I recently upgraded my telescope by adding a new mirror mask and a CNC-milled secondary spider. After observing M45, I had a few minutes left, so I tested the new setup on another notoriously bright target: Alnitak. Inspired by Nico Carver's video, I limited myself to a single 5-minute exposure and did not use any calibration frames.
Target: Horsehead and Flame Nebula (IC 434 / B33, NGC 2024).
Equipment: Skywatcher 200 PDS (upgraded), Skywatcher EQ-6R, Canon 6Da (modified), Svbony 705C for guiding
Acquisition: 1 x 300" @ 1600, No Darks, Flats or Bias
Total integration: 5m
Processing: Stacked using Siril, Gradient removal and crop using GraXpert, PMCC and stretch using GHS, Starnet++ for starmask + background, Final tweaking and composition using Gimp.
Unfortunately, I missed flocking some spots in my focuser, which produced ugly reflections that I cropped out. However, I really like the image for a single exposure, and I am also very happy with the star shapes thanks to my upgrades. What do you think? Do you like one-shot challenges?
by stannyslausibert