Adreneline

Depth, structure, just the right amount of colour and loads of detail. What's not to like?

Nice delicate touch with the processing Lee; I much prefer images that are not oversaturated, but that is very much a personal thing.

I have yet to try HDRComposition in PI, but then I keep shying away from M42 - there's always next year!

Looks like you've got the Epsilon tuned to perfection too.

Adrian

9 hours ago, Fegato said:

I agree with the others - a really nice composition!

Good luck with the completion.

Thank you Robin. To stand any chance of getting a 'finished' image this year (if there such a thing as a finished image) I really need to put the ASI1600 on the Samyang and prey for a couple of clear nights to get some OIII and SII. I could also do with some Ha to reinforce what I already have. The next seven days look terrible but you never know!

Adrian

16 minutes ago, mackiedlm said:

Thats a brilliant FOV. I really hope you can finish it because I think it would be a bit special. Good luck!

Thank you. I, we all, need a kind February - five or six clear nights should do it 🤣

Adrian

25 minutes ago, geeklee said:

I hope you get another opportunity before it's gone!

So many of us are in the same boat - projects started and struggling to get them finished.

I am determined to try to complete the whole thing in SHO as I believe the SII has so much to offer in terms of revealing structure. I might yet have to face up to putting the 1600 on the Samyang.

28 minutes ago, geeklee said:

Excellent arc of objects Adrian, showcasing the interacting Ha throughout this region.

Thank you Lee.

Adrian

I started this enterprise back in January 2020 with an ASI1600 attached to a Canon 200 mm f2.8 lens. It was not the greatest image - https://www.astrobin.com/oxjf3s/B/?nc=&nce=.

Despite the so called pedigree of Canon the stars were not up to the much cheaper Samyang and so I vowed to start again. Moving house twice and rubbish weather continue to make this a frustrating project.

This is eight panes of Ha taken with the Samyang 135 mm with ASI183MM.

The image is significantly cropped across the bottom. The whole thing could be done far more easily if I were to pair the SY135 with my ASI1600 but that is currently attached to the SM90ED and I am reluctant to disturb it or to undertake the task or getting the 1600 set up on the Samyang.

We are now fast approaching the end of nebula season and the window of opportunity on Monoceros is drawing to close.

One day, hopefully, I might manage to get (a) a lot more Ha, and (b) some OIII and SII to go with it - hopefully it won't take another four years.

Thank you for looking.

Adrian

35 minutes ago, gorann said:

They are also surprisingly rarely imaged.

SH2-284 seems pretty popular - about 140 images on AB alone

Several have popped up on SGL of late too - including my own modest (integration time) offering:

Adrian

12 minutes ago, Clarkey said:

Interesting concept of inverting the image and applying SCNR

You can do the same thing with PixelMath but iSCNR is much easier - handy for removing magenta halos in SHO images.

Right or wrong I always feel you should try to keep the rgb histograms aligned - difficult at times.

To my eyes there is a hint of magenta about the image so I inverted the image and applied SCNR.

I then re-iverted the image and applied SCNR again and the resulting histograms are almost aligned.

It would be easy to align the Red now using HT but if I try with a .jpg image it all goes bonkers - it needs to be done on the .xsif file in PI.

Now I accept a lot of folk like magenta and green in their images so this is all down to personal taste so feel free to completely ignore all of the above! 😆

Sometimes individuality is more important than conforming to some expected norm - it makes life, and images, more interesting. 

HTH.

Adrian

Very nice. Really like the subtle colours in the cluster. Adrian

Sharpless 2-284 is a Bright Nebula appearing in the constellation Monoceros near the more familiar Rosette nebula.

Also within the frame is Dolidze 25, a 7th magnitude Open Cluster approximately 22 thousand light years from our solar system.

Captured over two nights with a StellaMira 90ED + ASI1600MM + 3nm Antlia filters; 4hr 45min of SHO data with slightly more Ha than SII or OIII.

Pre-processed in APP and post-processed in PI.

Thank you for looking.

Adrian

7 minutes ago, Dave Smith said:

A bit of an experiment for me.

With a very successful outcome! Impressive.

On 17/01/2024 at 11:25, Adreneline said:

Sh2-284 - a real jewel in the sky.

@ollypenrice I managed a few hours last night - much more required - but a jewel in the making ....

... and definitely worth including with the Rosette at the top of the image - IMHO 🤣

Adrian

2 hours ago, Vallantho said:

Polar alignment is the worst part.

After six years of PA'ing I bought a pier and permanently installed my azeq6-pro along with mains and network connections (at the pier). Stress levels and work load drop immediately.

An observatory is not an option for me but my Telegizmo covered azeq6 has survived two winters with no ill-effects that I can see.

12 minutes ago, dobblob said:

My last hurrah will be April 8th when the eclipse path runs right through my front yard.

Fingers crossed it is a perfectly clear day for you to enjoy the spectacle - well deserved I would say.

8 minutes ago, tooth_dr said:

I ....... dont think I have what it takes to extend to the right though as much as I want to lol

As @ollypenrice says, it is a risky undertaking starting a mosaic. I have started so many! You get a nice set of Ha and then the OIII is such a trial - it is so frequently 'un-rewarding' - a frame full of noise if you're lucky, often taken on a night with poor 'seeing', partial cloud and full moon - all because you're desperate to get a finished image!

That aside I feel you are duty bound to extend the above all the way across to Sh2-284 🤣

Good luck Adam!

Adrian

1 minute ago, ollypenrice said:

Gettng started on mosaics is always a risky undertaking!

Never a truer word spoken. It's the OIII that gets you every time. Collecting enough OIII to do justice to Ha and SII is a real challenge - and HSS images don't have any appeal 🤣

3 minutes ago, ollypenrice said:

Your Sh2-284 looks lovely.

Currently on the list for my new StellaMira 90ED - weather permitting.

Thanks Olly.

Adrian

Three frames with the Samyang + ASI1600 equivalent gets you the whole thing, including Sh2-284 - a real jewel in the sky.

I started this some time back - in fact January 2020 - it continues to be a work-in-progress.

20% overlap:

Adrian

17 minutes ago, geeklee said:

Dark, dusty, moody

Perfect description of me 🤣

Thanks Lee - seriously I appreciate the comment - on the image.

Adrian

44 minutes ago, assouptro said:

It’s nothing special, but what can you do when imaging below 25°?

I disagree - I think it is very special because you have achieved a great result whilst imaging below 25 degrees. "Well done" to you - and thanks for sharing.

Adrian

Hi Everyone.

Despite a 'clear all night' forecast high clouds stopped me from achieving a complete session on NGC2264.

I had hoped for 20 x 300s of H, S and O but in the end had to settle for Ha:13x300 OIII:16x300 SII:10x300 after sifting out the dodgy/spoilt subs.

[The new APP normalised graphs are a real double edged sword - they highlight the 'good' and the 'bad' in graphic form!]

Imaged using my new StellaMira 90ED with dedicated adjustable flattener giving the native focal length of 540 mm; combined with ASI1600MM and Antlia 3 nm narrow band filters.

Pre-processed in APP and post-processed in PI.

As a related aside the adjustable flattener from @FLO is a great bit of kit and makes you wonder why it is not available for all scopes; it complements the 90ED perfectly and makes achieving perfect backfocus a breeze.

I am really impressed with the 90ED - it is well made, well finished and exudes quality - hats off to @FLO for making this scope available to us AP'ers and for a great Black Friday and 'year end' price deal. 

Thanks for looking.

Adrian

26 minutes ago, Hughsie said:

Yeah, tried that Adrian, no luck I’m afraid.

Sorry I can't be of more help.

Hope you get sorted because Hocus Focus is worth using and offers a lot of potential value to understanding your optical train.

Good luck.

Adrian

16 minutes ago, Hughsie said:

I'm using version 2 and finding that some plugins work and hocus focus doesn’t. 

Ah. I just wondered whether this bit was of relevance : "I deleted all the plugins in the NINA/Plugins folder and reinstalled."

Adrian

Might this be of any use/help?

https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/860827-installed-nina-plugins-no-longer-visible/

Adrian

4 minutes ago, Simon Pepper said:

definitely over my head with the CTU

One of these:

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/adapters/gerd-neumann-camera-tilting-unit-ctu-xt.html

1 hour ago, Simon Pepper said:

curious what's the quickest way to test the corners to see what kind of copy I have.

I cannot take any credit for this as I was pointed in this direction by a fellow AB user.

Surprisingly you can get a very good idea of the performance of your lens and camera attachment using a lens star test sheet.

I use my Samyang 135mm with an ASI183MM and over the past four years of using the ASI183 with the Samyang, a RedCat 51 and a 6" RC I have convinced myself there is a slight problem with one corner of the sensor - the sensor has not been mounted orthogonal to the image train. I purchased a Gerd Neumann CTU to try to null this sensor misalignment but the weather has been terrible for months and not conducive to spending time outside by the scope using NINA Aberration Inspector to fully understand the problem and hopefully correct the misalignment.

I was advised to print five of these off and mount them in the corners and centre of a piece of card. I chose the aspect ratio to match my sensor- an ASI183MM.

You don't need to focus at infinity - I had my card about 7.5 metres from the lens - the most I could comfortably manage indoors:

I did spend some considerable time trying to ensure I had everything orthogonal and very, very aligned accurately.

This was the first image I took ....

... and I think you can see the dark areas in the middle of the corner patterns are (a) not the same and (b) not the same as the centre pattern.

I took dozens of images whilst carrying out incremental adjustments with a CTU - this is what an introduced 25 micron tilt of the CTU will do to the patterns:

... that is 25/1000th of a millimetre.

After much playing around with the CTU and note taking I ended up with this:

... which I think is marginally better than where I started.

I accept that there is no substitute for an actual star test and feeding the resulting image into ASTAp / Siril / PI and analysing the star quality across the image.

Since doing the above the great UK weather has not provided me with a single opportunity to check my lens with a real star test.

If nothing else the above method allows you to identify image train droop and tilt and maybe start to correct the problem(s) BUT a star test is always going to provide the acid test.

Hope this is of interest.