This is my my second attempt at the Iris and first with my new setup. I was really pleased with my
previous image but knew I could do better with my faster telescope and under the dark skies at Cherry Springs. Like all but 1 of my targets on the trip, I had written a slew/imaging script before I got to PA which means most of the hard work was done before I arrived.
As the Milkyway still rises quite late, nebula targets that can be imaged right at Astronomical Twilight are scarce but the Iris is well placed for an early start. I ended up imaging the Iris until the clouds rolled in around 12pm on night 1 as well as until about 23:30 on night 2 so managed more than the 1.5 hours I had hoped for. I still would have liked additional data however more pressing subjects are presenting themselves by midnight and devoting more time to the Iris would have meant missing out. Very pleased that I managed to capture dark nebula here more effectively than I have been able to in the past.
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