Hi All,

Well, I finally got everything working last night! I still have some tweaking to do on collimation and have some spherical aberration. I think the aberration is related to me accidentally leaving an additional 5mm adapter ring on an not having the back focus set properly.

Overall, it was fairly challenging, much related to the lack of documentation, i.e. approximate back focus from the back of the telescope, no documentation with the flattened or reducer, … The first night, I managed to find the focal point. I also figured out that I had the reducer in backwards and had to order a 1mm male to male M48 adapter. I also ordered several more adapters of various lengths. The second night, I thought I was ready to go but my collimation was awful. Yesterday, I spent about 4 hours working on the collimation with the Howie Glatter Laser Collimater and got it fairly close. I then did a little tweaking by focusing on a refocused star. I would say I am 95% of the way there.

In honor of the September Challenge, I decided to do my “first light” image on the Bubble Nebula and got 3 1/2 hours with the Hii/Oiii filter and 3 1/2 hours with the Sii/Oiii filter.

So, without further ado, I give you, “First Light”! It has also been posted as an official image on my profile Here .

First Light with the Apertura CarbonStar 8" Ritchey-Chretien!