daemon

Sorry.......normally a deep sky person....but as the moon is "in the way" I thought I'd join the party........ a bit saturated maybe, but hey ho..!

I decided to re-process this one to try and tame the background somewhat. Used a simple Range Selection Mask in Pixinsight and then curves whilst the nebula was largely protected.

I only spent a short time on it so I have lost some nebulosity, but I guess I got impatient. It is only around 2 hours of data anyway so was not really worth spending too much time on.

Under 2 hours of mostly Ha, with some out of focus OIII and a hint of SII. Hubble palette.

Hi All,

I haven't posted anything for ages due to a dearth of clear nights, but finally last weekend (and Monday) provided some good opportunities for some AP.

Here is my first attempt on M1 - the famous Crab Nebula in Taurus. It's just a short session (1 hr) as I was trying to go after other targets to test out NINA, which I had not used much previously.

Here is the capture info:-

• Scope/Mount:- SW 150PDS on EQ6R-Pro - Guided
• Camera:- ZWO ASI1600MM (20x120" Ha, 20x120" OIII, 20x120" SII) Gain 200 -20c 
• Acquisition: NINA
• Processing: Stacked in APP (darks & flats), Processed in PixInsight (Hubble/SHO palette)

I may have over-clipped the blacks and of course I could do with more data. The stars are also a bit of a mess so I will try re-processing this. It is of course heavily cropped as this is such a small target for the 150PDS, but I wanted to try and drag out some detail.

Comments welcome. Thanks for looking.

Stay safe!

Steve

Maybe the sooner I get back to work the better - The Devil certainly does find evil work for idle hands!

I have just finished wiring up the below changes to my rig. All in an effort to reduce set-up time and improve the dreaded cable management issue.

In the next days I'll do a full test of all power and data connections. Individual tests so far are okay and balancing seems better than ever.

Ultimately I'll take the whole thing outside and stick it on my new pier.

And maybe even one day it will see first light.

Ciao!

An attempt at the Pelican from last week. About 3 hours in total of Ha, SII, OIII..... but the OIII layer was slightly out of focus.

Probably over processed and not sure about the colours. Thanks for looking.

9 minutes ago, ebdons said:

Hey that's not too bad really?, a bit overprocessed but it's ok considering the conditions.

Thanks! It's just 2 hours of LRGB so maybe I have tried to drag too much out of it.

1 minute ago, alacant said:

Post It! The more images on the thread, the better IMHO.

With this post, I just wanted to see what other reflector images were like.

(Are you in Spain now?)

Yes, down on the South Coast....near Malaga.... I blame the seeing.....too humid at the moment. 😉

Great image Alacant! I was just about to post my image of M33 (from last night) when I saw this. I can't compete with your image.

I may post it separately though to see if I can get some advice. Mine is with a refractor (ED80) anyway.

Cheers

Steve

1 minute ago, tooth_dr said:

🤔 I thought I had replied to this thread but it’s disappeared 

You did. It's under a separate posting I did in the Beginner's section. 🙂

Hi All,

This is only about 3hrs 20m of total integration time so more data would have been better.

Other suggestions on how I could improve this are most welcome.

Cheers!

Steve

3 minutes ago, tooth_dr said:

Hi Daemon

Plenty of detail and nicely framed.  It looks a tad green to my eye with some gradient - hope you dont mind I had a play with it - I selected just the galaxies with lasso tool and inverted the selection and ran GradXTerminator on the image.  Then I ran HLVG on the image, and brought in the histogram a tad at the black end leaving a background of 23-30.

All the best

Adam

 

 

🙂 Thanks Adam! Yeah, I noticed the green when it was too late. Doesn't help being partially colour blind. 🙂

And thanks for the processing hints. Noted. 👍

I think there was too much of a green cast to the last image, so applied some SCNR.....

I've spent so long on the processing of this one I have probably overdone it. Time to stop now.

Only about 3hrs 20 total integration in L, Ha, and RGB.

Bortle 5 skies near Malaga, Spain. Skywatcher Evostar ED80 on HEQ5 - ZWO ASI1600MM.

Fully processed in PixInsight and using some of the EZ Processing Suite tools. 

Suggestions for improvement welcome. Unless it's to say I need more data (I know that). 😉

A first attempt at the Heart Nebula. Struggled with various aspects including the processing. Not a lot of data and very noisy but thought I'd post it anyway.

1 hour ago, MarkAR said:

Really good so far, hope you get the chance soon for more data.

Thanks Mark!! 👍

70 minutes (30 Ha, 20 OIII, 20 SII) from last night on the Trifid. First attempt on this target.

Would have been good to get more data and I'm struggling with focus between filters.

Thanks for looking.

9 hours ago, MarkAR said:

Lovely detail and an interesting colour option. A little star reduction wouldn't hurt just to throw them to the background a bit.

Thanks Mark! Yes the colours are a bit quirky. For this first attempt I just chose APP's "HSO1" composite formula to see what would happen and decided to stick with it.

I'll try some other options to try and get a more natural look next time. Thanks for the tips!

I hope this image does not put anyone off their dinner! 🙂

A quick process of last night's data. About 2 hours (total) of Ha/OIII/SII - M8 The Lagoon Nebula.

I will re-process this when I have more time and will take a bit more care, but if anyone has any processing suggestions they would be welcome.

I'll probably try some Star Reduction as well as trying some de-noising etc, etc.

I know more data would be better - but there we are.

Thanks for looking.

Steve

Nice! The SA is a great lightweight mount. Keep going!

I have the 80ED, with the flattener, ZWO 8 pos'n EFW, ZWO ASI1600MM and I have had no slippage issues with the Focuser.

However, I have also fitted the Sesto Senso focus controller so that may help to keep the focus rack in check.

34 minutes ago, MarkAR said:

Looks good Steve, are you planning on adding more?

Thanks Mark!

Yes, that would be my intention at some point. I did actually get a bit more but was dealing with various issues. Guiding etc. The target passed the Meridian and then APT crashed on me mid session. I had to re-start everything and then had guiding issues on the other side of the Meridian. A tricky night, so this was all I could salvage.

Planning the belt mod on my HEQ5 in the next couple of weeks so will see if that helps things too.

Very short session from last night in Ha only. Crop of a wider field image of M16.

ZWO1600MM - S/W ED80 - HEQ5 - South Coast Spain (10 x 120" lights, 20 darks, no flats).

Very roughly processed in DSS and PI.

Thanks for looking.

Steve

17 minutes ago, alacant said:

JTOL. Your 150 would fit into a flight case and go with you for the cost of another bag.

Are you a member of any groups over here?

Cheers

It's an idea. But the other half has already assigned me a load of items to get over there. And with my cameras/filter wheel etc. I've plenty to carry!

Not a member of any group yet. I'm based down near Malaga. Will have to see if there are any groups active at the moment. Hoping to be there a few months so you never know.

My sister also has a place in the northern countryside so hoping to get some Bortle 3'ish action there! 😉

On 18/07/2020 at 13:18, alacant said:

Hi

Even though i don't understand mono-with-colour stuff, a lovely image.

is this taken from Spain? If not, it maybe worth revisiting; we have over 5 hours of darkness ATM. You could make it truly pop:)

Cheers

Thanks Alacant!

No, this was taken from the UK. Hopefully though I will be heading to Spain next week for some time and will try again there.

Only issue there is I only have an ED80 in Spain so maybe a wider pic of the whole veil complex is in order. 😉