Fighting the moon to shoot the Veil Complex

[SteveL]

Conditions were pretty dire last night.... sure it was dry and calm, but that big bright moon lit of the hazy skies like it was on fire ... but it was a clear sky! I`d nearly forgotten what they looked like. I also had a few "issues" that made me lose 2 hours of imaging time. Grrr!!!

I`ve been after the Veil complex since the end of last year, but weather and other things prevented me from being in the right place at the right time. The only tool that was right for the job was the NS8GPS+Hyperstar, which hasnt seen a night sky since April. It was great to get the beast out again, quick and easy polar alignment, and no issues about meridian flips.

Considering the state of the sky, I`m happy I managed to get anything out of my subs at all. I was fighting some horrid gradients, and the noise in the stacked image started to show very early in the processing.

OTA: NS8GPS @ f/2 (Hyperstar v3)

Guiding: William Optics ZenithStar 66 SD + DSI-C + PHD

RGB Imaging: QHY8 + MaximDL, 13nm Ha

Stacked: DeepSkyStacker

Post Process: ImagesPlus + PSCS2 + Noel Carboni’s AstroTools

[Ford Prefect]

Great image Steve, still loving the 8 way diffraction spikes on the larger stars

Jon

[barkis]

Ah! you're back Mr L. I was starting to think you had thrown the towel in. Clearly not, that is a mighty busy veil you've grabbed there.

This is only part one, so I shall return for the big picture.

Ron.

[SteveL]

Not given up, just been cursing the weather since April...

[barkis]

Not given up, just been cursing the weather since April...

Your vocal chords must be very sore.

[jgs001]

Looks like a good result there Steve

[Psychobilly]

Bit of a result then...

Whats the approximate FOV of the setup?

I'm trying to decide on co-ords to center the "66" FFFIII DSLR setup to achieve a simlar whole complex shot?

Billy...

[SteveL]

I think the C8+HyperstarV3+QHY8 gives a FoV in the region of 200 arcmin x 133 arcmin

[Whippy]

Nice one Steve, just shows that w-i-d-e FOV of that Hyperstar right off .

Tony..

[markcol]

Great shot Steve, nice to be able to get it all in one go too.

Mark

[Psychobilly]

I think the C8+HyperstarV3+QHY8 gives a FoV in the region of 200 arcmin x 133 arcmin

Thanks Steve,

So my setup which gives about 4.2x2.1 degrees is in with a shout then .. although its just a tad slower than your hyperstar setup

Billy...

[Tim]

At last you got something Steve! Also, that shows the FOV you can get with the hyperstar off to a treat.

Can only drool about what that image might look like in colour!

Question though, is each white point a light source, ie star. or is some of it just noise? I can never tell?

TJ

[MartinB]

Fantastic detail Steve very well framed. Hyperstar and moon sounds like gradient city. You seem to have sorted them ok