NGC 6960 Witch's Broom

[Gina]

As part of my mosaic of the Cygnus Loop here is last night's capture of NGC 6960 and some mates. ED80 with FR as in sig. modded and cooled 1100D. 45 lights of 300s at ISO 3200 and 0C set point temperature. Stacked in DSS with 25 darks, 38 flats and 33 bias frames. Processed in PS and resized to 1024px wide for attaching here. Saved in PNG format.

[andyo]

really good capture so much detail and colour

[Gina]

Thank you

[fwm891]

Hi Gina, That camera is working well. Looking forward to the complete picture. Have fun balancing the mosaic

[Daniel-K]

well done gina you've come a long way great image

[Gina]

Thanks Francis Yes I'm pleased with the Arduino set point cooling on the camera - working well. I don't think I'll bother with remote control via USB - the local control and display is really easy to use. It's nice to see the dew point within the box and how far I can turn down the temperature. With a nice cool night and 6 or 7C ambient tumperature, the dewpoint went down to -6C and I could have used -5C set point but I settled for 0C as that easily enabled me to use ISO 3200 and 5 minute subs without getting too much noise. The set point temperature control works really well and the cold finger temperature only deviates by a few tenths of a degree from the set value

[Gina]

well done gina you've come a long way great image

Thank you

[badgers]

Wow, that's lovely Gina, how many panes will you need for your mosaic of the region ?

Admiring your patience! I'm struggling with mosaics, they take a long time to get set up.

[Uranium235]

This is your best photo so far, bags of Ha you've managed to pick up too

[Gina]

Thank you folks I think I can do it in three panes. I now have two but haven't yet tried to stitch them together.

[Coco]

Very nice Gina... filaments are looking super

[davew]

Gina. These images get better and better.

Dave.

[davies07]

Gosh! Inspiring. That's a serious piece of image capturing.

[Shibby]

That's a fine image! Great job.

[Mark72]

Nicely done, Gina!

I also think it's your best image. Lots of details, nice colors and nothing overcooked.

Great work!

Mark

[Gina]

Thank you everyone

Here's some extra processing - well cooked??

[Stu]

Lovely image Gina. Just to echo other comments, it's been fun, emotional and exciting watching your journey over the last year or so (how long has it been?)

The improvement in your images is amazing and it is great to see all your hard work and perseverance, not to mention skill and knowledge paying off. This image looks great, how about posting your first (M51?) alongside this one just to show the difference?

Looking forward to seeing the completed mosaic, one of my favourite objects

Cheers

Stu

[Shibby]

You've got rid of the magenta cast, which is great. I think I marginally prefer the subtlety of the details in the first version, though.

[Gina]

Thank you both Yes, I think my latest version is a bit "over-cooked". I think I'l try to "cool it down a bit".

I'll see if I can find my earlier images

[Gina]

I've found what seems a post about my first DSO image - M42. I posted this on 4 Feb 2012 so it was taken a day or two earlier. Can't find any other info ATM.

Here's a quote of the post I made about it :-

Had a pretty good session in my obsy last night Using Canon EOS 1100D DSLR with and without 2x Barlow on moon, Jupiter and DSOs. Obviously Jupiter was very small in the frame but I could see the bands if not in detail. Software used was Canon EOS Utilities and a first try out of APT (Astro Photography Tool software) with which I'm very impressed but have many more features to try out.

Here are a couple of images processed in the GIMP to bring out the details. These are single shots only so I'm expecting better results later when I get to stacking multiple images.

Firstly the moon using 2x Barlow and secondly my very first DSO - the Orion Nebula I didn't manage to capture Jupiter because the camera battery ran out.

[Stu]

Thanks Gina. Looking forward to seeing a new version of M42 this winter

Stu

[Gina]

And I'm looking forward to having a propper go at it

[ultranova]

Don't know how this one sneaked pass me, as every one has already said very nice shot Gina.

What ever you done to get it keep doing it, I am looking forward to seeing your mosaic of that area.

Well done Paul.

[Quatermass]

Your progress is brilliant Gina its great watching your imaging getting better and better hats off to you for your dedication and skill.

[Gina]

Thank you very much, Mark