First horsehead - in fact first anything for months!!

[Helen]

I've been having a few difficulties with kit over the past few months, and the weather has been awful here So it was a great relief to get out last night and actually take some photos

The up-sides are: the scope has stopped clicking and jerking , the electronic focussing is neat (must get the automatic bit sorted now), and the horsehead is recognisable

The down-side is the camera seems to be generating a huge amount of noise :? and as a result this has a bad gradient (my key for Russ Croman's exterminator should be on its way to me now!), and because I took some time to focus Orion was starting to dip out of my view and so I could only get a small amount of data.

So, here's my poor attempt at horsehead.

NS8 Alt Az (but not for much longer!), 3.3FR, Ha, ATiK 16ic, exposures of 30 and 25 sec, and only 15 minutes of data stacked in astroart (my first attempt) and final tweaking (minimum) in elements.

Please be gentle!

(click to enlarge)

Helen

[jcm]

Nice close up. For such a short exposure I would be pleased with the result.

John

[MikeD]

Awesome result especially for just 15 Min's.

Nice and tight with a good level of detail......top job. :hello1:

Mike.

[Beyond_Vision]

Well done for getting a good image like that with a small amount of data. Cant go for this one until I get a CCD with a wider FOV or modify my 400D.

Regards

Kevin

[Kaptain Klevtsov]

Great horsey Helen, well done.

Kaptain Klevtsov

[robindurant]

Hi

That's not poor but Brill. I want to try it when I can and will be pleased with your effort.

Robin

[LostNSpace]

Nice job Helen. Good image for such a short exp time and on an altazimuth as well.

Keep up the good work

Mark

[steppenwolf]

That's a lovely atmospheric image, Helen. Really like it.

[anthony]

That is actually very impressive Helen,

You'll be flying once you get everything sorted with the obs and wedge

Anthony

[centroid]

I'm impressed with that one Helen, as a 'close-up' of the 'horse' is not an easy subject. With the very bright star Alnitak just out of the frame, it can be quite tricky to capture a dark object like the 'horse', without some light intrusion from the side.

With only 15 mins of exposure, you really did accomplish quite a lot.

Very well done indeed!!

Dave

[CELESCOPE]

Hey well done Helen , great feeling is,nt it getting the horse , and a very good job at that ,nice and close in ,

Cheers

Rog .

[barkis]

Poor attempt indeed. You are too critical of yourself young lady.

If I can put up an image like that (One Day ) I would consider It a very encouraging

beginning. It looks as though you wanted to get close enough to give it a sugar cube Helen, so perhaps a wider field shot

would have impressed you more. It's rare to see the HH that big, but nevertheless it is quite Impressive.

Just think what strides you will make when the Ob. is in action.

Ron.

[Sam]

That's great. It's nice to see a close up - shows a lot of detail - very nice!

[Helen]

Thanks for the encouragement everyone I'd always wanted to see/photograph the horsehead - what is it about it??

What was getting me was the amount of noise the camera was generating last night - I actually stopped imaging after this because I thought I wouldn't get anything usable. Its usually produces remarkably little noise. Is it possible that something was causing interference with the camera?? It'll be interesting to see if I have the same problem next time I'm out (really hope its not as long a break as the last one!!).

thanks

Helen

PS I like the thought of giving it a sugar cube Ron

[jonifive]

Giddy Up Helen! Great image, just you wait till you are nice and warm in your Obs.

JV

[Helen]

Giddy Up Helen! Great image, just you wait till you are nice and warm in your Obs.

JV

Thanks JV. I must admit I was freezing last night!! I don't think I warmed up through the night either, I was so cold! Bought myself some oversized wellies today to wear with more socks, and have already bought some obs warm room heaters (got to get the priorities right )

Helen

[CELESCOPE]

do u use a Battery for power Helen, if so could be that , i had that trouble and went to mains power , also seeing conditions , may look ok , but any thin cloud up there will give you probs , come across this a lot , can tell right away , so i dont even bother if it looks like that .

Rog

[Helen]

Yes, I was using battery power Roger. In fact it was a new pack from which I was running the scope, the camera and the electronic focusser.

It might have been seeing - focussing was fluctuated quite a bit...

I'll try a couple of things differently next time and see what happens!

Helen

[MartinB]

Helen, the HH looks great but the stuff over to the right of the image doesn't. I wonder if light could be getting into the optical path. It's surprising where it can come from. I've had problems in the past from dew controller LEDs. Are you using a filter wheel? Is your lap top screen turned away from the camera. These are the first things to consider if the crud takes the form of a gradient

[SteveL]

I cant wait for you to start using your Obsy, you`ll be punching out images like a pro whenever there is a 30 minute clear spell

[radioactive]

very well done on the Horse Helen it gives me plenty to think about now I have the same model camera as yourself just waiting for my flip mirror to arrive then I shall attempt my very first DSOs

[Helen]

Thanks guys!

Helen, the HH looks great but the stuff over to the right of the image doesn't. I wonder if light could be getting into the optical path. It's surprising where it can come from. I've had problems in the past from dew controller LEDs. Are you using a filter wheel? Is your lap top screen turned away from the camera. These are the first things to consider if the crud takes the form of a gradient

The stuff on the right was the problem I thought made the image a poor one, Martin. I tried the RC gradient remover, but just got an even spread right across the picture! It seemed worse with the Ha filter in place - just screwed in, no filter wheel. The laptop screen was at right angles to the back of the scope, so maybe a possibility there. Also the power cable to the laptop was close to the camera cable. The only other difference from previous imaging sessions was the use of the electronic focusser and a new battery pack that takes 3 outlets.

Next time out I'll do some experiments. I'll also try to get out earlier to get more subs of the HH! Can't wait for the obs to be done so that I can go longer, warmer, and with no set-up and dismantling :D

Helen

[MartinB]

You can always set up in the day time with the scope lens cap on and see if the interference occurs then.

[trudie]

Thats a great image Helen, if it was mine I'd be chuffed to bits, have'nt managed that one yet.

Nice one

Trudie

[Helen]

You can always set up in the day time with the scope lens cap on and see if the interference occurs then.

That's a good idea Martin!

Thanks

and thanks Trudie, I think the HH is going to need rather more exposure time to be really good, but I'm chuffed I got it

Helen