Instruments
Scopes, mounts, and cameras I actually use. The numbers are from the maker. If I wasn't sure, I left the field out. Notes on each photo are still sample text, but the gear names are these.
Air-spaced triplet apochromatic refractor
Ships with a two-element thread-on field flattener. Sky-Watcher lists the tube at about 4 kg.
Four-element Petzval apochromatic refractor
Flat field to a full-frame sensor, so no separate flattener. William Optics lists the optical tube at 1.77 kg.
Two-element ED apochromatic refractor
Sky-Watcher lists the tube weight at 2.0 kg and the tube length at 420 mm.
ED doublet refractor
SVBONY’s 102F7 specification. A separate reducer is not part of this listing.
Astrophotography lens
Built-in adjustable aperture and an integrated flattener. Askar lists the weight, with ring and dovetail, at about 1.8 kg.
Compact apochromatic refractor
The FMA180 name is the reduced configuration. The reducer is part of the kit and is spaced for a 55 mm back focus.
6 inch Ritchey-Chrétien
The long tube in the set. Used in the sample log for galaxies, globulars, and the Moon and planets.
Strain-wave equatorial mount
ZWO’s AM3 manual. Light wide-field rigs do not need the counterweight.
Strain-wave equatorial mount
ZWO’s AM5 manual. This is the original AM5, not the later AM5N.
German equatorial mount
Sky-Watcher’s EQ6 Pro specification, the mount sold as the NEQ6 Pro. This one is fitted with a Rowan belt modification on the motor transfer gears. The belt kit’s effect on periodic error is not listed here.
Cooled colour smart camera
Imaging, guiding, and control in one body. ZWO lists cooling of 30–35°C below ambient. The smaller pixels are the ones used on the RC6 for the Moon and planets in the sample log.
Cooled colour smart camera
The deep-sky camera. ZWO lists the cooling temperature as −30°C to −35°C. Read noise is given as 0.9–4.2 e−.
Places named in the sample log. The Bortle figures are estimates for those sites, not measurements from a meter.
Bortle 8
Home base in the sample log. Emission nebulae, the Moon, and planets when they clear the neighbouring roof.
Bortle 4
The usual dark-site drive in the sample log. Broadband galaxies, clusters, and Milky Way fields.
Bortle 6
Closer than Ananthagiri, darker than the terrace. Used in the sample log for Cygnus and other fields that need an early return.
Bortle 7
A western horizon with less clutter. Lunar portraits and bright planets in the sample log.