I've been in a severe imaging rut due to two equipment issues:

1. My mount - normally buttery smooth - has been making some wild jumps in both the Dec and the RA. I got the Dec fixed and the RA stopped jumping, but it's not tracking as well as it used to (the Dec's RMS is lower than it's ever been though, so I just have to go under the hood and try again).

2. My refractor's objective was loose from day 1. Of the four images I've shot with it, I've done a lot of cropping, some warping and mostly let myself be told it was due to spacing issues, but it wasn't. I finally got my refractor replaced and am now working on getting the spacing to the reducer right (I'm damn close - I added another 5 mm and I either have it right for the next session, or it just can't be reduced with round stars to the edge using the reducer I have).

At any rate: I began doing Melotte 15 with the Newtonian right before the replacement arrived and this is as far as I've gotten.

It's a bit noisier than I thought it would come out for almost 6 hours - I think the almost full moon was just too much. The difference in the quality of my subs between 11/30 and 12/2 is dramatic - I think 7 nm is just not enough to effectively filter out the moon.

I might come back to it, but it's not a priority - I think I'd rather shoot this with the refractor and/or a higher focal length scope to really focus in on Melotte 15, but if my main target doesn't rise until later and I have my Newt out with the same camera orientation, I'll probably add to it.

Not counting the moon, this marks the first B/W image I've uploaded.

This was only cropped for lack of overlap. I'm planning on revamping my Newt while shooting with the refractor - cleaning the mirrors, adding an aperture mask, replacing the primary's springs and adding a "Dobsonian dust cover" to the back to prevent light leak. If the weather cooperates and I manage to complete the projects I have in mind for the refractor for December, I'll bring out the Newt again by the end of the month or early January.