Cocoon Nebula IC5146

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Jan
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Final image processed from last year's holiday...........yay! This is the Cocoon Nebula in Cygnus taken using a modified Canon 350D and 200mm Newtonian reflector on a driven but unguided equatorial mount, hence each sub is 60sec. That's as long as I'm prepared to go and even then I reject a few with a bit of trailing. I had to stop everything in the middle as someone who should have known better turned their car headlights on. The joys of digital. Back in the day when I used 35mm, a single exposure of anything up to 1 hour, anyone turning headlamps on midway through wouldn't have lived long............. 51 subs used, as usual integrated and first processing in PixInsight, final tweeks in PaintShop Pro.
I like the wide field views I get with the 200mm scope, even more so when the subject is embedded in the thousands of stars we see as the Milky Way. The dark area around and leading away from the Cocoon is a dark nebula - Barnard 168.

IC5146 by Jannyfox, on Flickr
 
Stunning as always, Jan.
 
Wonderful image :)
 
Cracking shot Jan, looks excellent zoomed in on flickr
 
Janny hi, nice image. Can you answer a few questions for me please,
Do you mount the camera direct to the scope or through the EP.
What mount are you using?
I have an EQ5 and I think a 150mm reflector is pushing it a bit if it's at all windy so prefer a lower profile refractor (80mm)
 
Janny hi, nice image. Can you answer a few questions for me please,
Do you mount the camera direct to the scope or through the EP.
What mount are you using?
I have an EQ5 and I think a 150mm reflector is pushing it a bit if it's at all windy so prefer a lower profile refractor (80mm)

The camera was mounted direct to the scope via a T ring in the eyepiece tube (without the eyepiece). It's not my scope. It's in the Algarve and is the only one I get to put my camera on. At home I have a 150mm scope on an alt-az mount for visual observing only, and an EQ3-2 mount I put my camera on with a lens. I think the mount the 200mm is on is an old Vixen or something similar. Wind is not usually an issue in the Algarve (and if it was windy there'd probably be other weather which would put a stop to observing). Any movement of the scope is going to ruin an image, so it's really not worth going out if conditions are not right for the scope/mount combination you're using.
 
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