I got may Mallincam X2 back from Rock and used it on the 17 & 18 and it performed flawlessly both nights. This camera has really improved my observing as I can see much fainter objects than I ever could visually in my modest 6" reflector. Not to mention with the camera I see objects in color, which really kicks up the WOW factor several notches. Here are some pictures I've captured over these 3 nights. All exposures are 90 seconds or less through a Lumicon Deep Sky filter + an IR block filter. I have a MFR6 + 5mm spacer that drops my scope's native F5 down to slightly under F4.
Caldwell 58, NGC 2360 an open cluster in Canis Major
Caldwell 62, NGC 2362, A very nice open cluster with a central bright star set in a nice star field in Canis Major
Messier 42, NGC 2287 Another open cluster in Canis Major. This cluster is hard to pick out as it is in a very rich star field.
The infamous Horsehead nebula in Orion: IC 434. Not my best image of this difficult target but the best I could do on this evening.
Messier 50, NGC 2323 A very nice open cluster comprised of many bright white stars in Monoceros.
Messier 42, The Great Orion Nebula and its much smaller companion, M 43 One of the most beautiful objects in the night sky, shown here in a longer exposure to show more detail in the nebula, at the expense of blowing out the Trapezium region.
Messier 38, NGC 1912 An open cluster in Auriga with a easily noticeable line near the bottom of the cluster.
Messier 99, NGC 4254 A nice face on spiral galaxy with easily visible arms in this 75 second exposure, despite the false blue hue to the sky.
Messier 3, NGC 5272 A tight globular cluster in Canes Venatici with an intense core.
Caldwell 32, NGC 4631 A large eliptical galaxy with a much smaller companion in Canes Venatici.
Messier 37, NGC 2099 A nice dense cluster of a few dozen stars in a rich star field in Auriga.
You may notice some ghostly rings on some of the pictures. I cleaned my scope's corrector lens but I discovered some spotting on my filters that caused these unsightly artifacts on my images. An optics cleaning session is obviously needed.
Last fall when I received my Mallincam X2 I set myself a goal of imaging all of the Messier and Caldwell objects that are visible from my latitude (about 205 objects) within 2 years (Nov 2014). I had already viewed many of these objects and even imaged some with my Meade DSI camera, but I wanted to capture them all with my Mallincam. To date I'm nearly 1/3 of the way there with over 60 objects imaged. Hopefully we will have several more cold, clear sky nights this winter, especially weekend nights.
