I setup for imaging around 7PM and noticed some wind gusts. At the time I did not think that the wind would be a problem, so I did not install a wind shield or even remove the dew shield ... that was a big mistake.
I really underestimated the amount of wind gusts.
I ended up taking 185 images (2minute subs, binned 1x1, -20C, gain 100) using 11 inch SCT and ZWO ASI2600 OSC. I also used SV90 refractor and ZWO ASI290 for autoguiding using PHD2. Also using my new computer with Windows 11. Sequence Generator Pro utilized to manage all hardware.
While trying to perform an autofocus, I found that it took a few cycles in order to lock down the focus. This was due to wind gusts interfering with the autofocus steps. It took several attempts to get a good parabolic curve. At this point I should have known to manage the wind gusts better... but no, I continued on. During processing I had to discard many of the images since I could see the effects of the wind in the images. I ended up only using 115 of the 185 images for processing. I thought that the whole night was going to be a bust, but using PixInsight I was able to get a fairly good final image.
NGC 2366 is classified as a Barred Irregular Galaxy in the constellation Camelopardalis. It is about 10 million light years away, has an apparent magnitude of 11.4 and apparent dimensions of 8.1 arc-seconds x 3.3 arc-seconds. It is interacting with another galaxy NGC 2363.
Roger
- NGC2366_plate.jpg (1.67 MiB) Viewed 47040 times
- NGC 2366 Dwarf Galaxy.jpg (6 MiB) Viewed 47040 times
