California nebula (dslr)

[stan26]

Wow, its been ages since I last posted an image on SGL. Come to think of it, its been ages since I last pointed a camera at the night sky!

Anyway, last night was a lovely crisp clear evening here in mid Suffolk, I couldn't resist the temptation any longer so I grabbed a modded 1100D, the astro trac and headed into the back garden for a "re-familiarisation" course on astrophotography!

After a quick polar align and standing in awe at the heavens above for a moment I decided to line the camera up with NGC1499 California nebula, and after a few test shots I settled for 2min subs at ISO1600. This was absolute max exposure time given the relatively bad light pollution from sodium lamps in the area.

Modded Canon 1100D, Canon 200mm L f2.8 prime (@ 3.5 stopped down with aperture ring), Astro trac TT320, no filters.

Total exposure time 1hr 26min.

I suspect that this target is best left to the Mono CCD / HA guys & gals, I never realised it was as faint as this. The histogram has been stretched to within an inch of its life to reveal anything close to what I usually see on here.

nevertheless I'm glad I have bagged this neb, but I will return to it in the future armed with an HA filter!

Stan

California Nebula NGC1499 by James stannard, on Flickr

Califonia Nebula NGC1499 (mono) by James stannard, on Flickr

Wow even forgot how to link from my flickr, hope this works........

[fwm891]

Lovely image - another great add for astrotrac

[twintin]

That is a great shot. Well done

[Mark72]

Indeed, turned out a great image, lots of subtle details for DSLR,

Mark

[swag72]

A most pleasing DSLR image - I think I'd be inclined to get the nebula to it's slightly more 'usual' colour, this one looks a little on the orange side for me

[stan26]

Thanks guys.

Sara - I was wondering if someone would comment on the colour because I seem to always have major problems with reds on my monitor vs other screens. I use a colour calibrated IPS monitor (calibrated with tool that you hang in front of screen etc) and an embedded colour profile throughout my workflow, of which the final result is uploaded with the profile embedded etc. On my monitor the nebula looks okay, swaying more toward a deeper more magenta colour, however on my phone screen and Ipad it does look very "orange", so I go by what the monitor says although I always notice the reds look WAY different on other non calibrated devices....hmm

Can somebody confirm that I don't need to edit my pictures in "proof-colours" (Ctrl+Y) in photoshop..? I thought this was just for print..? I notice that with this toggled on it does look very orange.

Cheers

Stan 

[Pete Presland]

that looks pretty good, a little orange though. i never realised just how huge this target is, i was going to have a little go with my 200PDS but looking your image i would have been wasting my time.

[stan26]

Thanks bunnygod, just for your info this has been fairly heavily cropped in, so you probably would still get a good chunk of the main nebula in frame....

Okay, version two, this is a non colour managed, non embedded version for non colour managed browers etc etc.

Any better, or worse..?

California Nebula NGC1499 by James stannard, on Flickr

[swag72]

Much better and more usual colour

[stan26]

Excellent, cheers Sara.

Its amazing what difference colour management makes.

Stan

[Gina]

Very nice

[davew]

Having just done the Californian I have to say that image is sweet. I'm impressed with your tracking and focus.

Well done dragging the info out to where we can enjoy it,

Dave.

[andyo]

That's a very nice image

[stan26]

Thanks guys!

Dave - The astrotrac amazes me every time I use it. It takes 2min's (max) to polar align it, and with the 200mm lens I can go for 5min subs from the right location. Focus is achieved manually just using a bahtinov mask. I always let the lens cool outside for an hour before I focus it.

Cheers

Stan.