astro mick

Nic image Anthony. As to the core,just take a series of very short exposures( talking seconds) just to capture the core.Process as normal,then blend into your main image.Plenty of Youtube tutorials on how to do this. Usually this is done in Photo-shop,but am sure Pixinsight and other software can do this. Mick.

Hi. I found this Nebulae difficult,as its rich in Ha and weak in O111,at least with a 12nm O111 Filter. It was taken earlier this week,when skies were forecast clear,although they were not.I used my 102mm scope and a cmos camera. I captured 2hrs of Ha in 150 sec subs.My intention was to try and get at least 2.5hrs in O111.Unfortunately after just over an hour it clouded up,and finished the session.The weather is just plain awful. Anyway i cobbled to-gether what i had,and this is the result. It did show some noise,but not too intrusive. Mick.

Lovely Steve,just lovely. Mick.

A very nice image for 5 mins. Merry christmas to you. Mick.

Nice comment Paul,thanks. It is a lovely object,but a devil to image. Mick.

Hi. Thanks for the comment. You too have produced a very nice image as well.But as you say the core is blown out.The answer is to take another set of images of the core alone.We are talking seconds here,you will have to experiment to see how long to expose for.Just aim for a nice detailed core. You now have two sets of images, one of the long exposure image,and one of just the core.In photo-shop alighn the images.You will then go on to paste the core on top of the main image. You will then apply a mask. There are several videos on youtube showing this so have a look. If you get stuck,get back in touch. Mick.

Hi. This image of M42 is only my second attempt at this Nebulae.My first was a couple of years ago when using a DSLR,which at the time i thought it produced a fairly nice image. I have always stayed away from this Nebulae due to the very bright core when using my ccd cameras. However on recently getting a ZWO ASI1600MM mono,i thought i would revisit it using RGB filters. For the main Nebulae i took 30x 120 second images at unity gain,and for the core i too 30x 1 second also at unity gain. So just over an 1hr for the Nebulae and a total of 30 secs for the core. This cmos mono camera seems quite sensitive,and i really am liking it. I dont detect any major amp glow,and the noise is very minimal. Their are a number of bright stars in this field,which can be iffy to control. I did take darks and flats. Cheers. Mick.

Hi. Such dedication has rewarded you with a lovely image of this well known star cluster.Even more so considering your sky conditions.Lovely colours as well in the stars. I do hate to criticise other peoples work,so my only comment is the image appears a little soft,maybe due to noise reduction i dont know.However still a lovely image. Mick.

Hi. This is the first complete image using my new ZWO ASI 16000 MM camera. Coupled with my 102mm scope,i took 2hrs of Luminance,and 1hr each of RGB. Last night it enabled me to get some RGB done. I have,nt taken any Ha,and i dont think i will. But i do like this cmos camera and i think it compares very favourably with my previous ccd cameras. Cheers. Mick.

Well done Ian for taking on what seems to be a difficult object.You do not see too many of these planetary Nebulaes on here,i think for the fact a lot of them are quite small and dim.You have pulled out that arc quite nicely,which is quite a feat., Mick.

Lovely. Mick.

Very nice image.Lots of Nebulosity showing here. Mick.

Adam. I have had only 2hrs with it since i got it a couple of weeks ago.Conditions have been awful here. Condtions for to-morrow night show a hint of promise,but the forecasts change back and forth hourly. What else would you splash a grand and more for it to sit in its case week after week doing nothing. But we do. The camera really does look promising though. Mick.

I tend to be a 2hr man myself Alan,we just dont have the weather to allow for hours and hours. Mick.

Hi Alan. This hobby is full of woes and pitfalls,and things can take awhile to sort out.You will sort out the guiding.Your image is a good start for such a short intergration time especially for a OSC camera. More subs will definately improve this. Good luck with the OAG. Mick.

Thays a really nice image Adam.I think you have actually nailed it.The colours to me are spot on,they should,nt be unaturally bright of vivid.Also because of the amount of dust surrounding the Nebulae the background of space should be subdued and not ink black. Nic one. Mick.

Hi Francis. You have some very nice detail,which has been subdued due to the noise.Was this caused by the conditions,of too few subs.Five subs is quite short for a Nebulae. Have you tried any De-Noise software.It can help but nothing beats a good clear sky and and a good number of subs. Still a very promising start. Mick.

I remember in 1965,i was 15 and i drooled over the Charles Frank catalogue looking at scopes and mounts i could never hope to own. They did sell a long focus refractor OTA with a cardboard tube and a 2 inch plastic object lens.You tried to focus by sliding the inner tube back and forth.Bear in mind this was sold as a hand held scope,and it was absolutely awful.You could,nt hold it up to your eye,as it was too long.The plastic lens,well you can imagine. But i still dreant of his real scopes and mounts. Mick.

Thanks guys,it was a hard choice as to whether to go for a OSC or the Mono,but i think the Mono is still the way to go,for me anyway. Mick.

Thanks Lee. Yes very lucky indeed.I was enventually stopped by fog,it just became so thick i could,nt even see Orion. Mick.

Hi. Unbelievabley a tiny window open for me to test my new camera last night.Admittedly it was fairly foggy,but a small window high above enabled me to get nearly 2hrs on M33.This is a mono cmos camera,and it is the first i have had,being reluctant to abandon the traditional ccd. This camera has a fairly large sensor which really attracted me to it.The only downside is it is really suited to the 2 inch filters,and not 1.25 which mine are.So i was getting a bit of vignetting in the corners,however careful flats can overcome this. I took about 50 120 second images at Unity gain,which i understand was a good place to start. The cooling does seem to take a little longer,than my previous ccds, but it seemed quite happy at -18 degrees to which i set. I am very pleased at the final image,and cant wait until i can get some RGB.That could be a while. I usually upload photos as PNG but it kept failing so uploaded in JPEG form. Cheeers. Mick. USB3.0 Port (back compatible with USB2.0) - 14.7fps@4656x3520 124.5fps@320X240

Hi. I take your point,and of course you dont want sopping electronics,but again these cameras must be built to cope with this.Those who image outside and not in an observatory must be very prone to sopping cameras when there is a heavy dew,yes they then take their camera inside to dry off,but the camera has still been exsposed to wet conditions. As to a Dehumidifier,my obsy is pretty well ventilated,and not really closed in when shut.Therefore i would be trying to take the moisture out of the incomming air,a losing battle methinks. I have emailed ZWO over this,but never got a reply. Cheers. Mick.

Thanks. I will have a look at these. Mick.

Nice dehumidifier,but a bit pricey for me. These cameras must be built to withstand moisture,as they can become dripping wet on some nights,and there is no warning saying they have to taken back inside and dried out. People who operate remote telescopes must have cameras attached all the time,but of course they might have a different set-up. I,m leaning to-wards just leaving the camera attached. Fingers crossed. Mick.

Hi guys thanks for this. The observatory is dry,but when you have a heavy dew on an imaging night, and no wind the next day,all the gear is pretty wet. I,m wondering if a dew band wrapped around the camera on a low setting would help. Mick.