First attempt at Rosette Nebula

[jazzysam]

Hi All,

First attempt at NGC2237...

As it happens, also first attempt at mixing H-Alpha with RGB as Luminance. My Photoshop skills are pretty basic at this stage - so probably clipped too much dark etc...

Thoughts?

clear skies,

Sam

[Khw]

wow thats amazing mate, and 1st attempt too ! well done, kev

[swedonator]

What equipment did you use?

[jazzysam]

Thanks Guys...

I used a Takahashi Baby-Q on an Avalon Linear mount, with an SX H694 cam and Lodestar guide cam on an ST-80 (Baader filters, all taken using Maxim DL and PinPoint LE). Subs we taken from my loft obsy, kinda looking out of my loft window, so I didn't have to faff about on setup between sessions.

image is based on 10x600s H-Alpha subs unbinned, and 9x180 subs RGB binned x2. Calibrated using Maxim full monty (bias, darks, dark flats, etc).

I'm only playing around with Photoshop CS2 at the moment; hence my poor processing attempt. At some point, I'll have to bite the bullet and get a newer version, and sharpen up those skills...

I have to say that the colour capture of the Baby-Q is unbelievable. I've heard other people say that before, but its amazing in practice.

Clear Skies,

Sam

[Astrosurf]

Wow, brilliant! I'm jealous. I want to image this but it's too big for my FOV. This is certainly not a beginner's image!

Alexxx

[jazzysam]

Hi Alex,

nice of you to say that...

FYI, I started this hobby last September; if I can do it I'm sure everyone else can!

clear skies,

Sam

[Astrosurf]

You're clearly a natural. It's taken me years!

[burger]

This is what i aspire to, and this is your first attempt.

I bow down before you.

Very well done

[Mik3]

Cracking first image.

[lensman57]

Hi,

That is superb, it makes me think twice about putting up my first time Jupiter images on the site.

Regards,

A.G

[jazzysam]

Thanks Guys, I appreciate your kind comments...

Can any of you advise on how to upload a biggish file (35Mb) to the gallery? I had to scrunch the data down significantly in order to get it to upload, and in the process, I realise that I lost a lot of detail.

i use Flickr/Dropbox if that will help; but I'm new to uploading large image files anywhere...

clear skies,

Sam

[stem1989]

awesome image well done.

[Jessun]

I used a Takahashi Baby-Q on an Avalon Linear mount, with an SX H694 cam and Lodestar guide cam on an ST-80 (Baader filters, all taken using Maxim DL and PinPoint LE).

Not what I was expecting clicking on a 'First attempt' thread !

Great gear and a fine image! 35mb is too big for the gallery I believe.

/Jesper

[jazzysam]

Hi Jesper,

thanks for your comments.

can you advise how big a file I should upload? There must be a compromise between the 35Mb original and the 1.5Mb jpg which I ended up uploading.

any thoughts gratefully received...

clear skies,

Sam

[Jessun]

I'd go for max 1200 wide, saved as PNG. Jpegs don't come up well here I think. These images you can link in as BB code from your SGL gallery, and makes for quick enough browsing. Then chuck in a link to the full res.

Just my 2c

/Jesper

[Jessun]

How's the Avalon to work with btw? (The BabyQ is fairly well covered here already as being phenomenal).

/Jesper

[jazzysam]

Thanks Jesper, will try your suggestion.

The Avalon is just brilliant. I was a bit concerned giving it a go given relatively few reviews, but my logic was 'if its good enough for Ian King, then it's good enough for me'.

i couldn't justify spending the thick end of 10K on a Paramount, so the Avalon was a good compromise.

The linear is brilliant at tracking. I'm getting an RMS of 0.3 arcseconds at 1625mm in a less than ideal environment (my loft obsy, looking out thru a loft window). I typically guide using 0.5 sidereal every 10s; that's good enough to keep it on track.

i experimented fairly carefully to see what the Linear could do, and found it was VERY responsive to guide input (pulse guiding of course). The belts seem to take out all the backlash issues I had on an NEQ6, and in fact, if I guided at less than every 5s, I found I was over-correcting the Linear. I spent approx 1 month just experimenting with differing guide input combos, so I reckon I've been pretty methodical in testing this beast.

to be accurate: the NEQ6 (in the same setup - environment/software) never achieved a better guide rate RMS than 1.3 arcseconds at 450mm, compared to 0.3 arcseconds at 1625mm on the Avalon.

To be fair, I always try to make sure my drift alignment is spot on - MaxPoint helps in this, so that there's less work for the Avalon to do. Also, having a permanent setup must help - but I used the same approach on both the Avalon and NEQ6.

let me know if you need anything more specific.

clear skies,

Sam

[Gonzo]

to be accurate: the NEQ6 (in the same setup - environment/software) never achieved a better guide rate RMS than 1.3 arcseconds at 450mm, compared to 0.3 arcseconds at 1625mm on the Avalon.

The Avalon is three times the price of the NEQ6

[jazzysam]

You're dead right!

I think it just proves that you tend to get what you pay for...

clear skies,

Sam

[Gonzo]

oh I agree with that, you really get what you pay for.

There are a few top notch mounts I've love to own (well at least one), knowing that they will give you the results you're truly after, but.... my bank account doesn't really follow...