Elephant's Trunk Nebula IC1396

[carastro]

Went back to my dark campsite in East Sussex for the 2nd time in a week.

Atik460EX & William Optics ZS71, HEQ5

Ha 600 x 13. Oiii 9 x 300secs binned

Now exhausted from all the packing and unpacking both ends and pitching and unpitching kit plus 4 nights up until silly o'clock and all the driving, but couldn't waste all those clear skies. 

Oiii is not very strong, but maybe there is more Sii in this target, but did not have my full set of filters with me as was planning a different target when I went.  

 

Edited June 3, 2017 by carastro

[MarsG76]

Fantastic result, love the detail.

 

[carastro]

Thanks Mars

[AKB]

That's splendid... so jealous, it's my favourite object. This was, of course, guided?

I've only ever spent 60 minutes on this with white light though, so no comparison!  Must get wider FOV, some filters, better tracking/ guiding, processing skills...

 

 

[carastro]

Quote

Must get wider FOV, some filters, better tracking/ guiding, processing skills...

Yes definitely guided.   I used my smallest scope for this.  

To be honest I am totally committed to colour, mono images leave me cold as they just look unfinished and definitely that there is something missing.  Do get yourself some filters and a filterwheel, and maybe a smaller scope for large objects.  Guiding will be your first most important step forward though.

Carole 

 

Edited June 3, 2017 by carastro

[AKB]

47 minutes ago, carastro said:

I am totally committed to colour, mono images leave me cold

I know what you mean, but whilst there's perhaps less to like in a mono image, there's also less to dislike.

I've kind of committed this year to honing my mono processing skills, believing that if I can't get that right, then colour is a lost cause.  I might transition through narrow band and bi-colour on the journey.

 

[simmo39]

Brilliant! just brilliant!

[carastro]

Thanks Simmo

[PatrickGilliland]

Nice work Carole - good image all round.

[carastro]

Thank you Paddy

[toxic]

great trunk Carol nice gold color as well

[Skipper Billy]

That's a fabulous image.

Well framed - good quality subs - sensitively processed.

Well worth the highly commendable effort - you should feel very proud of that.

[MARS1960]

Lovely image, great contrast, very nicely done Carole.

[carastro]

Thanks Guys,

Carole 

[Red meteor]

Super result. I particularly like that field of view, close enough for detail but wide enough to show almost the whole nebula.

I shall be posting my LRGB attempt soon with a request for help with processing.

Graham

[carastro]

Thanks Graham, that is the largest FOV I can get with my various set ups, but I agree if it's a lot further out you can't see a lot of detail.  Good luck with your LRGB version, I will look out for it. 

Carole 

Edited June 5, 2017 by carastro

[Petergoodhew]

That's gorgeous Carole. Stunning detail and beautifully framed.

[carastro]

Thank you Peter.

Quote

beautifully framed.

This is just where the GOTO took me as all I could see on binned looping was the main bit of the elephant and even that was very faint.  I had no idea I had such a nicely framed image until my first sub downloaded.  

Carole