Deep-Sky Astrophotography with My C11

C11 & EQ-6: A Challenging but Rewarding Combo for Deep Sky

These shots were captured with a Canon 350D DSLR on my C11 at F/6.3. And let’s be honest, we’re still a long way from perfection here! A C11 on an EQ-6 mount, not to mention the rest of the setup, is definitely pushing the limits. However, the C11 really opens up a whole new universe of targets that were simply inaccessible with my smaller C80ED.

Here’s the gear I wrangled for these shots:

• Location: “Le petit Borobia” Observatory, on-site and remote!
• Telescope: Celestron C11 at F/6.3
• Mount: Sky-Watcher N-EQ6 Pro
• Autoguiding: PL1M on Orion ShortTube 80mm guide scope + MaximDL
• Camera: Canon EOS 350D unmodded and Baader ACF II modified
• Focal Reducer: Celestron 6.3
• Processing: Pre-processing (DeepSkyStacker), Levels + Curves (Photoshop)
• Credit: Cédric Thomas

M27, The Dumbbell Nebula:

• Capture Date: 2011-08-08
• Conditions: Clear sky, SQM: 21.15
• Exposure Time: 33x420s = 3h51mn

M81, Bode’s Galaxy (in Ursa Major):

• Capture Date: 2010-08-17
• Conditions: Clear sky, SQM: 20.91
• Exposure Time: 44x420s = 5h08mn

M13, The Hercules Globular Cluster:

• Capture Date: 2010-08-16
• Conditions: Clear sky, SQM: 21.34
• Exposure Time: 14x180s = 42mn