SK Astro
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FSQ85

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Nebulae

The Rosette Nebula FSQ85

Rosette Nebula

The Rosette Nebula is a huge emission nebula in the Orion arm of the galaxy located in the constellation of Monoceros. It is about 5500 light years away and about 150 light years across and stars are being born from the hydrogen that comprises the nebula. The Rosette Nebula Image Technical Data Imaged with Takahashi FSQ85 at native focal length with my Moravian Instruments G2-8300 cooled CCD camera and Astrodon RGBHa filters. Data collected from my backyard observatory on 8th January 2018. Image data is as follows (Ha is 1×1 and RGB is 2×2) Ha > 14 x 1200s ; Red > 17 x 300s ; Green 12 x 300s ; Blue > 20 x 300s Ha (3nm) Image As can be seen above, the Ha image is extremely detailed and shows a huge amount of detail. This is 3.5 hours of exposures through the Astrodon 3nm Ha filter. RGB…

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Cameras Telescopes

Connecting QHY268C/OAG To FSQ85 (none reduced) With An All-Threaded Connection

QHY268C on FSQ85

Introduction I’ve bought a QHY268C colour CMOS camera and a QHYOAG-M as discussed in my post here.  As I explain in that post, my intention is to connect this up to my Takahashi FSQ85 “BabyQ” and make it an extensible system so that with easy and minor changes I can also connect the camera/OAG assembly to my Williams Optics Redcat 51, Samyang 135mm lens and maybe other optical systems (although its primary use will be on the FSQ85).  I also explain in that post how to configure the QHY268C and the OAG assembly such that both camera and guide camera can both reach focus simultaneously by “padding” out the camera side of the OAG with about 13mm of spacers between the OAG and the camera in order to get both cameras to simultaneously focus.I now needed to determine a way  to mount the OAG-QHY268C assembly via a threaded method to…

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Open Clusters

M38 – Open Cluster in Auriga TEC 140

M38

M38 is the third of three Messier Open Clusters in the constellation of Auriga, in the Northern hemisphere of the sky. The other two Messier clusters are M36 and M37. All of them are easily visible with binoculars and are seen as faint smudges against the darker background. If you read my post on the Constellation of Auriga you will see all three of the Open Clusters in the same image M38 Open Cluster Image Technical Data Imaged from my back yard in Nottingham, UK on the 18th January 2020 whilst high overhead from my location. I used my TEC 140 refractor with Atik 460 cooled CCD camera and Astrodon RGB E Series Generation 2 filters. I used my MESU 200 mount guided with OAG. All exposures binned 1×1: Red > 12 x 180s ; Green > 14 x 180s ; Blue > 13 x 180s. This gives a total integration…

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Cameras

Unboxing, Impressions And Initial Setup Of QHY268C and OAG-M

Introduction And Rationale For Purchase QHY268C on Takahashi FSQ85. Note the totem pole of adapters to the right of the QHYOAG-M in order to get a screw fit onto the FSQ85 focuser I am already a very happy owner and user of two CCD mono cameras and associated filter wheels; an Atik 460 CCD with EFW2 and a Moravian Instruments G2-8300 CCD camera.  I have been very pleased with the performance of both, I enjoy using them and will continue to do so.  I have connected my Moravian CCD for use exclusively on my Samyang 135mm lens and it is semi-permanently attached to it.  I have my Atik460 semi-permanently attached to my TEC140 scope.   I do not want to disturb these two hardware arrangements.  However, this leaves me without a camera for my excellent Takahashi FSQ85.  So with this in mind I needed to acquire a third, cooled, astro-imaging camera.I…

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Open Clusters

M37 – Open Cluster in Auriga with FSQ85

M37

M37 is one of the three Messier Open Clusters in the Constellation of Auriga – the other two being M36 and M38.  It is about 4500 light years away and contains several red giant stars, visible in this image, making it the richest of the three Auriga Messier Open Clusters. M37 appears high overhead from my 53 degree norther location during the winter months making it an ideal target for visual observations and imaging.  It makes a fine site in a telescope and appears as a fuzzy ball in a pair of binoculars. M37 Image Technical Data Imaged from my backyard in Nottingham, UK on the 9th February 2018.  I used my Takahashi FSQ85 refractor and Moravian G2-8300 cooled CCD camera with Astrodon RGB filters.  All expsoures are binned 1×1.Red > 12 x 120s ; Green > 12 x 120s ; Blue > 12 x 120s M37 Annotated Version M37…

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