NGC1499 California Nebula in Perseus

[Fay]

This is from last night. 9x600 secs, Ha, Atik314L, WO ZS66.
I could only manage 9 subs as everyone was going home eastwards by plane & then the clouds rolled in.

[MarkS]

Fay,

You've captured some good data there.  It's a shame your imaging session was curtailed by cloud.

Mark

[Mike]

Nice. Looks like a giant snarling face to me.

[Fay]

Thanks, yes I was ticking along, but cloud came quicker than was anticipated. Every plane in the country was going east, over my patch!!!!

[JohnP]

Very nice Fay - A great result (especially considering the conditions) - Focus looks spot on (why did you bother getting a RoboFocus...) & guiding looks excellent for 10min subs... The Ha filter has kept stars nice & small....

John

[Fay]

Well, thanks John. I often have a problem with focusing. I think I focus on the wrong stars, probably the larger brighter one's & so all the others look dubious.

Is there a rule of what sort of star you should use for focusing?

[JohnP]

Well I normally pick one that is reasonably bright.. I also try & select one near middle of CCD...  Sometimes it is difficult with Ha as stars can be quite faint which means you need quite a long exposure & so any changes you make to focus are not immediate.

John