Consider the humble ED80 - Rosette Nebula & North American Nebula

Here are a couple from two Fridays ago, shot just outside of Chiefland in northern Florida.

NGC2244

NGC7000

After a long break from imaging it was good to be out in the field again. The main purpose of this outing was to test a prototype pier/tripod adapter, but it proved it's functionality from the start. The night quickly became about putting my ED80 through the paces. This is the smallest aperture I've imaged with and my expectations were WAY too low. For a $500 telescope (or $350 used in my case) it sure surprised me.

Going forward I'm going to add a field flattener. Curviture is obviously pretty extreme in the corners. But whatever this little scope lacks in terms of field flatness, it certainly makes up for with surprisingly low CA. I attribute this to being f/7.5, but still the optics appear to be a great value besides.

I've ordered an Astro-Tec AT2FF which should come in before next new moon. The sample images I've seen tell me it's a decent performer for $150. Weather permitting I'll be back out again in a couple of weeks to test it out.

Clear skies to all!

Wonderful images, both of them.

If the flattener you've ordered doesn't work out for you, I'm very happy with the field from my William Optics Flattener IV with ED80/DSLR combo. Make sure it's the IV, not the III. I've read people using the II with success, but I can only recommend the IV.

Both are very nice images. I especially like your Rosette Nebula.
However, I see a lot of green throughout both of them. I would think there would be more red(Ha) in the backgrounds of both given the areas they are in are both Hydrogen Rich.

I've noticed that happens to a lot of my images when using Nebulosity 2 for image capture with either of my Canon EOS DSLR's. I have since quite using Nebulosity and just use the EOS Utility Camera Setting and Capture Control where it can capture and save all my frames as RAWS without any software conversion or compression. I no longer have the problem with green images.

troypiggo wrote in post #9902518
Wonderful images, both of them.

If the flattener you've ordered doesn't work out for you, I'm very happy with the field from my William Optics Flattener IV with ED80/DSLR combo. Make sure it's the IV, not the III. I've read people using the II with success, but I can only recommend the IV.

Thanks Troy. Awhile ago I read Jim Solomon's shootout which compared three different FRFF choices. I don't know which version of the WO was used, but he concluded it was the best of the bunch, although one was a 0.63 FR intended for SCTs.

Supposedly the AT2FF does not change the effective FL of the ED80, which I like. We'll see how it goes!

tkerr wrote in post #9902829
Both are very nice images. I especially like your Rosette Nebula.
However, I see a lot of green throughout both of them. I would think there would be more red(Ha) in the backgrounds of both given the areas they are in are both Hydrogen Rich.

Hmmm, I actually did some color balancing already to correct the greenish tint. Currently I don't see it, but maybe it needs more correction.

There's a lot of Ha present in these areas, but even my modified DSLR is only going to reveal so much of it. I'm preparing to do a TEC modification to my 350D. Much of the background Ha and dark nebulosity is masked behind thermal noise. The best weapon for detecting the fainter Ha signals would be a cooled monochrome CCD, but I'm a long way away from affording one.

I wouldn't attribute a green tint to the catpure software being used. In my case it's actually the Baader IDAS filter that's casting a green tint. I need to add a note in the image details explaining my complete capture method. Nebulosity2 was used for framing the shot and fine focus, but my DSUSB shoestring adapter has been giving me fits, so I haven't been able to do the actual long-exposure capures with Nebulosity2. Instead I've been using a TC80N3 remote. All of my subs are captured in Canon RAW.

Looks good to me Curt ! Look forward to more images !

imhotep wrote in post #9905748
Thanks Troy. Awhile ago I read Jim Solomon's shootout which compared three different FRFF choices. I don't know which version of the WO was used, but he concluded it was the best of the bunch, although one was a 0.63 FR intended for SCTs.

Supposedly the AT2FF does not change the effective FL of the ED80, which I like. We'll see how it goes!

I'd be interested to see your results. The WO FFIV I was talking about isn't a reducer either. In fact it magnifies fractionally about 1.05x-1.1x I've found.

Outstanding, Curt. The ED80 may be humble, but it probably shouldn't be!

Don

troypiggo wrote in post #9909191
I'd be interested to see your results. The WO FFIV I was talking about isn't a reducer either. In fact it magnifies fractionally about 1.05x-1.1x I've found.

Ok, assuming we have good weather for new moon in April, I'll post whatever I'm able to capture. The AT2FF should arrive any day now.

imhotep wrote in post #9901533
I've ordered an Astro-Tec AT2FF which should come in before next new moon. The sample images I've seen tell me it's a decent performer for $150. Weather permitting I'll be back out again in a couple of weeks to test it out.

Clear skies to all!

Nice photos. I have the Skywatcher Equinox 80 which is a very similar scope made by the same manufacturer, and I found the AT field flattener to mostly be ineffective. I also purchased the TeleVue 0.8x reducer/flattener, and it gives perfectly round stars all across the field. For the Equinox 80, there's no doubt the TV flattener is hard to beat.

Even tho I had the TV, I ordered the AT one since the price was right and it is a 1.0x flattener, but I hardly use it since I know it will ruin a portion of the results.

Your results may vary, and I hope it gives you the results you want.

jmx wrote in post #9911758
Nice photos. I have the Skywatcher Equinox 80 which is a very similar scope made by the same manufacturer, and I found the AT field flattener to mostly be ineffective. I also purchased the TeleVue 0.8x reducer/flattener, and it gives perfectly round stars all across the field. For the Equinox 80, there's no doubt the TV flattener is hard to beat.

Even tho I had the TV, I ordered the AT one since the price was right and it is a 1.0x flattener, but I hardly use it since I know it will ruin a portion of the results.

Your results may vary, and I hope it gives you the results you want.

That's interesting. I'm not expecting a miracle but I do expect an improvement over the uncorrected scope. No change at all would be grounds for a return in my book.

Thanks for the recommendation for the TV. If I'm disappointed with the AT2FF then I'll take a closer look at it.

By the way, I really enjoyed viewing your gallery. Your M42 is particularly sharp. Are you doing any processing steps to sharpen? Currently I'm only applying iterative levels, curves, and some modest color balancing only when I detect a tint or skew towards a particular color. I really need to expand my arsenal of processing skills.

Quick after-thought...

The image of NGC7000 on this page is supposedly shot using the AT2FF on a Borg 76. It looks pretty flat ot me, although I've not confirmed anything with David Rosenthal yet. I will probably contact him.

Great photos....

imhotep wrote in post #9905766
Hmmm, I actually did some color balancing already to correct the greenish tint. Currently I don't see it, but maybe it needs more correction.

It could be my monitor!
I am using a 27" HDMI Flat screen LCD which allows me to see things in pictures that I could never see before on any of my previous monitors. I can see jpeg artifacts on this monitor that I can't on my other PC which has a 19" Flat LCD monitor.
The background looks a very dark green on my monitor which may or may not be the IDAS filter. Nevertheless, whatever it is, the images still look real good.

Thanks for the input Tim. I have agonized over this very subject to the point of buying a Spyder screen callibrator. The last time I ran it was probably two years ago so I need to recalibrate for sure.

Speaking of new LCD monitors, I'm hoping to upgrade my 17" in the near future. It has been great but I need more real estate.