Shibby

Nice comparison. Good to know the filters deliver what they should/claim to!

I couldn't resist stretching this to see if you'd picked up any nebulosity. I don't believe so, however I think this is around Atlas, which isn't where the main nebulosity of M45 is.

That's lovely. Great work.

9 hours ago, ollypenrice said:

This is much better as a NB target because the reds dominate completely in broadband

I agree, except for some cracking reflection nebulosity around the flaming that you can pick up in the blue channel if you tame that red a little.

That's interesting @Captain Scarlet

I did wonder if it could handle more... Since even the AZ GTI (supposedly) has a capacity of 5kg.

I'm asking as I'm looking for an cost-effective, easy-to-use, visual AZ mount for my 150PDS, which weighs in at around 5.3kg without accessories.

Hi,

Can you tell me what the payload capacity of the mount is... also, do they not sell the mount separately?

Once more, with the colour balance addressed!

Thanks! I very much appreciate the feedback and it's interesting to know that everyone prefers version 1!

Can I ask, is that only because of the colour balance? I think what I've done is focus too much on the noise and star reduction that I lost track of the colour balance. I totally agree that the first is more natural looking.

 @ollypenrice I did use star removal this time before reducing noise and lifting the background in an attempt to bring out more of the galaxy's structure. I then utilised the starless layer to reduce star bloat using @Xiga's photoshop action: https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/398793-i-made-a-photoshop-action-for-bill-blanshans-new-star-reduction-method-based-on-pixel-math/

Poor 460ex  Mine will live on for now!

Nice image, by the way!

Hi,

I've been trying out some new techniques for star reduction, noise reduction and sharpening so thought I'd post an updated (hopefully improved) version of this image!

The PacMan in Cassiopeia

• Captured over 2 nights (30th Sep + 8th Oct).
• Ha (7nm): 16x600s
• Oiii (3nm): 16x600s
• Sii (12nm): 16x600s
• Atik 460ex
• MN190 on a Mach1GTO
• Stacking: DSS
• Processing: HSO palette with Photoshop, Starnet

Thanks all! I think I agree that the SHO version looks better, but that may be partly down to the overly-pink hue of my HOO version.

On 22/10/2022 at 11:57, geeklee said:

A little too much blue in the background on the first (and to a lesser extend in the second) if you want to tighten it up a bit but doesn't detract from enjoying the main event!

You're quite right. Here is an updated version with a more neutral background. I've also given it a little lift - it's so difficult to get the brightness right across a range of monitors. Also, my new monitor has incredibly rich colour compared to my old one so that might mean I'm posting images with lower saturation than normal.

Very nice! I love the Soul nebula and have for a long time been planning to attempt do it justice myself; as you have here. Any plans to extend the to a mosaic?

Excellent. Impressive what you're achieving from such a light-polluted location - gives us all hope for the future.

Yep, it looks like the star forming regions are concentrated in the outer parts of the spiral arms, which might explain why @gorann's dual-band image (and one of the Hubble images) produces a ring-like appearance.

It looks to me like the outer ring might actually be the faint spiral arms. The overall appearance is a bit clearer in this Hubble image: https://hla.stsci.edu/cgi-bin/display?image=HST_11219_54_NIC_NIC2_total&izoom=1.000000&detector=NIC2&aperture=NIC2-FIX&title=11219_54 NIC2 detection (combined) UGC7329

(The one you posted, @wimvb, I *think* is through a UV filter)

Unfortunately I didn't manage to get out there last night to have a go at it myself.

Update: I can see it on http://www.sky-map.org/ (not very clearly, but it's there)

Please do then

Interesting - definitely looks like a genuine ring. Whether it counts or not as a discovery, I've no idea?

I actually have rare, clear skies forecast tonight so I'll see if I can pick it up myself.

If it is some sort of meteor its a fantastic capture, however my instinct is that it's something more mundane. Is it possible you walked in front of the camera during the exposure? This is the sort or thing I might expect if somebody had, particularly if they had a headtorch or glasses reflecting another light source!

This is difficult style to achieve because it will be near impossible to protect from water ingress.

My obsy is made from a modified shed, though, and the roof slides back over the top of the warm room. This method has worked pretty well for me.

Images taken are here: 

I have recently used an OCAL. I think that centering the sensor is critical and difficult with any normal "webcam". Each individual OCAL comes with its own offset figures to compensate for the imperfect placement of the sensor during manufacture. This just offsets the circles in the software though, so I guess doesn't affect the image itself.

I've not attempted many full narrowband images, so I very quickly realised I didn't know what I was doing when I started processing this. I stumbled on to the end, though. I allowed the stars to bloat naturally during processing, apart from the Sii stars, which I removed altogether as they were super ugly (have already started saving for a new filter!) I then applied a little bit of star reduction at the end, for better or worse. Feedback would be very welcome.

Please let me know which palette is your favourite and I may submit it to the current Ceph and Cass challenge (although I already see many superior images have been entered).

This consists of a relatively low 16x600s for each channel (Ha/Oiii/Sii) and was captured with:
MN190
Atik 460ex

Thanks for looking

Very nice - packed full of structures!

Very nice - so much dust, it almost looks like a smouldering fire.