Well, I finally got the PHQ130, my mini cannon, out under the stars for its first light. Since I’m AP, I set it all up for native focal length 1000, camera was going to be the Canon but the humidity at 90% and temperature of the day would have made any pics taken useless.
The QHYCCD cooled itself down to 42, temperature started at 77 degrees. First real light was a pain to say the least from an AP perspective. The guide camera is also a first light, so new calibrations were required, learned that the NYX-101 mount dec needs to be reversed in Advanced Settings. Calibration be damned, guiding still sucked. Transparency don’t help if you’re flickering in mist. The little guide scope also had no fine adjustment, shoot it had no adjustment at all other than to move the camera itself in and out. So, much for a free accessory! Decided to put the O-Rion 60mm double helical scope to replace it next session
First light for the PHQ and my EAA assisted eye balls was M4
Messier 4 or M4 (also known as NGC 6121 or the Spider Globular Cluster) is a globular cluster in the constellation of Scorpius. It was discovered by Philippe Loys de Chéseaux in 1745 and catalogued by Charles Messier in 1764. It was the first globular cluster in which individual stars were resolved.
M4 is conspicuous in even the smallest of telescopes as a fuzzy ball of light. It appears around the same size as the Moon in the sky. It is one of the easiest globular clusters to find, being located only 1.3 degrees west of the bright star Antares, with both objects being visible in a wide-field telescope. Modestly sized telescopes will begin to resolve individual stars, of which the brightest in M4 are of apparent magnitude 10.8
M4 is a rather loosely concentrated cluster of class IX and measures 75 light-years across. It features a characteristic “bar” structure across its core, visible to moderate sized telescopes. The structure consists of 11th-magnitude stars and is approximately 2.5′ long and was first noted by William Herschel in 1783. At least 43 variable stars have been observed within M4.
M4 is approximately 6,000 light-years away making it the closest globular cluster to the Solar System. It has an estimated age of 12.2 billion years.
Lots a little points of light in the PHQ at a 1000, so I decided to run 180 seconds. No EAA, but it did show me I need to take some good flats. Artifacts on either the camera lens or the telescope. Lots of them
So, onto a target at 30 second in APT, I chose M39. It was easy to see I was on target with the first image, as the stars in the cluster stand out in the center of the FOV. I watched APT perform its new auto centering capabilities with the current beta utilizing PHD2 for cloud control and plate solving to recenter on target if needed. I must I admit was impressed. The NYX performed with no issues, weight on it was about 30 pounds, 14 less than it’s rated without counterweights, 66 pounds with. Though not on the carbon fiber tripod, it’s rated for 33 lbs.
Now to the cluster,
Messier 39 or M39, also known as NGC 7092, is an open cluster of stars in the constellation of Cygnus, sometimes referred to as the Pyramid Cluster. It is positioned two degrees south of the star Pi Cygni and around 9° east-northeast of Deneb. The cluster was discovered by Guillaume Le Gentil in 1749, then Charles Messier added it to his catalogue in 1764.When observed in a small telescope at low power the cluster shows around two dozen members but is best observed with binoculars. It has a total integrated magnitude (brightness) of 4.6 and spans an angular diameter of 29 arcminutes– about the size of the full Moon. It is centered about 1,010 light-years (311 parsecs) away.
I first saw it in Stellarium, then in the guide scope camera, that would be
EAA since the images are captured at 1 second and displayed in a live view fashion. But the cluster was very prominent at 2 second images with the monochrome. I managed to get a few at 30 at a couple at 120. any of the data worth sharing, maybe in a future post.
Had some issues with APT shutting down during what seemed to be a Session Craft GoTo ++ APT 4.64 Multiple Crashes usually with GoTo++ and Session Craft
I ran darks the first night at 180 at 42 degrees, for a moment, I thought I was looking at a star field. Camera definitely needs a good set of darks, lol
To be continued tomorrow. 🙂
July 5, 2025
Well, with the problems with tracking, I had decided to swap out the guide scope, seems I though it didn’t have a focuser, it does. I had it covered by the dew heater. I also adjusted the Polar Alignment, even though I was within a couple of minutes on both axis, I had to crank the ra axis full counterclockwise to get to within a minute. Recalibration for guiding went quickly just as Polar Alignment as well all before the end of astro twilight.
Then the proverbial hit the fan, camera dropped offline, then everything went crapola. Well at least I didn’t have to reset the mount. Just exiting all apps and restarted fixed the USB problem once I went out and resented the cable, Gremlin laughing!
After slewing to a couple of different targets, I settle on LBN 298 as my center in the FOV, what I’m really after is Ha data. Stellarium paints a pretty picture. Finally, a good image, focus is the same from the luminance filter to the Haq filter, no need to change it that I can see. I decided on a simple 3 minute plan for Ha data. When the Moon goes down, I’ll have enough time to grab some RGB data and a look see at 30 seconds.
After the first 10 images, tracking was good with nice round stars, and only a three-pixel drift. Not to shabby, looks like the refocus of the guide scope solved the guiding issue. humidity is still out there at 87%, camera again cooled to 42. Why would I ever shoot with the Z73 again, plan on replacing it with a Petzval scope in that range.
After about 30 images, I can see some not so round stars then right back to round stars again, guiding, right? I’ll have to review the guiding log. I ‘m starting to move into the new Session Craft features now. I have a lrgb plan that can run for any plan. I just added a trigger to go off particular time, right after the current plan running. I could have added the Ha plan but wasn’t thinking on those lines yet.
I’ll get there, I’m back full force now. Now, to get two scopes up and running, lol! I still have calibration frames to capture for each channel! Wee, lots of fun!
Clear Skies,