: vacaville ca.

Great start Jim. 65 sec. f/10 not bad at all

Albuqshutterbug Loc: Albuquerque NM

Thanks Astroturf. Slowly but surely.
lol