From Visual to Vivid: My First DSO with the Meade 2500mm
It's been a few months since I acquired a Meade 2500mm f/10 EMC telescope, a scope that initially served purely for visual observation. While it arrived needing a bit of TLC, its potential for deep-sky imaging was undeniable.
My previous attempt at astrophotography with this scope, a shot of M13, highlighted a crucial issue: focus. To address this, I designed and built a custom bracket to integrate a stepper motor directly onto the focuser. The success of this modification is detailed in a separate post on r/functionalprint, but its impact on this M57 capture was profound.
Targeting M57
This time, I set my sights on the celestial jewel that is the Ring Nebula, M57. Under the night sky, I engaged my IMX571 camera and began capturing data at the native focal length of the Meade 2500mm. The plan was to acquire a substantial dataset to tease out the details of this famous planetary nebula.
Acquisition Details:
- Exposures: 84
- Exposure Length: 90 seconds each
- Total Integration Time: Approximately 2 hours and 12 minutes
The Results: A First Look
Here is my first attempt at capturing M57 with the Meade 2500mm f/10, featuring the improved focuser system:
It's a significant step forward from my initial visual-only use of the scope. While there's always room for improvement in processing and perhaps further optical enhancements, seeing the details of M57 emerge from the data is incredibly rewarding. This journey into higher focal length astrophotography with this classic instrument has just begun!
