Horse head & Flame with equinox 66

[cloudbuster]

hi all:hello2:

went up to failand nr bristol again last night, as the forecast for the night was improving by the minute. things got off to a bad start, as one of the puppies (pedro), had pinched my woolly hat...not just any hat, but my fave astro one, with an astro logo on the side! once sorted, i arrived at failand around 5.45pm, and as usuall, there was no one around to hold my hand, and so, with conditions improving by the minute, i set up by the barn...my wind sheild...tho there was no wind! a decision that would come back to haunt me, as orion would dissapear behind it around 11pm!!! 3 star allignment went ok, but guiding on the equinox didnt run quite as smoothly as i had hoped. also focussing issues. i gave up imaging the horsehead with my 200pds 8", and so i chose to do something that was new for me...i guided with the 8" and imaged with the equinox 66. i managed 13 x 7min subs...hoping to get as much nebulocity and stars as i could, before orion dissapeared behind the barn. i went home around midnight, had a sausage sandwhich and a beer, before turning in. this morning i did my flats, and started processing in pixinsight...the result of which is here, and i would have to say that i am somewhat dissapointed. i intend to have another go at processing, but in the meantime, here it is. comments welcome.

best wishes

bob:)

failand (bristol) 23.1.12

skywatcher Equinox 66

Canon 40d

CLS light pollution filter

800 asa

13 subs 7 min

10 darks 7 min

50 bias 1/8000th sec

20 flats 1/125 mode

stacked in DSS

Processed in Pixinsight

[cloudbuster]

re-processed, in pixinsight.

[stan26]

Brilliant image of a challenging target. I really struggled with my un-modded 500D. I will be returning as soon as I'm modded!

Stan.

[cloudbuster]

Brilliant image of a challenging target. I really struggled with my un-modded 500D. I will be returning as soon as I'm modded!

Stan.

in my experience stan, modded is a must, and in the bristol area, a CLS light pollution filter is also a must.

cheers

bob:)

[AndyUK]

Nice one, Bob - That Alnitak's a right b*gger, but you've got some lovely data in there... and some really good star colour coming through (which isn't always that easy with a DSLR for some reason )

[Zul]

Very nice image!