Eagle & Omega Nebulae - M16, M17, M18 & friends in NB - WIP

[Gina]

When oh when are we going to have just a few hours of clear sky so that I can finish this off ?????? The dual imaging widefield rig is all set up and aligned ready to go

[Gina]

NINE DAYS now since I was able to do any imaging Not a record yet though - just seems a long time!

[Coco]

Real Labour of love... Also I particularly like the wide field setup you made...

[Martin-Devon]

Time for you to take a holiday Gina!

[Gina]

That would be nice Unfortunately, it's not possible as I'm carer for my OH and have livestock to see to. Mind you I might just take a break from astro stuff and do one of my other projects

[Gina]

Real Labour of love... Also I particularly like the wide field setup you made...

Thank you Guy

The forecast is not too bad for tonight so I'm all set up, software running, camera cooling on, pointing in the right direction with Astro Tortilla, PHD connected to camera and mount ready for the daylight to subside and the low cloud in the line of sight to go or the view to ascend above it. Ever the optimist!

[Gina]

It was rather mixed for imaging last night. First of all cloud so I waited with everything set up to go until the cloud went. Had problems with guiding so some esposures were without guiding and limited to 3m. I eventually got guiding going but the Dec wouldn't calibrate so guiding was RA only. I got about 5 x 5m RA guided before mist enveloped everything and I gave up - everything was getting soaked in dew. So these images are stacks of a mixture of 3m and 5m subs some RA guided. 11 of OIII and 13 of SII

[Gina]

Ha, OIII and SII images aligned in RegiStar, combined and processed in PS CS5.

1. Ha + SII to red, OIII to green and OIII + 25% Ha to blue. Enhanced in PS.
   
2. SII to red, Ha to green and OIII to blue combined in PS, colours equalised and Selective Colour applied to give HST pallette.
   

[WaveSoarer]

Amazing images as ever Gina. I really like your setup.

Dave

[Gina]

Thank you Dave

Here's a tweak of the HST version. I think the "natural colour" version could do with one too.

[Gina]

Natural colour version tweaked...

[Gina]

I thought I'd simulate what area of the image I'd get if I used the same camera (Atik 314L+) on the ED80 with focal reducer - about 5x the focal length. Here is a section of the HST image magnified by 5x to simulate the ED80 image albeit with low resolution plus the Eagle Nebula in 12 Dimensional String's FOV calculator.

[Gina]

And this is a simulation of the FOV with the 460EX on the ED80 + FR, scaled by 2 (half size) to upload here.

[Gina]

Here is the original image the right way up (N at top) and right way round - undoing the "flip" that DSS does to FITS srtacks. Plus a little tweak to the curves.

[Gina]

Although more data would probably improve this image a bit I think I'll call it a day on this widefield image and move over to more close up imaging. So I have swapped scopes and now have the MN190 on the mount and plan to get in close to the Eagle Nebula. Other than the widefield, this is the fastest imaging system - at least until I finish off the ED80 dual setup. That's waiting for my DIY FW which is on hold ATM waiting for some more bits.

This is a simulation of the FOV I expect to get with the MN190 and Atik 314L+.

[Spoon]

amazing work! keep going!

[Gina]

Thank you I will

[fwm891]

Quite a project Gina - and coming along well. Like you some clear stuff would be nice....

[Gina]

Thank you Francis Yes, you're right Looks like we could see somethinbg tonight The MN190 is on the mount, OAG with Lodestar plus EFW2 and Atik 314L+ mono CCD are attached to scope - I should be all ready to go when it gets dark tonight - oh full moon I think Not all that dark then! Hope the moon isn't in the same direction.

This is what I'm aiming for

[Jessun]

You're going from strength to strength Gina! Keep that aim in focus and before long it'll be yours! Good luck on the wide field rig!

M16 is in my book the most iconic target of all!

/Jesper

[Gina]

Thank you Jesper I'm certainly determined to stay focussed Yes, M16 has some really wonderful contents

[Martin-Devon]

Good luck Gina - I see that M16 is right next to the full (super) Moon tonight.....

[Gina]

Thank you Martin Oh! Is it? Oh Dear, that's NOT good Curses! Maybe I ought to think of/find something else.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Very nice indeed!

[Gina]

Very nice indeed!

Are you referring to my images or that wonderful APOD of the Eagle? Have to say, it's certainly something to aspire to But I think I have quite a decent setup with the MN190 and either 314L+ or the soon to arrive 460EX.