This is the first light image for my new ASI2600MM Pro camera with Chroma filters (3nm for the narrow band).  It is an RGBHaOIII capture of NGC7380, the Wizard Nebula.

This camera replaces my 6 year old QSI690wsg-8.  I last used that camera earlier this summer at Oregon Star Party.  I am always on site much earlier than the official star party dates, and this year I was able to capture 13 full nights of data.  I was pretty disappointed when I got home and discovered that I could not use any of it.  The individual subs looked fine, but when I processed the data, there was a wavy pattern in the background that I could not process out (without giving up on the really faint stuff, which is what I was after).  I did some investigation and determined that the pattern was present in the camera's bias, and was variable from sub to sub.  I believe that I can pinpoint the night where the problem happens.  I have a note in my imaging logs that there was a failure during an imaging run late last fall, that affected multiple devices.  I suspect some kind of power event.  The pattern was present in the QSI camera before that, but was consistent and responded well to calibration.  After that event, I can find that the pattern survives calibration.  I have plans to get an RMA to have the camera repaired, but took the opportunity to replace it with a new ASI2600MC pro.  Assuming that I can get the camera repaired successfully, I plan to sell it (along with a full set of Astrodon filters in the filter wheel) to offset some of the cost of the new camera and filters.

Anyway, getting back to the new camera, I had planned for a one full night image with RGB, Ha, OIII and SII in the Hubble palette, but circumstances conspired against me.  It started with my own mistake in creating the NINA sequence, where I simply forgot to add an action to capture the SII data.  So instead of the Hubble palette, it's a bicolor nebula with color corrected stars using RGB data.  Also, the conditions that night were pretty poor.  I use 3 forecasts for planning my imaging sessions:  The Dark Sky Clock, the ClearOutside web site, and Weather Underground.  My neighbor has a full WU weather station, so I can get very localized forecasts.  There were conflicting forecasts for cloud cover, but all the sites indicated no chance of rain, so I went ahead with the session.

Due to clouds moving through all night long, I had to throw out most of the data.  I ended up keeping just a bit over 3 hours of data from the night.  I was able to use 80 minutes of Ha, 70 minutes of OIII and 37 minutes of RGB.  So this image is just over 3 hours total exposure time. 

To say that I am happy with this result is an under statement.  I am absolutely delighted with what this camera and filters can do.

Capture software was done with NINA at my home near Ellensburg, WA, and processing was done in PixInsight.  The gear for this image was as follows:

• Telescope:  Astro-Physics AP130GTX
• Camera: ASI2600MM Pro with Chroma LRGB and 3nm Ha and OIII filters
• Mount: Astro-Physics AP1600-AE, Unguided

When we get the next stretch of clear nights, I am planning to revisit this object with several nights of data (and all the filters).  But I think that this image shows that the camera and other gear are working well.