Heart Nebula. Preview

I got a new setup. I promised to one of my colleagues a gift for her new achievement in life and that would be the Heart Nebula (IC 1805). I checked all configurations with Stellarium and N.I.N.A., but I knew that the Tak Mewlon and the C9 will not be able to get the full frame. I thought I got a chance with the Hyperstar on the C9, but I would have needed a bigger camera sensor (or using the APN, but as this nebula is so faint, I forgot about it)

So I got a choice to make. New camera or shorter focal as the Hyperstar focal is 540mm and it is already too big to catch IC1805. I decided that camera’s technologies are going fast and I’ll get a better price in the future for a bigger sensor. So I investigated for short focal telescope.

After some investigation, I believed the Vixen AP 55/303 would be a good catch. But during a zoom video with the Astro club I belong to, Laura was talking about Askar … Gosh, I had to dig into this one … couple of days later, I ordered the ASKAR FRA300. A quintuplet with corrector integrated so no chromatic issues at the borders and with the ability to rotate the camera with a turning ring integrated just after the focuser …

I waited patiently for some clear sky, and got a 2 hours slot to test. First night was horrible, as I introduced too many variables. New tripod, new mount (the NYX-101), new polemaster QHYCCD, a new minicomputer connected to the mount and the Askar. Second night was better, got a 2 hours slot again between clouds (all that at -4.5°C ….). I got only 30 minutes and took 30 shots of 1min each. Here’s the result. The Cluster is pretty good, but I understand from the faint heart that I will need a couple of hours (I calculated 5 hours if I put my UHC-S filter) … I hesitated … and I ordered the new Askar DUO-Magic 6nm filters SHO so I could compete with Hubble (in my dreams)… I’ll wait for some clear sky at my usual place, or I’ll take this setup to the desert in March.

Exif : Askar FRA300 + PegasusAstro Nyx-101 + + ZWO ASI183MC Pro not cooled

30 lights 60s each Gain 111 / 10 biases / 10 darks / no flats

Stacked with Siril - No post-treatment except histogram automatic