Horsehead Nebula B33 - H-alpha DSLR

[tooth_dr]

Hi again!

 

Last time I imaged IC5070 for approx 3 hours, then as Orion rose up I decide to use up the last of the clear skies imaging B33/NGC2024.

15 x 600s at ISO1600 with Canon 1000d, ED80 FFx0.85, darks and bias.

 

Looking any advise on detail etc, how does guiding look, focus, etc.  I'd like to try to progress so feedback welcome.  It is still noisy, so definitely need more subs.  I've also lost the plot somewhere with it somewhere during processing as there is artefacts all over the show!

 

Thanks in advance

Adam.

 

[paul mc c]

Cracking images........i strive for this someday.

[Rodd]

I think the stars in the crop show a very slight north-south eccentricity.  It would be interesting to see how they measure with SFS.  I think they look fine at normal viewing though.  I think focus is spot on--you got some great detail starting to appear.

Rodd

[Xiga]

I think this looks great. 

Maybe it's just me, but i'm not seeing too much in the way of artefacts. 

You must have stayed up late for this one Adam. When i was packing up the other night, Orion was looking absolutely majestic overhead. I'm yet to image Barnard 33 myself, and would have loved to do so at the time, but with work in the morning i figured any less than 4 hrs sleep was probably not going to end well 

Cracking image. 

[tooth_dr]

9 hours ago, Rodd said:

I think the stars in the crop show a very slight north-south eccentricity.  It would be interesting to see how they measure with SFS.  I think they look fine at normal viewing though.  I think focus is spot on--you got some great detail starting to appear.

Rodd

 

Thankd Rodd. I’ve drawn on what I think you mean to show the elongation.

In you opinion what would be the cause of this? What is SFS?

 

[Xiga]

Well, I suppose if I strain myself (!) I can see it too, very very slightly, but then part of it is probably also the brain playing funny games seeing as the nebulosity is travelling in the same direction.

If this came from my own gear I wouldn't be losing any sleep over it. I leave that level of nit-picking to those with the Takahashi's et all of this world (and in any case, ignorance is bliss, or at least easier on the wallet!)

[tooth_dr]

2 minutes ago, Xiga said:

Well, I suppose if I strain myself (!) I can see it too, very very slightly, but then part of it is probably also the brain playing funny games seeing as the nebulosity is travelling in the same direction.

If this came from my own gear I wouldn't be losing any sleep over it. I leave that level of nit-picking to those with the Takahashi's et all of this world (and in any case, ignorance is bliss, or at least easier on the wallet!)

Could be the direction of the nebulosity, as it does seem to follow the same direction!

Interestingly I tried stacking this without the darks, and just using the bias, and it didnt come out great.  I think I'm dithering enough, it's set at 2 in PHD and 5 in APT.  I worked this out with a formula, so it's about 10-15 pixels I think?  Does that sound right?  I'm guiding with a DMK21 (5.6um x 5.6um px) at 400ml focal length.

[spillage]

Great image really nice.

Due to a line of trees this come into view around 2am for me. Just need a clear night that is not during the week.

I would try adjusting phd to 3 for dithering and ditching the darks. I found I could be quite aggressive with dithering my canon. Are you doing flats? 

[newbie alert]

Fantastic image..

There's some info floating around where  if you use darks and bias frames together it adds noise.. (not that my untrained eye can see much as it looks very clean to me) can't see the artefacts either 

[tooth_dr]

10 minutes ago, newbie alert said:

Fantastic image..

There's some info floating around where  if you use darks and bias frames together it adds noise.. (not that my untrained eye can see much as it looks very clean to me) can't see the artefacts either 

Thank-you. I think what I see as artefacts is actually wobbly gas/dust along the lower centre part of the image. 

[tooth_dr]

20 minutes ago, spillage said:

Great image really nice.

Due to a line of trees this come into view around 2am for me. Just need a clear night that is not during the week.

I would try adjusting phd to 3 for dithering and ditching the darks. I found I could be quite aggressive with dithering my canon. Are you doing flats? 

Thanks Spill

I normally take flats but since I put the Ha filter in I haven’t had time to take flats against the sky (my usual technique). I recently bought an Ikea light panel but it was just a bit small for my 10+12” scopes so I left it back, although it would have suited the 80mm. I’ll try adjusting the dithering to 3.

[Taff]

Very nice captures' of the B33 area, nice details.Mark.

[tooth_dr]

19 hours ago, Taff said:

Very nice captures' of the B33 area, nice details.Mark.

Thanks Mark

[glowingturnip]

lovely images.

Just wondering re processing artifacts - are you using deconvolution, and in Pixinsight ?

I'm thinking there's a little bit of white bobbliness (is that a word?) in the uniform areas of nebulosity in the close-up.  I usually think of it as the lint that builds up on a woolly jumper, though it might be what you're referring to as the wobbly gas/dust.

Anyway, I think that's an artifact of too much deconvolution - dial the number of deconv steps down a bit, and increase the bright deringing until it disappears.

The wider field looks cracking, though the flame is a bit too sharp for my tastes.

Good job,

Stuart

[tooth_dr]

11 hours ago, glowingturnip said:

lovely images.

Just wondering re processing artifacts - are you using deconvolution, and in Pixinsight ?

I'm thinking there's a little bit of white bobbliness (is that a word?) in the uniform areas of nebulosity in the close-up.  I usually think of it as the lint that builds up on a woolly jumper, though it might be what you're referring to as the wobbly gas/dust.

Anyway, I think that's an artifact of too much deconvolution - dial the number of deconv steps down a bit, and increase the bright deringing until it disappears.

The wider field looks cracking, though the flame is a bit too sharp for my tastes.

Good job,

Stuart

Thanks Stuart for taking time to reply and provide feedback and advice.

I'm using PS only.  My processing is trial and error (pretty much inconsistent and don't really know what I'm at).  It consists of curves and levels adjustments until it looks pleasing in my eye, then some NCs actions to increase local contrast, usually as a duplicate layer, then blended until it looks ok say 60% opacity.  I merge down, and then I do another duplicate layer, high pass filter, and blend this with soft light, and usually about 20% opacity to sharpen the image.  Finish off with a tweak of the levels to maybe darken the background a bit, and that's about it!

[Stub Mandrel]

On 13/11/2017 at 20:27, tooth_dr said:

Hi again!

 

Last time I imaged IC5070 for approx 3 hours, then as Orion rose up I decide to use up the last of the clear skies imaging B33/NGC2024.

15 x 600s at ISO1600 with Canon 1000d, ED80 FFx0.85, darks and bias.

 

Looking any advise on detail etc, how does guiding look, focus, etc.  I'd like to try to progress so feedback welcome.  It is still noisy, so definitely need more subs.  I've also lost the plot somewhere with it somewhere during processing as there is artefacts all over the show!

 

Thanks in advance

Adam.

 

Very nice Adam. Your 10 minutes ISO 1600 and my 5 minutes ISO800 subs stands out.

Just seen the date - could be helped by the lack of moonlight as well.

Anyway, a fantastic image!

[tooth_dr]

14 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said:

Very nice Adam. Your 10 minutes ISO 1600 and my 5 minutes ISO800 subs stands out.

Just seen the date - could be helped by the lack of moonlight as well.

Anyway, a fantastic image!

Thank-you! I tend to use 1600 for the NB filters. I guess that my 1600 exposures are equivalent to 20 mins iso800?

[Stub Mandrel]

1 hour ago, tooth_dr said:

Thank-you! I tend to use 1600 for the NB filters. I guess that my 1600 exposures are equivalent to 20 mins iso800?

Debatable, very debatable. Your stars are 'fatter' compared to mine. In terms of the faint detail, it will depend on noise levels vs signal levels and the 800/1600 choice on the 450D is marginal.

[alexbb]

Great image, Adam, with good details and tight stars! You could also take some shorter exposures which you can use for the overexposed areas (the brighter stars and the flame).

Alex

[tooth_dr]

46 minutes ago, moise212 said:

Great image, Adam, with good details and tight stars! You could also take some shorter exposures which you can use for the overexposed areas (the brighter stars and the flame).

Alex

Never really thought of this for the Flame and Stars!  I might get time this year to hit the target again but it's drifting round a bit far these days.

[alexbb]

1 minute ago, tooth_dr said:

Never really thought of this for the Flame and Stars!  I might get time this year to hit the target again but it's drifting round a bit far these days.

You don't need to get too many short subs for this, the signal is strong. A few minutes could be just enough.

[tony210]

H alpha is great isn't it ? Very nice capture - perhaps a little star bloat but controlling that is a bit tricky - very nice though- Tony