This is a #WorkInProgress of the Seagull Nebula (IC 2177).

A little over 2 hours exposure time in Ha and Sii, so it’s hard to pull the signal out much more.

But my stars are so much more round/sharp than before, thanks to my new OAG (now that I’ve removed the plastic film from the prism 😅), and with PHD2’s multi-star guiding.

#Astrodon #WIP #Seagull #SeagullNebula #Nebula #IC2177 #HaFilter #SiiFilter #HSS #SkyWatcher #ED80 #Telescope #EQ6R #QHY #OAG #PHD2 #PHD2Guiding

Bought an off-axis guider for my telescope 🔭 🎉

Spent some time late last night trying to set it up, and couldn’t get the focus right. Of course if didn’t come with a manual 🙄 But generally not too difficult to sort out (at first… more on this further down).

The main difficulty in installation was trying to calculate the backfocus distance from the many varied numbers available online.

(In the process I learned I’ve probably been using the wrong backfocus for the last year and a half 😅 using 58mm instead of 55mm. But 🤷‍♂️ the photos seemed to come out okay.)

Then tried to test the focus. Oh god. An hour of fiddling and I couldn’t get it, so gave up and went to bed.

After some googling today it looks like there might be a protective plastic film on the prism, to be removed! Nice of the manufacturer to say something!

If this turns out to be the problem I will be very happy, but also a little annoyed.

#Astrodon #QHYCCD #QHY #OAG #OffAxisGuider #Telescope #Backfocus