Equipment on Sleepy Telescope

Antlia LRGB-V Pro 36mm filters

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

The Antlia LRGB-V Pro is a luminance and colour filter set for monochrome cameras. Antlia designed the R, G and B filters for roughly equal 1:1:1 exposures. B and G both pass over 95 % of the O III line, and R passes H-alpha and S II. A wide gap between the G and R bands cuts the light around 589 nm, where sodium and mercury street lamps emit. The filters are 2 mm thick, with the same substrate thickness for parfocal focus.

Antlia Pro 3nm SHO 36mm filters

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

The Antlia 3 nm Pro set has three narrowband filters with a 3 nm bandwidth (FWHM): H-alpha at 656.3 nm, O III at 500.7 nm and S II at 672.4 nm. Antlia rates them at over 88 % peak transmission, with OD5 blocking from 300 to 1000 nm, for optics as fast as f/3. Such a narrow band passes the emission of the nebulae and blocks most of the light pollution and moonlight.

ASI174MM

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

The ZWO ASI174MM is an uncooled monochrome USB 3.0 camera with the Sony IMX174 global-shutter sensor: 1936 × 1216 pixels (2.3 MP) of 5.86 µm. It is my high-speed camera for lucky imaging, in two setups on the NEQ6 Pro:

Planetary: on the Meade 8" ACF with the TeleVue 2× Barlow and a ZWO EFW Mini 5 × 1.25" filter wheel holding Optolong LRGB filters and an IR-pass filter.
Solar: on the Bresser 127L, in white light through a Tecnosky Herschel wedge, or in H-alpha with a Daystar Quark Chromosphere double-stacked with the etalon of a Lunt LS35THa.

ASI224MC

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

ASI2600MM Pro

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

The ZWO ASI2600MM Pro is a cooled monochrome camera built around the Sony IMX571 back-illuminated APS-C sensor: 23.5 × 15.7 mm, 6248 × 4176 pixels (26 MP) of 3.76 µm, with a 16-bit ADC.

It is my main deep-sky camera, used on two setups that share the same imaging train: the Takahashi FSQ85-EDX and the Meade 8" ACF, both on the NEQ6 Pro. The train:

ZWO EFW 7 × 36 mm filter wheel with Antlia LRGB-V Pro and Antlia 3 nm Pro SHO filters
ZWO off-axis guider with a ZWO ASI290MM Mini guide camera (Sony IMX290, 2.9 µm pixels)
Pegasus Astro Pocket Powerbox Advance Gen2 for power, dew heaters and USB

Earlier images with this camera used Baader LRGB and Baader Ha 7 nm 36 mm filters.

ASI294MC Pro

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

The ZWO ASI294MC Pro is a cooled one-shot colour camera with the Sony IMX294 4/3" sensor: 4144 × 2822 pixels (11.7 MP) of 4.63 µm, with a 14-bit ADC.

Before the ASI2600MM Pro it was my deep-sky camera, on the Takahashi FSQ85-EDX, the Meade 8" ACF and the Skywatcher 150PDS. Today I use it occasionally, when a target calls for a colour camera.

ASI533MC Pro

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Astrodon LRGBSHO 2" filters

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

The Swan Reach remote rig uses Astrodon filters, now sold under the CXB name: the Gen 2 E-series Tru-Balance LRGB set and 3 nm Ha, OIII and SII narrowband filters, in a ZWO EFW 7 × 2" filter wheel.

The E-series is designed for roughly equal 1:1:1 colour combine weights with full-frame sensors, and the maker recommends it for back-illuminated and Sony sensors. A spectral gap between the G and R filters reduces the light of high-pressure sodium street lamps, and B and G both pass over 97 % of the O III line. The red filter is narrower than an orange one, which raises the contrast of H II regions in galaxies. The filters are 3 mm fused silica and parfocal with the Astrodon narrowband filters.

Astronomik L-2 UV-IR Block 2" filter

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Baader Ha 7nm 36mm filter

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Baader LRGB 36mm filters

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Bresser 127L

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

The Bresser Messier AR-127L is a 127 mm achromatic refractor with 1200 mm focal length (f/9.4). It is my solar telescope, on the NEQ6 Pro with the ASI174MM:

White light: through a Tecnosky Herschel wedge.
H-alpha: with a Daystar Quark Chromosphere double-stacked with the etalon of a Lunt LS35THa.

Daystar Quark Chromosphere

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

GAR's Merz-Dallmeyer 162mm

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

The historic refractor of the Gruppo Astrofili Rozzano (GAR), in the 7 m dome of the Civico Osservatorio Astronomico di Rozzano, inaugurated in May 2023. The 162 mm objective is signed G.&S. Merz in Munich; the mount and the finder are signed J.H. Dallmeyer, London. GAR dates the instrument to the late 19th century, around 1870. It was found abandoned in a private home in Vigevano, has come down to us without structural changes, was functionally restored by ARASS Brera and is protected by the Soprintendenza in Milan.

Lunt LS35THa B600

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

The Lunt LS35THa is a dedicated H-alpha solar telescope with a 35 mm aperture and an internal etalon with a bandwidth under 0.75 Å, tuned by tilt. Mine was bought second-hand and came with a Lunt B600 blocking filter.

I use it on its own, and its etalon as the second filter of a double stack with the Daystar Quark Chromosphere on the Bresser 127L, with the ASI174MM.

Meade 8" ACF

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

The Meade 8" ACF is a 203 mm catadioptric telescope with Meade’s Advanced Coma-Free optics: about 2000 mm focal length at f/10. It works on the NEQ6 Pro in two roles.

Planetary: with the TeleVue 2× Barlow (about 4000 mm at f/20), the ASI174MM and a ZWO EFW Mini 5 × 1.25" filter wheel holding Optolong LRGB filters and an IR-pass filter.
Deep sky: my second main setup, with the same ASI2600MM Pro imaging train as the Takahashi. Earlier deep-sky images were taken with the colour ASI294MC Pro.

Meade Maksutov 127/1900

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

NEQ6 Pro

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

The Sky-Watcher NEQ6 Pro is a computerised German equatorial mount with SynScan GoTo control. It carries all of my Italian setups: the deep-sky refractor and the 8-inch ACF, the planetary train and the solar refractor.

Mine has the Rowan Astronomy belt modification, which replaces the factory spur-gear drive with timing belts to reduce backlash and periodic error. The mount was then tuned by Davide Dal Prato of the Torre del Sole astronomical park in Brembate di Sopra (BG), Italy.

Optolong L-eXtreme 2" filter

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Optolong L-Pro 2" filter

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Optolong LRGB filters

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

A set of Optolong 1.25" luminance, red, green and blue filters for monochrome cameras. They sit in a ZWO EFW Mini 5 × 1.25" filter wheel together with an IR-pass filter, in front of the ASI174MM on the Meade 8" ACF with the TeleVue 2× Barlow.

Paramount ME

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

The Paramount ME is a robotic German equatorial mount made by Software Bisque in Golden, Colorado, USA, for permanent and remote observatories.

At Swan Reach, South Australia, it carries the RCOS 16" of the Swan Reach remote rig, with an ASI2600MM Pro guided through an off-axis guider.

RCOS 16"

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

The RCOS 16" is a 16-inch (0.41 m) Ritchey-Chrétien telescope by RC Optical Systems, with a carbon-fibre truss and Astro-Sitall mirrors. With the ASI2600MM Pro, its focal length measures 3660 mm on the plate-solved images.

It is the main telescope of the Swan Reach remote rig in South Australia, under a roll-off roof at Swan Reach Imaging. It rides on a Paramount ME and images with an ASI2600MM Pro through Astrodon LRGBSHO 2" filters. A PrimaLuceLab rotator frames the field, a PrimaLuceLab focuser moves the secondary mirror, and dew heaters and fans keep the primary mirror at ambient temperature.

Skywatcher 150PDS

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Takahashi FSQ85-EDX

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

The Takahashi FSQ-85EDX is an 85 mm Petzval refractor with four lens elements, 450 mm focal length at f/5.3. It is one of my two main deep-sky telescopes, with the ASI2600MM Pro imaging train on the NEQ6 Pro.

I use it in two configurations:

native, with the Takahashi 1.01× flattener (about 455 mm), which extends the corrected image circle to 44 mm;
with the Takahashi QB 0.73× reducer, for about 330 mm at f/3.9 and a wider field.

Before the ASI2600MM Pro it was paired with the colour ASI294MC Pro.

Takahashi Reducer QB 0.73x

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Televue Barlow 2x

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

A TeleVue 2× Barlow lens, one of my oldest accessories. It doubles the effective focal length to reach the image scale needed for the planets: on the Meade 8" ACF it gives about 4000 mm at f/20, in front of the ASI174MM and the LRGB / IR-pass filter wheel.

Earlier planetary images used it on a Meade 127/1900 Maksutov (about 3800 mm) with the colour ASI224MC.