M46 and B-33

Hi all,

I got my EQ6 mount a few days ago and had first light on March 13. I just now had the time to process and publish my first results. The mount holds my Orion ED100 F/9 Apo. I replaced the stock focuser with a dual speed Moonlight, which is really smooth. The goto centered both objects almost perfectly. The mount tracks almost perfectly with the autoguider on my SBIG ST2000 XCM camera. These two images are a series of 600 second exposures (details on the images). The Horsehead isn't great, I hope the problem was because of it's proximity to my house, however the M46 looks decent for my observing conditions.

http://web.gccaz.edu/~pmaxson/DSO/B-33.jpg

http://web.gccaz.edu/~pmaxson/DSO/M46.jpg

Thanks for looking and comments welcomed.
Paul Maxson

Looks great Paul, you lucky dog. I want one too!!!!!
Regards, Darrell

hi Paul,

congrats on those very nice images!
Your apo seems to work well! tne cam also, and of course the person who handles them...
well done!
the only issue I find is - there isa bit of noise...how many darks did You tkae?
I do not own SBIG cams, but my observatory mate had the same one, and he had to take at least as much darks as lights to create a powerful masterdakr to get rid of the noise...
Dietmar

Very nice shots Paul! 8)
Thanks for sharing!