NGC2264

Last night I finally attached my K3 to a William Optics Zenithstar 73 Refractor Telescope, and pointed it NGC2264 Christmas Tree Cluster.

Scope specs - 73mm Aparture with 430mm focal length and f5.9. Also attached to the scope was a x1 Field Flattener.

It was a bit of a faff to get it sorted. I had to align the guide scope and main scope centering on Betelgeuse, I did this so I could use the guide camera and scope to plate solve, so I could align the main scope to the target. Plate Solving involves pointing the scope and camera at a point in the sky, then it takes an image and matches it to a stored image to align it to the stars. This puts it on the Deep Sky Object you want to photograph!

This image is made up of 31 300 second exposures at iso3200, with a 150 second pause between frames to allow the sensor to cool. I also took calibration images. These are for removing any dust marks or errant light. They were then stacked and stretched in a software package called Pixinsight, then PP'd in PS and TopazAI Denoise.

Note - The is also a small nebula in the upper left of the image. It is Caldwell 46, also known as Hubble's Variable Nebula.

Now I have managed to do this one, I be will doing more!! I do need to quite a few more to nail down the best iso to use!

Next target..... The Orion Nebula!