First attempt at the Horsehead & Flame Nebs

[WonderStar]

Like most here I was glad to finally see some...I'll say it quietly...clear skies..!! This is a first attempt at imaging this beautiful part of the sky.
20 x 5 minute light frames
15x dark frames
15x bias frames

Stacked in DSS and finished in PS :-)
Steve

[Hayduke27]

Nice image!

[rwilkey]

Steve, brilliant - doesn't get much better than that!

[Mr niall]

Thats brilliant, love the deep reds. This may sound like sacrilege but... have you tried cropping an inch off the right hand side it may give it even better balance. Just an idea!

[WonderStar]

Thanks guys, just need a reducer/flattener now...oh, and a HA filter would be nice too! :-)

[carastro]

Great image.  Those really bright stars are always difficult to control, but you've not done too bad.  

Carole 

[Demonperformer]

Stunning! 

[WonderStar]

3 minutes ago, carastro said:

Great image.  Those really bright stars are always difficult to control, but you've not done too bad.  

Carole 

Yes Carole had to work hard on them! Think I'll run a few short exposures and blend them in :-)

[Craney]

Wow !!.....  that is a jaw dropper.    A poster shot for certain.   I'm very envious for  20x5mins subs....

May I ask what equipment you used on the photographic side of things ??   Did you stack colour shots  on the Canon or use RGB  filters with the mono QHY5 ??     

 

Sean.

[WonderStar]

18 hours ago, Craney said:

Wow !!.....  that is a jaw dropper.    A poster shot for certain.   I'm very envious for  20x5mins subs....

May I ask what equipment you used on the photographic side of things ??   Did you stack colour shots  on the Canon or use RGB  filters with the mono QHY5 ??     

 

Sean.

Thanks Sean, no filters apart from my CLS clip filter. The QHY5 is used for guiding only. Seeing was very good down here so I guess that really helps, (im no expert) I'm a landscape photographer so the experience I've gained in post processing has helped here...I think (and watching lots of youtube vids ;-) )
I've found that lower ISO's and longer exposures (if your mount allows) equals more detail and less noise and it's the noise that strips the detail so with that in mind I never go above iso 800, preferably 400. Of course this varies from target to target, camera to camera, ambient temps, light pollution etc. I try to aim for 120-300secs at iso 800, 600-800 secs iso400.
I'm very much a newbie to the astrophotography world so if anyone wants to jump in and add to or correct me please feel free. This is just my own experience :-)

Steve

[Craney]

Thanks Steve.     I struggle with the ISO compromise.....   1600  actually gets something on the image with 3 minute subs....   400  would require me to start guiding and maybe I'm not quite at that stage.

Maybe soon... so much to do !!!

Cheers

 

Sean.

[tooth_dr]

Thats lovely Steve, I just imaged the same region myself there with the same scope but using the FF, and it really makes a subtle but effective difference.  Thats a great result for only 100mins exposure.  I tend to shoot typically at ISO800 also, but for the Ha filter I'm using ISO1600.   Are you dithering your exposures?

[Taff]

Nice work Sean' Nice details in your capture.Mark