IC 1396 nebula complex with Garnet star

[Luis Campos]

Another mono image made, this time is IC 1396 complex nebula in mono (ha) with the red supergiant garnet star, this is my longest integration so far with over 9 hours of total exposure, shot over 3 nights with very good transparency (urban sky).

 

setup used: SW ED 80 with 0.8X reducer/corrector, Canon 550D MONO & TEC cooled, Baader 7nm Ha filter (36mm version), EQ6 mount, stack of 32x1200 sec subs @ 1600 ISO.

 

Finally I'm getting good star shapes at the corners with this setup, this is the best I can get, very happy with it So by simply defocusing intrafocal just a tiny, tiny bit the corners get so much beter, not semi cirles anymore

 

Hope you enjoy the outcome, make sure to check the full size:

 

https://www.flickr.c...eposted-public/

 

Cheers,

 

Luís

[Maximidius]

That's a great image!!!!!

 

1200sec subs at ISO1600 is pretty darn awesome for a DSLR. The TEC system is clearly doing a great job. What sensor temps were you running at? and did you have any cool down time between subs or run them consecutively with no pause?

[Luis Campos]

5 minutes ago, Maximidius said:

That's a great image!!!!!

 

1200sec subs at ISO1600 is pretty darn awesome for a DSLR. The TEC system is clearly doing a great job. What sensor temps were you running at? and did you have any cool down time between subs or run them consecutively with no pause?

Many thanks

Yes, the cooling plays a major role here in warm Portugal !

The average night temps are still rather high around 22-23Cº my cooling system gives around 12-13Cº drop as it has a small heat sink, I want this system light, I give a 45 sec. pause between frames to allow dither to settle, the beauty of this is that it maintains the sensor temps. within a 1cº accuracy even with 1200 sec. subs, this means perfect darks, on colder climate I don't use darks at al just aggresssive dither, works great.

Cheers,

 

[Luis Campos]

Here is my "baby"

Mono TEC cooled Canon 550D with all electronics included on the grip, it even powers the camera so no batteries needed, allways full throtle! hehehe

 

[Maximidius]

Putting the temperature controller inside the extended battery casing is genius! I wish I thought of that before I made mine the way I did.  Mine is industrial by comparison to yours. Yes it'll take the camera down to 0deg C in 28 deg temps but it's bulky, although it is very secure. 

Looks like I might be making some more mods lol. I've uploaded some pictures by way of interest.

once again very impressive image. And a very nice mod, very nice indeed!!! 

 

[Luis Campos]

Nice to see more ways of cold finger mods, yes this is one of those cases were bigger is better hehehe

In the end if it works good is all that matters, nice job