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Hi Folks, Andy from Melbourne, Australia here. I was lucky enough to win a competition prize of a few hours of iTelescope time.  Being in stage 4 lockdown here in Melbourne, it might be fun to image something I can't access here - so I'm looking for recommendations for a cool target. Couple of challenging limitations though, I only got 250 points = 2-4 hrs depending on the moon cycle, so it needs to be a bright object. (There is an special upgrade available for 200% more points if I pay $20USD.) I'm not a huge fan of imaging the most popular targets, and I'm happy to consider NB, HaLRGB or LRGB options. Cheapest & fastest scopes to drive are TAK FSQ 106's f5 530mm, followed by a Tak Epsilon 250 f3.4 850mm so we're looking at widish fields, +1-3 degrees. None of these 'scopes have a rotator, so framing is compromised. I welcome your input! Cheers from downunder  Andy |
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Brighter objects that aren't as often imaged is a little tough! There are quite a few objects in Cygnus, such as the Veil Nebula and North American Nebula that are very common imaging targets. A few circumpolar objects that are available all night, so easily scheduled might be: Sharpless 2-129, pretty bright and easily will fit in 3 degrees. Cederblad 214, the southern part of a larger emission nebula, LBN 582, of which NGC 7822 is also a part. Its pretty bright. The entire nebula would require a 4 degree field IC 59, IC 63 - Gamma Cassiopeiae Nebulae would be good fit too, and seems less often imaged. NGC 7023 (Iris nebula) is pretty amazing too, probably best with LRGB since its a reflection nebula. Its to be a pretty common target though. Hope that helps! |
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I recently did the Cave nebula, which is not such a popula r target: https://www.astrobin.com/1k1wly/?nc=user CS Christoph |
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Hi Andy, First, a recommendation for a tool I like to use to get an impression of the framing in remote scopes: http://www.blackwaterskies.co.uk/imaging-toolbox/ Just enter a camera with the same sensor (Atik11000 for example) and the fsq106 as telescope in the equipment tab plus the chip rotation and it will give you your framing. If you turn off "maximise" in the compare/mosaic tab it gives you the freedom too zoom in and out. This tool also gives you a general idea about the Ha-brightness of an object. I would go with the FSQ106-SBIG STL 11000M combo as it will provide most saturation in the shortest amount of time. As for the objects, Cepheus is a treasure trove and well placed all night long at this time of year! If you were to image the region arround the bubble nebula (NGC 7635), for example, you could get a number of nebulae and open clusters into your frame. You could also go for the bat & squid(SH2-129,Ou4 ) which is a good target for Ha/OIII bicolor, but the 90° orientation is not ideal for that and as they are pretty faint I'm not sure 2-4h is enough for them Cygnus is also full of rarely imaged areas (mainly Ha) with decent brightness and structure. There are also some small reflection nebulae in this Ha-soup (NGC6914), which would make for good HaLRGB if you have enough time. The aforementioned Cave nebula (Sh2-155) in cepheus would also be great for that. |
12.30
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Hi Andy: I have been having lots of fun in Cygnus lately. I just (humbly) got an IOTD for SH 2-115 and Sh 2-116 that I had a lot of fun shooting, as well as the surrounding nebulosity around NGC6914, and finally IC 1318a is another beautiful and fun region that isn't often featured. I would avoid the Sh 2-129, Ou4 area. I just shot it with a Takahashi reflector and the Oiii is very faint. I think it would be tough to do well with the kind of time you are talking about. I look forward to seeing what you choose. Best. Tim. |
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10.26
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Thanks very much gents. Marc that Blackwater Skies tool is fantastic! However, I’m still struggling to find one that I can get a great image from in just 2-3 hrs with my allocated 250 pts, having no rotator rules out a few as well due to framing considerations.. Guess I'll have to pay extra for the 200% points upgrade! I’m looking forward to this opportunity, but most of my images are usually at least 12 hrs - well you can see my dilemma! Telescopius has a very cool, dedicated platform similar to Blackwater skies, specifically for preplanning images with iTelescope - https://telescopius.com/deep-sky/object/609/jellyfish-nebula/ic-443/supernova-remnant So far thanks to your input I have identified a few interesting targets with T14: Tak FSQ 106 SBIG 11000 @ f5.0 - SH2-126 HaRGB (rarely imaged) - NGC 6960 >HaO3RGB (Beautiful, but can only fit in the Western half...) - IC 443 > HaO3S2RGB (frames well) - NGC 7635 & friends >HaO3S2RGB (very busy, but interesting field) and one for T16 - TAK TOA 150 F7.3 Moravian G4 16000 which frames beautifully, but it’s a much slower system @ f7.3 - NGC 59, 63 >HaRGB Has anyone used Skytools 4 - it's an exposure/ imaging calculator - seems impressive - https://skyhound.com/skytools_iTelescope.html Anyway, it's been cloudy here for 11 nights in a row with another seven forecastahead, so I'll keep researching! Cheers Andy |
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You might try NGC 7129 if you're able to get more exposure time, it's one of my personal favorites and is indeed rarely imaged. There are also some great dark nebulae like Barnard 150 in Cepheus. Like Tim, I'm also looking forward to your final image |
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Hi Andy, You have the Angel Nebula in Ursa Major, it is pretty rarely imaged but spectacular, I don't know if the number of hours suffices (however dark nebulae do not seem to require lots of hours). It would fit nicely in the Tak 106 field. Lots of dark nebulae in Cepheus (including the Iris) or the Butterfly in Cygnus. Clear skies! |
