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~4 Hours (almost wasted) on vdB 150.

StuartJPP

By StuartJPP
in Imaging - Deep Sky

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StuartJPP

StuartJPP

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Had a very good night imaging vdB 150 on Saturday night/Sunday morning. I have had my eye on this object for some time now but I really thought that I'd struggle with a DSLR. But nothing ventured and all that so I ploughed ahead anyway. I wasn't even sure about framing as I could just see the outline of something...but I decided to stick with it, for the entire night...hoping that it would turn out okay...other "easier" targets trying to tempt me away but I am glad I stuck with it.

Suffering from some internal reflections from the IDAS LPS. Wish I didn't have to use it but modern society is sacred of the dark.

Equipment:
Baader Modified Canon 6D
Canon 500mm f/4 L IS Lens @ f/4

Not the AstroTrac :wink:

Acquisition Details:
45x300 second sub exposures @ ISO1600
30xBias
30xDarks
30xFlats

Imaged just outside Horncastle.

Click image for a larger version. Thanks for looking...

20446181338_b75669f787_b.jpg

vdB 150 by Stuart, on Flickr

 

 

 

 

I am still amazed at the power of stacking, the individual subs and the final image are so different to each other. For those interested, here's what a single sub looks like, very similar to what is displayed on the back of the camera's LCD:

post-27141-0-36529600-1439759388_thumb.j

 

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ollypenrice

ollypenrice

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C'mon, this is ruddy marvellous. Let's remind ourselves that these dusty items are really just glorified background sky but here you have demonstrated that nature creates almost invisible sculptures in dust, over unimaginable scales, and here you show them to us.

This is a mighty effort. So impressive. (And it's beautifully done with great star colour, dust colour and all the rest of it.)

Olly

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chrisvdberge

chrisvdberge

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Very nicely done! Beautiful achievement and you described a feeling we all know to well I guess (being tempted by other objects ;) )

Did you test out different ISO settings in the past? I think ISO1600 may be unnecessary high for the 6D. (ISO400 seems to best for my Nikon D600)

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StuartJPP

StuartJPP

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Many Thanks everyone!

Did you test out different ISO settings in the past? I think ISO1600 may be unnecessary high for the 6D. (ISO400 seems to best for my Nikon D600)

ISO makes no difference according to some people :) It does in my mind but only slightly. I saw a raw sub taken by Maurice (Toet) using a modified Canon 5D2 and his Tak E-180ED @ f/2.8 and 5 minutes...he still had great star colour. Of course there will be objects that will be burnt out (like cores), but I believe, either rightly or wrongly, that capturing at higher ISOs for faint objects helps, would be nice to test but not enough clear skies. If it is good enough for Maurice, it is good enough for me...

http://www.dutchdeepsky.com/orionsbelt_140325.html

C'mon, this is ruddy marvellous. Let's remind ourselves that these dusty items are really just glorified background sky but here you have demonstrated that nature creates almost invisible sculptures in dust, over unimaginable scales, and here you show them to us.

This is a mighty effort. So impressive. (And it's beautifully done with great star colour, dust colour and all the rest of it.)

Olly

Thanks Olly! Your praises are like my homework being ticked correct by my teacher :grin:

This is one top class image Stuart - Very well done indeed :)

Thanks Sara, your images are top class that hopefully makes people strive to go deeper.

Lovely image. Love the subtle transitions in the dust and into the areas of reflection nebulae

Thanks Michael.

Outstanding work! Thank you for posting this. It will likely wind up as wallpaper here - hope you don't mind. Better wallpaper than a liner for a birdcage..... :eek::p

'ta,

Dave

Thanks Dave, no problem, feel free to use as anything you want :grin:

Excellent with the DSLR!

Thanks Chris, DSLRs have to work harder than their CCD counterparts but still get there in the end.

First class DSLR image Stuart, don't think I'd even have attempted it, nice star colours too.

Dave

Many thanks Dave! Sometimes you just have to go for it and it might just pay off.

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mftoet

mftoet

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Great capture, Stuart. We were on the same subject...

I saw a raw sub taken by Maurice (Toet) using a modified Canon 5D2 and his Tak E-180ED @ f/2.8 and 5 minutes...he still had great star colour.

The most important aspect in favor of using a relatively high ISO (gain) is the lower read noise at higher ISOs. That makes shadow recovery at the low end of the histogram (where our nebulas hide) easier.

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StuartJPP

StuartJPP

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Great capture, Stuart. We were on the same subject...

It appears so...I saw this on your website, makes mine look quite lacking in comparison :grin:

The most important aspect in favor of using a relatively high ISO (gain) is the lower read noise at higher ISOs. That makes shadow recovery at the low end of the histogram (where our nebulas hide) easier.

You made it sound a bit more believable than my feeble attempt, and I agree fully.

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JR1987

JR1987

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Im glad youve posted this! 

It will definitely give me confidence to image objects that id otherwise look at the preview on the camera and be convinced I'm not capturing! 

Keep up the great work! 

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StuartJPP

StuartJPP

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Im glad youve posted this! 

It will definitely give me confidence to image objects that id otherwise look at the preview on the camera and be convinced I'm not capturing! 

Keep up the great work! 

Cheers, I could just make out "something" on the LCD, obviously if I did plate solving I'd have known I was on target but the best I could do was make sure 16Cep was in the FOV.

You have done a super job with this Stuart. Beautiful image.

Pete

Thanks Pete.

Excelent work.

Thank you Laser!

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StuartJPP

StuartJPP

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Impressive Stuart!! Really good imaging. How do you keep your stars so clean and unbloated? Any special procedure? This is something I am struggling with. 

Best regards, 

Erik

Erik, not really sure to be honest. I usually don't do anything too "dramatic", possibly a star reduction in PS (using actions) but other than that I'd put it down to my lens + camera. I do an iterative/masked stretch on the data to try to preserve star colour. I can send you a raw sub so that you can see what the starting point is.

Very impressive, whats not to like about it,

Every thing looks spot on.

well done

Paul

Thanks Paul.

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Mr Bergman

Mr Bergman

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Erik, not really sure to be honest. I usually don't do anything too "dramatic", possibly a star reduction in PS (using actions) but other than that I'd put it down to my lens + camera. I do an iterative/masked stretch on the data to try to preserve star colour. I can send you a raw sub so that you can see what the starting point is.

Thanks Paul.

Ok, thank you. My subs have from the beginning quite nicely formed stars, but with a small small hint of halo, which when I stretch the image gets bigger. ( only on really big stars ) I think your masked stretch is the key then! 

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