Following you will find 3 screen shots , all are the same area of the sky on a highly zoomed area near M15 taken with good seeing .
It shows what the astrograph is capable of achieving in terms of resolution in real life, the telescope had just been assembled the same evening , so collimation could still be improved )
Randomly selected stars with low FWHM :
FWHM 1.206
FWHM 1.78
FWHM 1.098
Test performed with Maxim DL Pro 5 .
Playing with short exposures :
M31 exposure 100 s , unprocessed , uncropped, stack of 10* 10 s exposure in Luminance filter Bin 1 on the 31 st of August 2013.
Seeing was medium, sky hazy and light polluted at sea level .
You can see how fast this instrument can be ! zoom on the image, you'll start to see the hydrogen clouds in the arms of M31 in 1min40s exp. !
Vega, 10 seconds, Bin 1 unprocessed ( except turn into negative ! ) , uncropped, windy ( 10 to 15 Mph no dome ) , hazy , poor seeing condition .
M11 , 10 seconds same conditions .
Any internal reflection on bright star ? :
Here is the answer , Region surounding Altair, calibrated, DDP applied , uncropped 180 s at Bin 1 with Clear Filter from Baader , as you can see bright stars are clear, symmetrical and void of abnormal reflection or secondary .
Spykes are also very clean .
Sky was a bit hasy and seiing poor to medium with some light pollution on September 1st 2013 .
Closer look at the central image of Altair in negative :
All following photos are calibrated, unprocessed, full frame Luminance filter , uncropped, guided with the Sti auto guider using the Televue APO in parallel .
NB : As you can see , there is no problem with auto guiding in parallel ! the adapter plate and rings for the Televue Guiding Scope are rock solid !
Pelican Nebula 50 min total :
Lagoon and Trifid Nebula M8 25 min total ( stack of 5 min exp. ) :
Scorpion Dark Nebulae 15 min total :
Zoomed at 200 % , cropped M 83 total 50 min, very low above the local horizon , haze and poor seeing :
It is with great regret that I sell this outstanding instrument due to new upcoming professional changes .
However it is with great pride that I was fortunate enough to use it on the Canaries Island, Spain between 2012 and 2013 .
This astrograph is a unique machine , one of a kind really !
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Results of such quality were only possible with the old Schmidt Cameras made by Celestron and other brands , Utra Short Focal Ratio, Wide Field of View on a Huge CCD chip (> 50 mm diagonal ) , pinpoint stars on the entire field , but a LOT less headhache to set up, it used to take me several nights of testing to obtain perfect negatives at the time , now you can get the best with a QE of cerca 70 % , no chemistry ( No hypersensitisation of films ! ) , no waiting with CCD !
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IMPORTANT :
All photos on this blog are in JPEG due to the limited amount of memory space offered by Blogger , the downloading time and the lack of choice of formats ( no TIFF or FITS available ) , each 16803 original shots are 33.6 Mb , if you are interested I can send you the originals compressed to 17 Mb via E mail .
This equipment will be available after November 2013 , different options for buying will be available . Following is a detailed description of each element :
FLI Pro Line 16803 CCD Camera with dew suppression option .
High Quality FLI CenterLine Filterwheel CL 1-10 ( for 10 square filters ) equiped with new Baader Planetarium 50 by 50 mm LRGBC filters .
High Quality FLI Atlas Focuser 100000 steps
All cable needed and adapter rings needed to connect all systems , NO Tangling wires between CCD , Filter Wheel, Focuser, Astrograph, Mount and power supply , every connection is done thru internal cabling .
FLI PROLINE 16803 body in its case with precut foam and rechargeable silica gel cartridge .
Proline 16803 with power and usb hub, main camera power, main usb to mount hub, this will allow connection of the Fli CenterLine FilterWheel 1-10 and Fli Atlas focuser to the DDM 85 with NO tangling cable ! :
CCD suitcase ( FLI 16803 + Filter wheel )
Filterwheel :
Front side of the FLI CenterLine Filterwheel and its optional dust cap made by Miami Precise Parts .
Inside 5 new Baader 50 by 50 mm L R G B C filters . The other filters wheel is empty and ready to receive more narrow band filters ( i.e : Ha, Hbeta, O3, S2 )
NB : this filter wheel is all CNC machined of the highest quality , you could also shoot with superposition of 2 different filters at the same time ! ( see FLI web site for more info on fliccd.com )
OTA :
Astrograph : Orion Optics AG 14 Zerodur Glass Main Mirror Option ( 4880 pounds cost extra ) 350mm F 3.5, F 3.3 with the use of a compulsory 3" Wynne Corrector ( provided ) , Highly flat field on 52 mm diameter CCD frame all in with High Standard CNC machining and Carbon Tube, 1/10th wave or better Pyrex Secondary mirror ( with 98 % reflectivity coating as the primary ) anodized and painted in Red and Black , equiped with Kendrick Dew Shield, Rigel Finder , cooling fan and special optional ASA Fan cable connected to ASA GEM Power Hub on Dec Axis . Cat' s Eyes High Precision Collimating Tools ( set of 3 ) needed to collimate this very FAST focal instrument with Cats Eyes triangle sticker centered on primary mirror .
Rings with upper and lower adapter plates to fit upper Televue 101 APO Genesis guiding scope with SBIG STi auto guider with USB cable from guiding CCD to ASA Usb hub on Dec axis of mount .
Spider :
Front Aluminium Spider Cast with secondary mirror ( Pyrex ) 130 mm small axis
The Wynne Corrector is not shown , inside black paint by Albrecht ( Schultafellack ), made in Germany especially antireflective including in infrared light on tube, spider, secondary mirror holder and all pieces around and behind the primary mirror are painted with the same quality of deep black , it is vital for this Fast focal ratio !
Cat' s eye centering red triangle with laser collimation reflection on mirror . The thin black encircling ring over the very edge of the mirror is to cover the beveled edge of the glass to avoid any diffraction being set up by the fine ground bevel on the mirror . Occasionally this can produce halos around bright stars during long exposure .
It improves contrast as well .
It can be removed if desired .
You will need to proceed thru different and precise collimation procedures with distinct tools, just a laser collimator WILL NOT achieve good optical alignment at F 3.3 !
Some tools are specific to this set up ONLY .
I will provide assistance if this equipment is picked up at my base .
High Quality Full Aperture ( usable 400 mm LED Disk ) Aurora Flat Field Panel , made in Germany , comes with 12 V power source and socket .
Although this flat field panel is expensive I really recommend it for its quality of construction , it provides highly uniform flat fields for this instrument and is very easy to use , custom soft cover protection included .
This flat field already possess 2 Neutral Density ( Gerd Neuman ) filters inside that were necessary to add to dim the total light ( as F 3.3 was too fast ! ) and increase exposure time to provide compatible amount of light and ensure normal operation of the 65mm shutter of the FLI PL 16803 .
CNC Aluminium Bathimov Disk , very accurate first focus is achieved with this handy focusing tool .
Primary Mirror Cell :
Back mirror cell with cooling Fan exhaust and ASA connector for cooling fan power into DDM 85 XL power hub (custom )
Beautiful Carbon Tube with optional FLI Atlas Focuser ( not shown here ) adapter kit including 2 extra rings ( optional ) around the tube all CNC machined .
FLI Atlas focuser and Orion Optics UK Wynne corrector :
Fli Atlas Focuser with power and usb socket, Orion Optics Wynne corrector inside, especially machined aluminium ring ( not anodized on photo ) to guaranty focus spacing and centering of the entire imaging train , this ring is vital for flat field performances and corrector to CCD adapter by Miami Precise parts for precise BF distance to 16803 CCD chip .
ASA 85 XL GEM Direct Drive Technology mount ( conservative load 65 kgs, 140 pds ), 0.02 arc sec resolution Renishaw encoders on both axis with Optional Laser pointer for Polar Alignment very effective and sufficient for medium to long exposure, it takes 3 to 4 min to align this mount with the aid of the Alt and Az knobs , long ( 60 cm ) optional counterweigh shaft ( 13 kgs ) , sold with 4 counterweights ( 1 of 9 kgs and 3 of 4.5 kgs )
Adapting base plate between ASA mount and Losmandy FHD Titan tripod .
Original New ASA Flight Cases for Alpha and Delta parts + some accessories + bolts + Chrome Allen Metric Wrenches ( you will need them to assemble the mount and collimate the astrograph )
NB :
This mount is actually VERY stable , the astrograph with everything included tube, imaging train, CCD , guiding scope, rings etc.. must account together for >> 45 kgs even my ex-Paramount Me was not as sturdy using the same tripod ( by far ! ) , and the tube is so short that it is not sensitive to wind up to 10-15 m/s ( 20 to 30 Knots ) it is still possible to guide !! The mount actually compensate for wind gust ! / See ASA web site for more details )
The DDM 85 apart .
Right Ascension with internal matching connectors , frontal Alt adjustment knob in red .
Back plat right ascension power hub, usb hub and laser polar finder activation switch .
In red AZ adjustment knobs .
You can see the laser polar finder in operation ( Ursa Minor between Polaris and northern horizon ) , exposure was 25 s at iso 2000 with Nikon Fisheye 16 mm F2.8 ... a smart tool indeed ! But NEVER look directly at it , it can cause INSTANT severe damage to your eyes !
Time Lapse about one of the first remote setting , Astrograph in action !
Jan 2013
Matching internal connectors with mount type, serial number etc ...
Set of counterweights 9 kgs, 3 * 4.5 kgs, optional 60 cm ( 13 kgs ) shaft all by ASA comes with protective cover and carrying bag with lifting handles .
Losmandy Foldable HD tripod : ROCK SOLID !!!
Base plate adapter plate .
The whole stuff !!! What a beauty !
Nb : on the primary reflection of one of the color filter shining thru the entire imaging train.
