California Nebula x 2

[DMouse]

Hi, I thought it was about time I had a go at the California Nebula, NGC1499. So because it is fairly large I needed my ED80. Now having the right adapter for the ATIK camera I just needed it to pass the meridian and away we went. I used the Baader 7nm Ha filter for this. Perhaps I will go back at some point and add some RGB.

Then last night we decided to go outside and watch the Geminids. So, I also setup my Canon T2i with the 70-200m EF lense on the HEQ5pro, with the Astronomik CLS clip in filter. This is the first time I have used this filter since I got it a few months ago. So with just 30sec exposures and just guessing the focus I ran off 15 shots of the California nebula.

Having only seen about 30 or 40 meteors in the 2 hours we were outside it was time to give up. I processed the images this morning, and I had forgotten how much longer it takes the pc to process 24bit RAW, instead of the 16bit mono from the ATIK

Anyway, so here are my 2 California Nebula - NGC1499 - shots, enjoy

Clear Skies

Paul

[DMouse]

Here is the other file

[Gina]

Nice Ha of the California I know what you mean about going from the 314L+ mono back to DSLR. DSS fair zips through the Atik files but seems to aake all day to process CR2 RAWs.

[TakMan]

Whilst I love the Ha - that offers so much structural detail, the Nebula always feels so cramped on 'normal' sized sensors - even when I had a go myself with the reducer fitted...

That DSLR shot is just fantastic though Paul - puts it into such a great context!

And you got chance to witness some meteors also - alas, completely clouded out for me... will have to wait another year now!

Clear skies,

Damian

[Jannis]

I love the first pic. Loads of faint details and perfect focus!