More Data and New Galaxies

Now that I have all the software issues resolved I can start doing longer exposures. First, I have  more data for the Fireworks Galaxy, so there is a better image. I also spent a couple of hours imaging NGC 678, 680 and IC 1730 in Aries.

Fireworks Galaxy

NGC 678, 680 and IC 1730 in Aries

Here is the plate solve from Astrometry:

Center (RA, Dec):	(27.234, 21.926)
Center (RA, hms):	01h 48m 56.262s
Center (Dec, dms):	+21° 55' 32.561"
Size:	56.9 x 37.9 arcmin
Radius:	0.569 deg
Pixel scale:	0.715 arcsec/pixel
Orientation:	Up is 65.9 degrees E of N

Fireworks Galaxy, Uranus and Neptune

NGC 6946 also known as the Fireworks Galaxy is a face-on intermediate spiral galaxy with a small bright nucleus, whose location in the sky straddles the boundary between the northern constellations of Cepheus and Cygnus. Its distance from Earth is about 25.2 million light-years.

The Fireworks Galaxy in Cepheus

This is based on 10 x 240 s exposures. These are the longest I have managed with the new set up. I have finally solved the problem of mysterious tracking errors;  if I use AstroPhotography Tool dithering, then  it seems to upset PHD2. Using PHD2 dithering sorts it out. Apart from that, the other problem last night was dew ; I have a dew shield and Astro Zap dew band, but it is not the right one for the scope and there is nothing on the guider.

I also took more images of Uranus and Neptune.

The movement of Neptune between 16 Oct 2019 and 22 Oct 2019

The movement of Uranus between 16 Oct 2019 and 22 Oct 2019

Comparing the two tracks of the planets, one is moving in the opposite direction to the other (presumably one is retrograde at the moment, with respect to the movement of the Earth). Also, the apparent movement of Neptune is less than that of Uranus, presumably reflecting the much greater distance to Neptune from Earth.
The distance of Uranus from Earth is currently 2,819,977,014 kilometres, equivalent to 18.850382 Astronomical Units.

The distance of Neptune from Earth is currently 4,354,863,649 kilometres, equivalent to 29.110465 Astronomical Units.

Moons of Uranus

This shows some of the moons of Uranus (Titania, Miranda , Ariel, Umbriel, and Oberon). Apparently Umbriel and Ariel are often lost in the glare of the planet. The Sky and Telescope tool shows this for the time the photo was taken:

So, I am not sure which is which! If the glare in my photo is really large then maybe Miranda, Ariel and Umbriel are almost lost in it ?

New Mount and Telescope - almost there

No real astrophotography in a while , because I have been getting the new mount and telescope sorted out. It is now calibrated, points to the right places, camera works, guiding works, so, just need some decent weather, as always.

The new setup is:

1. Pillar mount
2. Skywatcher EQ6 R Pro mount
3. Celestron 9.25 XLT with focal reducer, so it is working at around F6.8
4. Canon 500D astro modded DSLR
5. QHY 5iiC in a modified Skywatcher guidescope

The software is Ascom/Eqcom - so  the pc/camera/mount can talk to each other
Carte du Ciel - to point the telscope
PHD2 for guiding
AstroPhotography Tool, to connect the camera to everything (imaging, focussing, dithering, etc)

Here are more 'snapshots':

Dumbbell Nebula

Gibbous Moon

Little Dumbbell Nebula

Neptune

Uranus

Uranus