NGC 1491

[woland]

Hello all,

After very long considerations and research (like 1,5-year long), I recently moved from DLSR astrophotography (with Pentax kx - sorry fellow Pentaxians) to CCD astrophotography. I chose Atik 314 L+ for many reasons, but mainly because it is very well suited for narrowband work, and because LP in the place where I take my astrophotos is unfortunately not getting any lower, so I decided that I will pursue this path. I based my decision mainly on several articles by Pavel Pech and Craig Stark, as well as many suggestons that have been made here on this forum. I could not have been more happy with my purchase.

So few days after the camera arrived, the weather decided to be kind to me and clouds moved away for several hours (I know - hard to believe) - but I suspect it was connected with the almost full moon. After taking several test shots of different targets, I decided to try to photograph the NGC 1491 emmision nebula which is located in Perseus and contains a star that is blowing a bubble in gas that surrounds and by this destroying the nebula itself. Unfortunately my mount didn't behave that night and the night after and I'll have to work on that some more.

Anyway here are the details about my setup and the picture of the nebula:

TS APO 65Q, Atik 314 L+, HEQ5, Baader H-alpha filter, Orion mini guider + QHY5v.

~4 hours worth of 10- and 15-minute light frames + bias frames

So this is my first narrowband picture. I know I'll have to do longer expositions but this time with the full moon and my mount behaving badly it didn't make any sense to try to do 1800-second and longer exposition. Processing, compared to working with DSLR material, was much more easier and fun. I can only ask myslef why I didn't move to the CCD kingdom earlier?

All comments, especially about processing, are welcome

[davew]

That looks like it's coming on a treat. Nice stars and good framing. Spot on.

I feel there's an awful lot more there to show though. A few more stretches wouldn't go amiss I think.

If you use PS or similar then in layers make a background copy and gently stretch the image. If happy with it you can either flatten or make a copy of the copy and stretch that gently. Keep going until you aren't happy ! This could be because the background is starting to get noisy. No problem, go back one step. If in doubt go away from the computer, get a coffee, and come back later and look again. You may even want to go back two steps.

This is a great time to practice curves and concentrate on different parts of the image. You can bin a layer at any time. Another neat trick is that you can erase any part of a layer and keep the bits you do want.

Have a go. Costs nothing until the moon goes away

Dave.

[woland]

Thanks for your comment I took your advice and decided to work on the nebula a bit more. In the original version I was indeed too conservative about processing but I really dislike images that are too noisy or when the noise is processed out in a way that leaves other kind of noise in its place.

Anyway here's the result. It's still just several short subs...

[Ewan]

That is much better Woland, you can't beat a good stretch

Same boat as you, well almost, i got the kit now but also the clouds & rain that goes with it, i look forward to my 1st Ha shot.

I know what you mean re moving to a ccd but to be honest the Atik is not cheap by a long shot but not the dearest, i was told when i purchased my 314L+ that i will be blown away by one 5 minute Ha sub rather than a dslr sub, this i really look forward to.

I wouldn't mind trying this target myself but with one mount & Jup popping up again i am holding off mounting the frac just yet.

Look forward to you adding more data & well done.

[woland]

Thanks

Well I've been gathering some new material (M33 and NGC 2175) recently, and trust me you will be blown away by single subs taken with the Atik. This camera is really great and worth every penny.