First reasonably successful attempt at Pleiades

Hi

This is first reasonably successful attempt at imaging the pleiades.

The shot was taken with a Canon 350D at ISO1600 for 20secs in prime focus on 6" f/6 reflector.

Comments and critiques are welcome.

Darragh

Not bad at all Darragh, focus seems to be ok although I'm not 100% certain that all the glow in there is nebulosity.

Dave,

I am not sure if that is nebulosity either but there was fairly blue glow around them even with the light pollution.
I have a UHC filter, but to use it, I need to use a 1.25" T-Adapter which pushes the camera too far away from the scondary to obtain focus.
Is there something that I can place between the secondary and camera to move the focal plane further back from the secondary?

Darragh

hi darragh

You should look at the "clip in" filters available from astronomik. they sit between your sensor and lens or Scope( if using prime focus). I got the cls(Light pollution version), but only got to use it once due to the weather. Happy with the results though!!!

Hi Daragh

I dont thnk a UHC filter will be of much use in regard to imaging the Pliedes as I think it is a reflection nebula as opposed to an emmission nebula. This neans that the reduction in the light made by the filter will have an equal effect on the nebula and the backround.

There is also some trailing evident which should be reduced with further practice but it is a good first try as focus seems to be spot on. Did you take multiple shots?

DB

Dave,

I took multiple exposures, but I didn't stack them. This was the single best frame. Next time I will try shorter exposure times and stacking.
Also, the mount needs to be better balanced and aligned next time which is something I have been neglecting to do until I get my 8" mirror back.

Darragh