Double cluster

Im stuck for words :shock:

Is the image cropped? If not, that's a nice (semi?) apo. I always fancied a Williams.

How did you combine the bias and dark frames? Median, average? I saw that many answers to that question that I gave up...

I just spotted your M45 too - nice. I like the 'nebulosity' that you captured. Is it officially nebulosity or something else? - I forget...

Hi Dave,

That is 60% reduced version (but that is full frame, I have not cropped it). The full resolution is really too big to post at 3456x2304. The Zenithstar 80 is a very nice scope for £299! The anti-fringe filter makes the williams hard to beat at the price.

I use ImagesPlus 2.5, it does all the hard work for me on caliberating

On the M45, I need to go deeper to get more nebulosity, but I was very pleased at what I managed to get.

Later,

Jed

"My God, its full of stars!"

Stunning, just absoutely stunning Jed!

Seanie.

Hmm - I thought you might have the Megrez. But for 299, that 80mm performs exceedingly well. Sharp to the edge. WO certainly seem to be building up their reputation.

I know what you mean about reducing the image with darks and bias frames - I do the same. I thought you might be doing by hand though.

Do you ever use flats? I have on one or two occasions but its a pain and I personally don't see the difference with my particular setup...

Cheers

Dave

Hi Dave,

Dave Grennan and I are considering building light boxes atm. They make a big differance where you have significant vignetting in the optical train.

So if I image through a Celestron F6.3 reducer ( I use the GEG now though! ) there is a significant porthole effect that a flat frame would reduce.

As you can see I have not got enough image depth on either of my two images so far to tell if the ZS80 has any vignetting.

I did look at the Megrez II ED but when I saw the images from the ZS80 on Ian Kings site I thought the Megrez was probably not worth the extra £100. So far I am very pleased with the ZS 80

On the Zenithstar 80mm, it is hard to think of a scope that can currently compete on price. The only issue is that a minus violet (aka fringe filter) is advisable if you intend to do astrophotography. I got the baeder 2" one.

Useing ImagesPlus I put those two images together from 60+ frames each in about an hour. It is worth every penny I spent on it.

Later,

Jed.

Thanks you all for the kind words!

Later,

Jed.