Long Iris in the 115 apo.

[ollypenrice]

Hi All,

This is a 12 hour Iris, the fourth time I have imaged this object! I thnk I might be getting there at last but the dust just needs SO much time. Maybe I'll try a luminance run - or have a nice change of target!

I used the Altair Astro 115 on iOptron IEQ45 and both colour and mono Atik 4000s, 6 hours in each. All subs 10 minutes. In the mono I just did RGB to see how it worked out. The OSC data was actually better this time but the sky was maybe a little clearer for that run.

A little bird tells me that a respected forum member may soon be positing with one of these triplets...

Olly

EDIT

Following Rob's suggestion that the central region was over exposed (whch is true) I did a separate stretch of the data to produce a more controlled core. I then Layer Masked this in, though I have kept it bright because I think that's the truth. We had a look at this in the TEC and saw no bright nebulosity though the central star is a beauty. What you do see, though, is a conspicuous absence of stars all around it due to all the dust.

Olly

[MjrTom]

Wow that is stunning Olly, it has a real 3D look to it

[samtheeagle]

OH MY GAWWWWD! That is an amazing image Olly, as mentioned above it has a fantastic depth to it.

Blimey. "Well done" doesn't seem to do it justice!

[whirlpool5194]

12 hours!!! You obviously get more clear skies than us here in the uk! Great image, real depth to it....

Wp

[foundaplanet]

Wow!!

Brilliant piece of work.

[mark7331]

Fantastic image Olly and truly inspiring. I've found this object to be difficult to drag out the detail and I'm amazed at the definition that you've achieved in the dark nebula. Wonderful.

Mark

[Ewok]

Olly this is truly amazing, such clarity and depth, I agree it does have a 3D quality.

[Adz]

That is astonishing Olly, so much depth! Lots of dust too, well done

[pietervdv]

Outstanding! Great processing too, very smooth and natural.

regards,

Pieter

[sulaco]

What an absolutely amazing image, this is one of the best I've seen.

[bigal1]

Superb image Olly gives a great feeling of depth well done

[ollypenrice]

Thanks all, you're very kind. I meant to say, also, that Anna's Iris was the image that inspired me to get after the dusty stuff in this one. Hers was a cracker.

Olly

[whirlpool5194]

How are you guiding the mount Olly? Via handset or from a Pc with what software?

Wp

[Uranium235]

The toughest of all targets, taken down in style

Sir, I doff my cap.

[ollypenrice]

How are you guiding the mount Olly? Via handset or from a Pc with what software?

Wp

Hi, I guide with an Atik 16ic in an ST80 mounted atop the imaging scope. The guiding software is AstroArt on the PC.

The iOptron mount's Go To can be controlled from a PC instead of its handset but I don't like to do this. One more USB lead to go wrong. I love handsets! Some people hate them but I am running two or even three mounts at a time so things that go wrong, even occasionally, I avoid...

Olly

[Euan]

Totally stunning. The dust is super smooth, no noise in there at all.

Great star colours too, I wonder if the stars on the right hand side been slightly blocked by the dust? They look more orange than the rest

[ollypenrice]

Totally stunning. The dust is super smooth, no noise in there at all.

Great star colours too, I wonder if the stars on the right hand side been slightly blocked by the dust? They look more orange than the rest

Thanks. Yes, the reddening is certainly from the dust.

Olly

[Spikey]

Beautiful ! you can certainly see why it's called the Iris.

Incidentally, it has a quality that reminds me of paint swirling in water, when the brush is being cleaned by the artist.

I'll stop rambling now and go back to staring at the picture

[Fenriz]

Fantastic image, amazing the amount of dust being picked up. Eat your heart out NASA.

[johnh]

Thats depth like I have never seen, this is what 12 hours can give, blue Iris is being strangled by the dust.

John.

[RobH]

Great depth in the dust Olly, and wonderful star colour

I think you could improve it slightly though by shooting a few short subs to catch the core detail, which is a bit burned out.

I did this in 2009 and it worked well (didn't get anywhere near as deep with the dust as you though!)

Cheers

Rob

[Spr]

Wow Olly, top quality imaging.

Darren

[Espi]

Stunning image, love it.

[AndyUK]

WOW....

I DO wish I had one of these scopes.... (Oh, and your skies, your mount, your CCD cameras and your latitude!) . The detail in the nebula is simply stunning, as is the colour (and roundness) of the stars...

I always look out for any images you post, but I think you've surpassed yourself with this one. Would it be fair to assume that you've decided it's a keeper...? (And have you let AA know they're not having it back?! )

[TFC]

Fantastic work Olly - like opening 'the door' and peeking inside - if you get my drift.

Tony