M27 – The Dumbbell Nebula in Vulpecula
Telescope: Meade SN6, Orion Atlas EQ-G
Camera: Canon Rebel T2i
Filter: Orion Imaging Sky Glow Filter
Guide scope: None
Exposure: 40x45sec, ISO 1600 saved as RAW
Darks: Internal
Flat: Synthetic
Software: Backyard EOS, Digital Photo Professional, Deep Sky Stacker, Photoshop

This is the first real image taken using my new Orion Atlas EQ-G mount. After a bit of a rough start from my very first night out with this mount it is settling in nicely. During my initial tests I’m not convinced that the mount was getting along with my small jumpstart battery and I may not have aligned the mount on Polaris (which would be a problem). Before sunset I made sure that the polar scope was properly aligned (it was) and I only used the polar scope to align the mount with Polaris. I also switched over to the AC power supply that I normally use for imaging. The mount was controlled remotely from inside my house using Starry Night Pro and the camera using Backyard EOS. I’ve still got some tweaking to do, but the initial results are wonderful. There were no bad images in the entire set and there was just a bit of drift and periodic error.

Neat stuff.

-John