We have been testing a function that Nicola has been implementing in AstroDMx capture, where one can arrange the objects of interest on the preview screen, Capture an image of the arrangement and then use AstroDMx Capture to send the mount (scope) in the future, precisely back to the same arrangement of objects and position it exactly as before.
The function worked perfectly so despite the fact that there was a 69.7% Moon nearby and low in the sky, it was decided to capture data on the Lagoon and Trifid nebula that were in the same field of view of an SVBONY SV405CC OSC camera on a Skywatcher Esprit 80 ED Super APO Triplet refractor fitted with a field flattener and mounted on a Celestron AVX mount.
Click on an image to get a closer view
Screenshot of AstroDMx Capture for Linux being used to capture 40 x 30s FITS exposures of the Lagoon and Trifid nebulae region
Matching dark-frames were captured.
The data were stacked and part processed in Deep Sky Stacker and post-processed in the Gimp 2.10.
The Lagoon nebula, M8 and the Trifid nebula, M20
The new functionality in AstroDMx Capture is progressing to our satisfaction, and we look forward to imaging these objects in a dark sky and to testing further new capabilities before a release is made with new capabilities.
