Andromeda Galaxy...

cool shot

the andromeda galaxy is one of my favorites ive seen it thru my binocs just having a hard time trying to line it up in my scope
ive use a few pictures on my desktop
just a quick ling to this site its a new picture every day for any one thats interested

antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html :)

Andromeda must be very low from your location, we all envy your weather and clear skies :mrgreen:

cloudy at the moment :evil:

it doesnt last long though only for about 3-4 hrs
it has a low arc across the sky if you know what i mean

I think my next experiment will be to hook up the LPI and use it as a guider for the tube with the camera on top. That will permit longer exposures.

Has anyone tried this with the LPI? There are one or two bright stars near to M31, which I might be able to get a lock on.

Missed Macholz. The clouds came back.

Nice one James.

Did you have the scope aligned and motor driven or was it close enough to the zenith to get away with a 2 min exposure without tracking?

Lovely shot James!, Just wait 'till you get some clear winter skies and a longer exposure time

Keith..

Nice one James.

Did you have the scope aligned and motor driven or was it close enough to the zenith to get away with a 2 min exposure without tracking?

To align, I lined up the RA and Dec arrows on the mount and just pushed the tripod around until the cradle pointed at Polaris. I left the scope in the house and just bolted the camera onto the bracket on the cradle.

The alignment was not perfect as a close inspection of the original photo shows lots of eggs. A longer exposure would have made them obvious. Still, I am impressed with how well the LXD75 mount and motors track with a quick visual alignment. I have been told that AutoStar coupled with the LPI can calculate how far off a true alignment you are by your declination corrections and then makes predictive corrections itself.

If I can get the LPI to pick out a guide star then I will use the scope as a guider for the camera's 200mm lens and then go for a long exposure at a lower ISO rating. I will use a program like Guidedog (or similar) and then manually guide the scope with either a virtual AutoStar controller on the computer or use the ASCOM platform as an interface to the motor controls.

Being next to the sea a clear sky can be deceptive. A shot, I also took last night, of The Pleiades looked awful. Sea mist made the stars look pink but a lot of nebulosity was apparent all the same.