NGC 1805 Heart Nebula in Ha mono

[Gina]

I wasn't going to post this but changed my mind as it's a good enough mono image.  This image wasn't what I had intended as I had set up for an Ha, OIII and SII sequence but evidently the filter wheel wasn't working and all subs were Ha.  The actual purpose of the imaging run was to try out AA5 for guiding and I was looking at only the subs saved as Ha and the guiding error chart.

This is the result of stacking 36x5m Ha subs in DSS and processing in Ps - cropped and saved in PNG format for upload here.

Equipment was EQ8 mount, Esprit 80ED Pro, Astrodon 5nm Ha filter and Atik 460EX mono CCD camera.  Guiding was with Lodestar X2 with OAG on the MN190 and AstroArt 5 software.

[Gina]

The central region of the above at "Actual Pixels" size showing Melotte 15 area.  This is the full size image cropped to a size to fit the upload criteria here.

[Stargazer33]

Very nice Gina, now I know why it is called the Heart nebula.

[oldpink]

nice images

[Gina]

Thank you both

[Martin-Devon]

Well done Gina, the H-alpha data looks good so far. You may need to push the length of exposures beyond 5 minutes though to see whether you have the guiding truly optimized with AA5 - it's looks like you have a good base to build upon though. Hope the other gremlins with power supply etc you're having at the moment get resolved soon as well.

Martin

[Vox45]

Nice details looks quite good

[Gina]

Thank you

Well done Gina, the H-alpha data looks good so far. You may need to push the length of exposures beyond 5 minutes though to see whether you have the guiding truly optimized with AA5 - it's looks like you have a good base to build upon though. Hope the other gremlins with power supply etc you're having at the moment get resolved soon as well.

Martin

Thank you Martin   I'm currently working on my new power box and am hopeful of better results   I'll try your suggestion of longer subs as soon as I'm ready and the weather relents.  I think I shall be ready before the weather

[symesie04]

Very nice Gina, its amazing how much your imaging has improved since i have been a member on SGL although i do laugh at how you always seem to be building something!. How are you finding the EQ8 by the way?

[Gina]

Thank you   

"Practice makes perfect" but I need plenty more practice yet  

Oh yes, I'm always building something  

I like the EQ8 very much - it makes the NEQ6 look amateurish - the EQ8 looks and feels really professional, really solid and heavyweight

[symesie04]

Im surprised you bought the eq8 thought you might of built your own lol. Is it heavyweight? im guessing its not something to lug about in the field?

[Gina]

I don't have that level of engineering experience or the equipment to make such a beast   I did design a lightweight widefield mount though but thought the better of actually making it but who knows what might happen in the future

The EQ8 is definitely heavyweight, weighing in at a massive 25Kg for the mount alone.  The tripod is even heavier at just under 30Kg and you'd want both for portable use    I bought just the mount and put it on my nice solid concrete pier.  I was glad I over-engineered this for the NEQ6 which I had at the time   Actually, the EQ8 mount alone is not that much more difficult to handle as it has two nice handles on it whereas the NEQ6 is one of the most awkward shaped lumps I have come across!!