The Session-Story of Messier 35 and NGC 2158
Astrophoto: Messier 35 Clear Sky 30: It took months between my clear skies 29 and 30. I think 29 was in december for me. Meanwhile a few things changed at my setup.
- I found my flattener distance to the Chip!
- I am now able to expose 300s with my CANON EOS M100. The trick is, to make one 10s photo and then a series of 30, 40 or whatever 300s photos. Don’t know why it works 🙂
- I got my USB-Hub attached to my Vixen.
- Last but not least: I fixed the backlash on my HEQ-5 Pro and did the Rowan Belt Upgrade. I used the discription of astrophotograph Marten: Install the Rowan belt modification kit on your HEQ5 Pro mount – Frosth Astrophotography
Thanks for the video! And also for the backlash video!
So, a lot of changes and here is the high resolution result on Flickr:

Lessons Learned
Yes, I learned some things, as always. The Flattener position really seems to be good now, although there is still one thing. That will be fixed at Clear Sky 33 🙂
What really makes me crazy, and this is a new problem is, dizzering makes my guiding crazy. I dont know why, bur after dithering my guiding needs heavy corrections.
Technical overview for Astrophoto: Messier 35 Clear Sky 30
Telescope | VIXEN ED80sf |
Focal Length | 600mm |
Aperture ratio | 7.5 |
Erecting Lense | TSFlat2 |
Filter | Optolong UV/IR Cut |
Mount | Skywatcher HEQ-5 |
Goto-Control | EKOS |
Mount Control | INDI |
Guiding Scope Focal Length | 162 mm |
Guiding Camera Chip | 4.8mm x 3.6mm, 8bit |
Guiding Camera Resolution | 1280×960 |
Guiding Software | EKOS, INDI |
Dithering | 3 pixel |
Camera | CANON EOS M100(a) |
Method | focal projection |
Camera angle | 30° (as Stellarium) |
Camera Control | EKOS, INDI, Gphoto2 |
Photography Date | 23.03.2022 |
Exposure-Time Lights | 30x300s |
Sensitivity | ISO 400 |
Calibrationframes | Flats, Bias |
Post Processing Date | 24.03.2022 |
Stacking, Integration | PixInsight |
Post Processing Software | PixInsight |
Image Editing | Affinity Photo |
Capture Place | Koblenz, Germany |
Lightpollution | Bortle 5 |
Scattered light | strong |