M16: Halfway there! (Ha)

[Uranium235]

Hiya,

Last night I managed to finish off the Ha channel on this one (Hooray!), though it certainly has been punishing in terms of lack of sleep. Hopefully there will be enough clear sky this week to start putting colour into it.

The guiding was a little "lumpy" in this area. Maybe its becuase of the murk down that low, im not sure. It guided perfectly well on my warm-up target (NGC7000). Anyways, it didnt affect the end result much. Got buzzed by clouds a couple of times and had to deal with a meridian flip after half an hour, but otherwise things went quite well and the finer details are really coming through now.

M16: Eagle Nebula

10x300 + 10x600 (Ha)

Atik 314L+, SW ED80 (0.85x)

Setpoint -10

No calibration

Thanks for looking!

EDIT: Now added colour version

With Ha/O3/O3 colour

[MartinB]

Terrific work. The resolution is very good despite the problems. Guiding is always trickier at this low dec - poor seeing and RA tracking errors are amplified.

[rfdesigner]

oh yes... very nice, good resolution.

Derek

[fatwoul]

Lovely stuff. Wish I could reach M16 myself.

Stupid question, I know, but how well-balanced is your rig? I only ask because my own is deliberately off-balance in an attempt to combat slop in the mount, which works fine for me, but does mean I have to restart PHD completely for each new target around the sky.

[Coco]

Awesome... cant get over the detail..smooth as you like too

[minte222]

Stunning

[jsigone]

great details & contrast

[AndyUK]

Wow!!!! I do so wish (hope) I can get to this soon, although I don't think my subs would be anywhere near as smooth / detailed as this! Last night I managed to capture 4 odd hours of subs - I can't believe that this is "only" a total of 2.5 hrs

[Uranium235]

Thanks for the positive comments guys!

Martin: I noticed that the RA errors are amplified (a lot more up/down motion), even though I increased the aggressiveness of the guiding in PHD. I guess it just goes with the territory if youre imaging that low and close to the meridian. I'll have a fiddle with the balance again to see if I can flatten it out a bit.

Fatwoul: My setup is slightly east heavy in RA, but even if it was balanced equally in RA, I dont think it would make much difference since RA has never been the thing that causes problems. However, DEC is another matter - I have to make it quite camera heavy to reduce the backlash on the CG5 - its a good mount, but you have to work for your beans with it

Its normally the case that if youre moving to another object far from your current pointing position that you will need to re-calibrate PHD, no need to completely restart it (just choose "force calibration" in the brain icon). But if its just a short hop, I wouldnt bother.

I must admit on these warmer nights (when peoples bedroom windows are open) ive been getting a bit paranoid using the CG5 since it makes such a racket!

It looks like tonight will be the last bit of clear sky this week (according to the mess office), so if its clear enough early enough I will see if I can make a start on getting some OIII.

[ollypenrice]

Literally top stuff. How could it be better?

Guiding down at these elevations has been a horror for me too (Takahashi EM200) and I've just been talking to Tom (TomO'D) who is imaging around this part of the sky from Southern Spain. He too has had bad guiding from his normally bomb-proof EM200.

What has surprized me is that, with the guide values I've been getting, I've been able to keep any data at all, let alone nearly all of it as has been the case. SO it's not just you. I am itching to get away from the murk and into the long forgotton zenith but there is so much of delight lurking just above the mountaintops...

Olly

[Beyond_Vision]

What an excellent result I bet you are pleased with it. Nice round stars and tight focus with great contrast and detail despite the less than favourable altitude.

Regards

Kevin

[Uranium235]

Cheers Olly & Kevin, It would be nice to get back to the zenith sometime soon as theres a lot of juicy targets coming up now. But Im feeling a bit brave so I might have a stab at M8 which skirts along the tree line in the distance.

[ollypenrice]

Cheers Olly & Kevin, It would be nice to get back to the zenith sometime soon as theres a lot of juicy targets coming up now. But Im feeling a bit brave so I might have a stab at M8 which skirts along the tree line in the distance.

Yes, get it while you can. It is a thriller in Ha. Really contrasty. I've never actually imaged it because I used Tom's version taken here.

Looking again at the resolution in this image I really am impressed.

Olly

[MartinB]

It isn't bad guiding that gives the large tracking errors. Imagine the circular track of a star as it rotates around the NCP. Close to the pole the circumference is very small but at the celestial equator (the meridian isn't the issue) the circumference is at it's maximum. A tracking error around the equator appears to be much greater than close to the NCP. So guiding is always tougher the closer you get to the celestial equator.

[johnh]

This rooftop challenge has come off extremely well, I love this nebula as you have shown its so full of structure.

John.

[Spr]

Great capture, nice job on the processing as well.

Darren

[Uranium235]

Thanks again Im about to post the finished colour version which Ive been processing since i got back from work. Im kinda glad its cloudy tonight as I dont think I could take a third late night in a row!

[AndyUK]

Im kinda glad its cloudy tonight as I dont think I could take a third late night in a row!

Oh thank you... I'm so glad it's not just me then - I was feeling guilty for having a bad attitude!

[Coolhandjo]

Bravo! Great framing and detail. Looking forward to the addition of RGB

[Uranium235]

Oh thank you... I'm so glad it's not just me then - I was feeling guilty for having a bad attitude!

I must admit I felt slightly wrong wishing for cloud, but I just had absolutely no energy left!

Anyway, have posted a colour version now, quite a bit less aggressive in saturation and sharpening than the one i posted previously. I wil improve it once I get enough clear sky to add another 10x600 in O3.

[AndyUK]

Looking VERY nice.... How many OIII was in this version...? It looks as though by the time I've found a dark site with a southern view you'll have completed this all on your own!

[Uranium235]

10x300 in the OIII Andy, but apart from adding more OIII (10x600) thats as far as it goes becuase I dont have a SII filter (boooo!) wont be able for afford one for a while either so theres still plenty of time to get that SII if you get the chance.

[AndyUK]

Okay... I'm glad I still might be able to help out...

I've offered a bribe to Cloudbuster (who lives about 20 miles away and captured M16 recently) to invite me to his site - Apparently it'll probably cost me a sausage sandwich, reggae reggae sauce and a beer and I think I can stretch to that...

Hopefully our diaries and the clear skies will co-operate and then I'll be able to have a go.

[foundaplanet]

Sometimes something comes along that catches your attention and you find yourself happily and mindlessly absorbed with some sort of perfect balance..

This is an incredibly pleasing image.

[anthony]

A really clean image. Superb!