Not exactly first light with my Edge HD 8" (!) - but it's been fun. Collimation has been, without doubt, the most challenging aspect of working with an SCT and I'm pretty sure I still have some work to do. Guiding at a focal length of 2094mm (F10) has gone remarkably well - in fact, I think the GEM 45 seems to guide far better when under a heavier load. I'm routinely getting sub 0.6" and sometimes sub 0.5" guiding over sessions lasting a couple of hours.
It's my first attempt at this target. Blending the broadband (L-Pro) data with the narrowband (ALP-T) data was challenging but brought out some of the fainter outer edges of the nebula, that were barely visible in the broadband data. I used the PixInsight
script by Bill Blanshan and Mike Cranfield to reduce the stars, allowing the fainter nebula to show through.
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