A barlowed Cent A from rural skies

High resolution version here

IMAGING DATA
Optical train: AP130 EDF GT + AP advanced barlow
Mount: Losmandy G11
Guiding: SMC Takumar 67 f/4.5 200mm guidescope + Lifecam Cinema + PHD
Camera: Canon 1000D (modded and peltier cooled)
Frames: 24 lights 5 min. ea. @iso1600, calibrated with 200 bias, 20 darks and 30 flats.
Processing: PI 1.8 + Photoshop + Canon DPP
Date: 2013-04-06
Place: San Antonio de Areco, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Seeing & transparency: average/very good (rural skies)

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  • Shevill Mathers on 2013-Apr-13 13:37:10 Shevill Mathers said

    Ignatio,

    As always, I am very impressed with your superb images. They really show what can be achieved with a (low cost)DSLR and it they give the traditional cooled CCD astro cameras costing far more, a run for their money. Thanks again for sharing and well done!

    AstroTasmania 42 South 147 East
    www.shevillmathers.id.au

  • Ignacio Diaz Bobillo on 2013-Apr-14 21:48:58 Ignacio Diaz Bobillo said

    Thank you, Shevill. I have gotten a lot of mileage out of my humble canon 1000D, Planning to move to 6D now.

    best,
    Ignacio

  • Benita on 2013-Dec-13 21:17:52 Benita said

    Hello! I am not a scientist, just avidly interested. This is a beautiful shot, and I am grateful you are sharing it. But I have a question! Please explain to the uninitiated what 'barlowed' means, in this context? I am getting no sensible response from Google, so I thought my best recourse would be to go the source.

    I thank you again for putting this fine work out here for even me to enjoy!

    Thank you for your time and attention,
    Benita Winslow
    Detroit, MI

  • Ignacio Diaz Bobillo on 2013-Dec-14 08:02:36 Ignacio Diaz Bobillo said

    Thank you, Benita, for your kind comments. "Barlowed" is the verbalized version of the noun "barlow", a type of lens that is used to extend the focal length of the telescope, in this case by a factor of 1.8x. In this way you get a higher image scale, useful when imaging relatively small objects like distant galaxies. The down side, is that the optical luminosity (focal ratio) drops by the same factor, and it also tends to introduce aberrations. For this reasons, very few people dare use a barlow lens when doing deep-space astrophotography.

    Regards,
    Ignacio