Nigel G

Another couple of tests before I get serious tonight. both less than an hour of subs between 6m & 10m dithered, flats and bias. I'm finding focusing difficult with the Ha filter in. Question... Will the focus point be the same with and without a filter with DSLR clip in filters or could I focus with my CLS CCD filter and swap for the Ha ? Nige.

My first success with the new Ha filter. I love the stars, the filter really keeps them under control. Rosette 1h 40m of 6 - 8 & 10m subs, ISO 800. dithered with added flats and bias. Modified Canon 1200D with 12nm Ha filter, 80ED & EQ3. This was very easy to process, the easiest image yet. Still a little banding but 200% better than at 1600 ISO. PHD2, DSS & StarTools. Another hour or so should clean it right up. Cheers Nige.

Thats a very crisp and clean M42, good core too. Well done. Nige.

How did you add the Ha, I take it it's Ha + RGB. Looks like they haven't blended well.

IC 63 in Cassiopeia. a bit of moonlite made this difficult to process. Around 1h 50m of 240s & 360s dithered. I started off with 360s but as the moon started to bleed into the subs I had to lower to 240s. Nice to see other colours shining through 80ED, Guided EQ3 pro, modified 1200D. Cheers Nige.

Great image, I love the stars. Nige.

Thank you Peter, I'm going to get another 2 hours worth, then I might just do that Nige.

I started getting data on the horseHead & flame nebula last night, so far 1h 48m of 360s @ISO800 . Quite cold and heavy dew, but the hand warmers did there job and optics stayed clear. Without a doubt my best effort yet. Looking to add a couple more hours. Nige.

Good luck and clear sky's Peter

I have take a further 2h 24m of 12minute subs making a total of 7 hours with my non modified 1300D Adding the 2 hours of modified subs does not help, if anything its harder to process but slightly better on colour. Now its time to switch targets. M31 final process maybe. Nige.

Not at all Ken, thanks, any info, methods and results are very welcome I have downloaded your image and it looks very much like one I layered the lum from the non mod to the all data one. I have quite a file on M31 now, different stacks, processes and effects. Just stacked and processing modified data only. Its good data although its only 1h40m its processing easy, now I'm thinking- need more with the modded cam if I'm to continue. Cheers. Nige.

Sorry. Last image of M31 until fully completed. I wanted to show the accidental miss aligned version which I think is quite effective and almost 3D, giving the image depth.

Your right thinking again... too much thought I'll have to check all the DSS settings see if I missed anything and re stack. I loaded the 1300d lights flats and bias in 1 group and 1200d lights flats and bias in 2nd group, then DSS stacks them all together, using correct flats and bias for each set. Stacking with sigma clipping. Nige.

I opened both images, chose the base image, select duplicate layer, which gives you the option of choosing which of the open images the layer will be, so select 2nd image. Then select free transform from the edit dropdown, set opacity to 50% on the layers tool pallet, zoom in and align the images. Then in the layers tool pallet I am free to do what I want, choosing type of layer and opacity etc. Thanks again. Nige.

I was thinking about mixing camera data while trying to sleep last night Being slightly disapointed with my M31 result. Its now obvious why it was only the same as my first stack, although it had 4 hours of non modified data it only had 1h 40m from the second camera, it would only be as good as the lesser data, adding 1 sub from the modified camera would introduce loads of noise. If I take the same 4 hours with the modified camera the result would be greatly improved. If I want an image quality with 8 hours worth of data and add a second camera data I would need to take 8 hours with that camera too. Thats a lot of data for an 8 hour image. I'll stick to 1 camera per image Trying to layer in PS atm, got a result not quite alighned yet but gives the image a sort of funky 3d effect which I quite like Edit. got it, thanks for your help Neil & Ken. Hours of fun when you learn new tools Nige.

Silly question time. First snag, how do I use a layer from one image to place on another. I can only seem to layer the image opened in PS, if I open the second image and select new layer it stays with that image if you know what I mean. I think its research time I have managed to blend them in photo merge but have no control over blending amount or type. PS. I have Photoshop CS2 free version. Nige.

I'll have a go, this will be a PS job, not to much experience with it but got to learn some how.

A result from last nights imaging. Very windy but mostly protected by a big shed up wind. A negative result I would say. I took 14x8min subs with my modified camera on M31. I stacked both batches with flats and bias as 2 groups, total 5 hours 40 mins. The out come was about the same as my first stack of 2h 40m. much more noise to deal with and detail loss, although the colour was much better to control. The best and easiest to process so far being 4 hours with the non modified camera, to be honest I have never had much success at galaxys with my modified camera. DSS scores were higher for the modified camera at 4500 average, non modified scores average 3500. So I will finish the image with a couple of hours with my non modified cam and leave out the modded subs next chance. The first image is 2h40m 2nd 4h non mod. 3rd 5h40m both cameras mixed. I prefer the middle one, with the colours of the 3rd, maybe by adding 1 1200d sub it will help the colours ? Click on image to see full size. They look so good as thumbnails Cheers Nige.

Great image Mikey, you captured a lot of nebulosity especially with an unmodified camera, well done. bit gusty here to. Watching TV Nige

These galaxy's are hard to capture and process to get detail, I guess it's the enormous distance the photons have to travel, you certainly done a good job with M33 another one I have struggled with, lovely image, hope you get the clear sky's to continue. Nige.

I hope Mikey and Pete had there opportunity to do some imaging, Mikey I hope they catch the [removed word]. I got some more data on M31, 1 hour of 10 minutes and a few other odd exposures totalling 4hours all told. Still don't like the colours although I think its an improvement, a few aqua blobs to remove but picking up detail, the outer spiral arms are showing better, I can't decide either to add some data from the modified camera or continue with my 1300d next opportunity, any suggestions? Nige.

Last night started very clear then started to slowly mist around 1.30 am. Very misty at 2.30 so packed up, by 3am gin clear, but already packed up. After the strip service the mount performed great, very smooth, the best yet, 8 minute subs no problem, all keepers. A DSO I have always struggled with is M31, never get the detail I want, the colours are a nightmare. I have imaged this many times and never been totally happy. I took 1 hour of 4mins 1 hour of 6mins and 40minutes of 8mins. Total 2H 40m ISO800 non modified 1300d with CLS filter, 80ED, dithered, flats and bias. Still struggling with colour but the detail is coming, going to try for more tonight, maybe without the CLS filter if its clear. Took some more on m45 but still has bloated stars, got to process it yet. 2 attempts at processing, just can't get the colours right, although it is my best effort yet. The first image was stacked as long exposures, expected good S-N ratio, a setting in DSS, it seems to have made a difference for the better, showing a little more detail. Nige.