Ha finaly but what to capture

[johnb]

So I now have my Ha filter and possibly a clear night, I’m fairly proficient with my DLSR but have been wanting to add Ha for some time, so given my location i.e. Surrey with reasonable views and the fact that I will be out from around 10.00pm can anyone suggest any good targets to cut my teeth on so to speak.

I was assuming that if I say did 2 hours of Ha then I could do 1 hour without the Ha filter on ? so a ratio of 2 to 1

Kit is in my signature

Regards

John B

[Steve Ward]

M42 has just about the most Ha you'll need to play with I'd have thought .

Steve.

[Tim]

The Rosette nebula, monkey head, Horse and flame nebula, M42, California nebula.........

That little lot should keep you busy for a while

[johnb]

Thanks for that, in the past on M42 with my Cannon I would take the regular long exposures and a number of short exposures (15 seconds or so) Stack each set seperatley in DSS and then in PS usingh layers I woudl combine so the core was not blown - I assume I need to do the same with the Ha images ?

John B

[milosz]

Thanks for that, in the past on M42 with my Cannon I would take the regular long exposures and a number of short exposures (15 seconds or so) Stack each set seperatley in DSS and then in PS usingh layers I woudl combine so the core was not blown - I assume I need to do the same with the Ha images ?

John B

Yes, sounds like a good plan. But with filter the exposures should be a bit longer. I think I too 30 seconds with Atik, and it is more sensitive in Ha than Canon.

milosz

[Tim]

I was using 60 seconds last night with a ha filter on the trapezium area, without ruining the core and still able to split at least the four main trap stars, and actually 5 or 6.

But every setup is different to gradually work up in length until you start to over saturate, and then wind back a bit.

If I want real detail and to cleanly resolve the trapezium stars then just a second or two is best, but you need much longer for the surrounding area.

Have fun trying