narrowbandpaul

hey im new here too... I am a 4th astronomy student, and have an advanced higher (A-Level, I think) B in Chemistry What stuff were/are u researching Paul

i personally recommend imagesplus, from mike unsold...www.mlunsold.com. Version 3.5 has vista capability. The good bit is it has different combining options, so you can add frames, and apply levels/curves and digital development. All of which registax cant do. There are also deconvolution options, and wavelet sharpening, and tons more... if youre doing deep sky stuff, then u cant really beat this. It also controls Canon and Nikon cameras... Paul

eddie you have an 8" Apo astrograph...very interesting. What manufacturer? Sounds awesome Paul

ian, I remember waiting ages for my orion optics I quite remeber thinking 'the first of never'....lucky they make great optics Keen to know how u get on with the OMC250 Cheers Paul

Rob, I certainly agree that the narrower bandwidth bumps up exposure times. But I quite like a really narrowband (I use 6), I really bumps up contrast in moonlight. I am not saying that 13nm isnt good, because it is. Do u like the astronomik by the way? Have u any images taken in your palette. i would like to see what they look like Cheers Paul

Rob, I am very aware that Ha is red, and Hbeta is blue. I still dont see the point of an Hbeta filter. Why on earth would you want to create a natural looking narrowband image...it defeats the purpose. The crazier looking the better And NGC2403 was right...the Hbeta is noisier owing to the fact that the Hbeta is less dominant than Ha. And the 2 images are very similar...I thought. Your image was of a planetary nebula illuminated by a hot white dwarf. So correspondingly, the bluer wavelengths get more excited, thus bumping up the Hbeta flux compared to Ha..in diffuse nebulae the Hbeta will be weaker...

kurt, the SXV H9 from Starlight Express is a great camera, and I can vouch for it personally. My pic of the Veil in Ha was taken by an H9 with 4X15min subs at F4.5 The camera use the Sony ICX285AL chip, and sony have stopped making CCD's just now to concentrate on CMOS sensors. The chip has a 60% peak, with Ha=0.5, O[iII]=0.55 S[iI]=0.5 It has a very low noise, which i really appreciate. I can take 30min subs without a real need for darks. But I definately use bias frames

kurt may I ask how old u are. I am 20, and I want my dad to build an observatory... Good on you for getting into narrowband at a young age... Good luck Paul

I dont believe that parfocality is a property of filters... the baader should be absolutely fine, just make sure that the O[iII] emission line doesnt occur on the gap betwwen the blue and green filters. With some filters this is a problem. The statement that you get what you pay for isnt always true. For example the astrodon filters are very expensive and not any better than the baader ones for example...although im referring to narrowband filters

Hello Group. I am Paul, a 20 year old imager from Scotland, and good friends with NGC2403 (ally). I have used his account for a few posts... Despite my decent equipment, I dont do a lot of my own stuff, as I dont get the image quality I demand. So instead I got to a friends (Douglas Cooper) and he and I setup and acquire images. He sets up and guides, and I acquire the raw data with an SXV H9 and process the images. Just now Douglas and i are focussing on Narrowband Imaging, with astrodon 1.25" filters. I am very passionate about narrowband imaging, and believe it much more interesting than conventional RGB. I do a lot of research into narrowband imaging, but theres always more to learn. Personally, I am a student at the university of Glasgow, about to go into my fourth year studying Physics and Astronomy. I am in the same class as Ally (NGC2403). I hope to become an Airline Pilot someday, and have logged over 40hours on a single engine prop (Katana DA20) I hope to offer assistance with any problems you guys have, and to learn from others experiences Cheers Paul