Rough Iris Nebula from last night

[Gina]

Just an hour of data last night on the Iris Nebula. 10 lights of 300s at ISO 1600 and EXIF T of -14C, of which DSS chose 8. 21 Darks no Bias or Flats. Processed in PS. This object needs a lot more data but at least I got out last night even if I spent most of the time faffing about trying to find an object. Cloud put an end to imaging at about 2am. Very heavy dew.

[Quatermass]

Great start on the Iris Gina its a bit tricky to find at first but once you know where it is then finding it again is a doddle. I had trouble with dew last night as well, I check my secondary mirror on my 200p after 40 subs as they normally start getting dimmer as the dew creeps up on you. Wondering if you can get a hairdryer that plugs into the car socket which would be handy for when I am out in the car.

[Chris]

Now this looks like a very tricky object indeed Gina, it will be nice to see the image develop as you add to it each session, you'll probabaly get slightly addicted to it like you did with M51 until you got a very nice M51 indeed, and I;m sure this will be the case with the Iris:) I don't know if I should even attempt this object with all the light polution in Ipswich, I'm looking forward to M31 rising higher though:)

[Gina]

Yes, this is a tricky object. It needs two sets of subs at different exposures. To get the nebulosity and dusty areas you need long exposures and lots of them but then the middle gets blown out, so you need some shorter subs to take care of that. I'm giving it a miss tonight and going for the Veil Nebula which looks a bit easier. There is very little real darkness now and the Iris is a very small object unlike the Veil which is covering well over half the frame. I expect to get back to the Iris a bit later. To tell the truth, it's been such a long time since the weather has been suitable that I felt like trying something new. The individual subs on the Veil are looking good so I'm hoping for some decent results.

[Quatermass]

Looking forward to seeing your subs on the viel I made a start but it was pretty faint managed to get the trifid and the lagoon in one frame tonight though so happy chappy

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[nytecam]

Very good start Gina - it's a couple of years since I tried the Iris Neb http://www.cloudynights.com/ubbthreads/attachments/4049006-n7023irislx100914.jpg and must try again as it's circumpolar but currently in the London lightdome to NE [my zone of avoidance!] so will wait a few weeks to shoot at a respectable hour

[Gina]

I think I got some good subs of the Veil - 20 odd of 2m at ISO 1600 and a few less of 4m also at 1600 with EXIF T of -15C. I haven't got the the digital temperature sensors connected to the computer as yet but the local display shows about a degree warmer on the cold finger which I think is just inaccuracies in the thermometer and/or EXIF T. Very heavy dew again. Packed up lights at 2am and set up for darks. Didn't get dark enough for the Veil until about nidnight (BST) and I took some subs of M13 in the last of the twilight. This also served to confirm the pointing accuracy but I needed to adjust the framing on the Veil, which I managed to do before it was dark enough to take decent subs (about midnight as I recall).