Latest Photo: Pelican Nebula / FSQ 106 and QSI 583


pelicanAfter a very long drive to Idyllwild, CA, made much longer by the traffic, I arrived at Spacecamp, a really interesting and educational facility hidden in the mountains near Palm Springs. These are some of the nicest folks I’ve come across and they

were amazingly gracious and hospitable hosts. I set up and looked forward to a weekend of shooting.

What made this weekend all the more fun was the debut for my brand new QSI 583 astro camera, and my brand new USED FSQ 106N scope. As I geared up to learn how to use this, my autoguider failed. I don’t know why or how, but even when it “locked” on star it couldn’t seem to correct the scope. I could go into more technical detail, but it might include a few curse words.

vanStill, after years for trying (and failing) to shoot the Pelican Nebula with my DSLR, I was finally able to capture this Pelican. What a camera and what a scope! I don’t know how to describe the results of the use of this scope and camera – other than to say that the widefield combined with the fast f5 glass allowed me to capture this without losing the entire shot (since my guider failed), and the quality of the light was just remarkable. When it appeared I nearly fell over backwards. Here is a preliminary edit – still a bit of work to do. Now if I could only do it while guiding.


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