After The Long Winter: Clear Skies and Deep Space Objects

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It was a long winter, with plenty of rain here in the valley and snow in the mountains. During this time, I took the opportunity to upgrade my equipment. I now have Pegasus Focus Cubes on the William Optics GT81 and my Orion C11. The Focus Cube does not require an external controller - it’s all built into the compact unit. Combined with ASCOM drivers and Sequence Generator Pro, I can periodically auto-focus through my sessions.

Pegasus Astro Focus Cube mounted to the GT81

Next, I’ve gone monochrome with the ZWO ASI1600MM-Pro. Sure, it takes longer to get a color image with filters, but the detail is outstanding. I bought the complete package, including the electronic filter wheel and 1.25 inch LRGB & narrowband filters.

The ZWO ASI1600MM-Pro has a convenient USB hub that can power a guide camera and filter wheel

Do these upgrades make a difference? You bet they do. Combined with control software such as Sequence Generator Pro, I can now get on target quickly, automatically re-focus periodically and program filter changes. The following images are the best I’ve managed to date. Click on the Astrobin links for high res versions.

Leo Triplet in HaGB. View in Astrobin

Messier 13 in LRGB. View in Astrobin

NGC 3077, Messier 81 and Messier 82 in RGB. View in Astrobin