Orion and the hedge

[happy-kat]

Yey clear night last night, wasn't clear until quite late but thought get an hour outside, oh boy was it super cold though.

Have been wanting to capture Orion, so low though hovering around 20 degrees so well and truely in the murk. But no, murk was not my big problem it was the neighbour's hedge. Had it been clear earlier it would have been out front and just above the street lamp so I guess the hedge was better and there are no direct lights out the back facing South.

I used my manual barn door. Canon 1100d Canon ES 85mm at f4, Baader 2 inch Neodymium using a step down ring. ISO 1600 15 seconds. I wanted to come away with subs and thought giving my self a 4 second margin of drift within a 15 second window I hope to get quite a few. All raw files. Oh and flocked flower pot as a lens shield.

23 lights (I had to discard 8 the trails were to big)

8 flats ( used my tablet and Lightbox application and rested the tablet on the lens directly when I was finished to take these)

25 bias (well they are so easy)

19 darks (I failed to count to 20!)

Camera managed through using my Android tablet and DSLR Controller.

This lens does have a bit of CA so even though fast at f1,8 I stopped it down to f4. Focusing was actually much harder then when using my vintage lens, the focusing ring whilst nice and deep does not have the precise buttery feel the old lenses have. I used DSS to stack and then StarTools. I did try using PaintShop Pro but I got better results this time using StarTools to wipe out the excesive gradients from the hedge area even with using Gradient Exterminator in PSP. I was really pleased to pick up nebula suggesion around Alnitak and then I had a really good look and there is a suggestion of the Horse Head nebula if I really stretched the image. The star shapes are quite tight considering my less than precise tracking.

Next time must pick a target not in the murk or the hedge and garden fence.

I did a wipe and develop in StarTools plus a crop and a 70% bin before I did anything else, I did find that afterwards opening the image in PSP it had been clipped.

The last image is the heavy stretched area I wonder if the HH is lost on uplaod.

 

Edited February 16, 2016 by happy-kat

[StargeezerTim]

Very nice... I have been having a go at camera and lens imaging lately. It makes sense when to put a scope and mount up takes up to fourty minutes, then the clouds come!

I tried first with my 50mm 1.8. prime, but the focus doesn't hold, and it is a cheap and old lens. I've just started trying with my 15-85 zoom, which is a much better lens (cost much more than my scope) and it looks like I might be able to get some decent images when I develop the knack of doing it! Tim. 

Edited February 17, 2016 by StargeezerTim

[laudropb]

Lovely wide field images.

[happy-kat]

Sorry I missed your posts. Thank you for them. I enjoy wide field as the stars are themselves so colourful and processing is enjoyable afterwards.

Hope your zoom lens gives you good results. My vintage 50mm holds focus like a rock, buttery smooth to use and no slip, I'm less convinced with the modern EF stm lens but so far it is holding.

[Aussie Dave]

Some nice neb showing there happy-kat, nice one.

The 15-85mm zoom sounds like a go'er. At 15mm, 15 second exposures should be good. I'd be tempted to try 20 seconds too. You should get away with it on stars closer to the pole star.

[goose35]

Come out well

 

Had a similar result last week with a 70-300 @ 300 mm on the 1100d. Though i did get some reflections in it but it was great just seeing the HH co e through however feint it was.

[happy-kat]

Thanks Dave

I only have primes other than the kit lens.

My flowerpot flocked shield helps stop reflections and slows dew appearing.

Bet the HH wasn't as feint as mine :-)

To not have any CA I have since found I need to stop the lens down to f5.6

Edited March 12, 2016 by happy-kat

[happy-kat]

Nothing like a re-process, this re stack of the data is just 6 minutes and 15 seconds and was several years ago using the manual barn door mount. Trying a new trick of processing the nebula and background separate to the stars in the colour module so I can then use a mask on the stars but excluding any star that would exhibit chromatic aberration that way those stars are just in luminance and less bloaty.

StarTools then Irfanview to save as png for upload. I roated the image first before bin and crop so that I could use that to my advantage with cropping the hedge out. I might run HLVG over it but not now as late.

 

[Juno6]

I tried Orion at 200mm but I think my skies are a bit bright. Either that or I have done something wrong with stacking as each individual frame is fairly dark.

[happy-kat]

That looks like very usable data, some vignetting to process out and help even your background.

[Juno6]

Thanks for the tip. It was only a few frames at f2, 30 seconds. I will try again from darker skies (if I can stop the lens from dropping down all the time due to the weight)