m78

[alacant]

Hi everyone. Really struggling with this one. I needed a heavy de-noise; other areas of the sky need much less. The whole field seems awash with dust. This is either side of the meridian, about 2 1/2 hours total. It's right on the equator too which doesn't help the guiding. Dunno, is another 2 1/2 hours gonna make much difference? I get the feeling I've reached the limit of what the camera can do.

Cheers, clear skies and thanks for looking.

700d + nt150s

[JohnSadlerAstro]

That looks like one awkward target! I'm not sure if there's really much more than what you have already picked up, though I'm guessing that a bit more data will slightly improve the noise. What exposure length/iso are you running?

John

[MarsG76]

Nice work... 

I feel your pain about the feeling where you might have imaged something that reached the sensitivity of your DSLR... I experienced this with the Dragon Head nebula... 8 hours and 37 hours of subs only made a marginal difference in nebulosity, so I dare say that my modded 40D has reached it limit with the object.

 

[laser_jock99]

Great image - I love M78, doesn't get targeted often enough due to other 'easier' objects nearby. Any details on the instruments used?

[des anderson]

That`s one of the best images I`ve seen of m78 just brill. Thanks for sharing. Des

[alacant]

51 minutes ago, JohnSadlerAstro said:

exposure length/iso are you running?

3 minutes, 800. With the histogram so far left, I'm thinking fewer but longer frames maybe better. 

20 minutes ago, laser_jock99 said:

details on the instruments used?

It's a Canon 700d on the smaller one of these 150mm Bresser reflectors.

[alacant]

31 minutes ago, MarsG76 said:

I dare say that my modded 40D has reached it limit

Yeah, thanks. I'm feeling that way too although I think it's worth another session if only to convince myself I've reached the dslr limit. I wonder if I'd do any better with a dedicated osc?

[MarsG76]

29 minutes ago, alacant said:

Yeah, thanks. I'm feeling that way too although I think it's worth another session if only to convince myself I've reached the dslr limit. I wonder if I'd do any better with a dedicated osc?

Reaching the spectral limit of your DSLR on one object doesn't meant that it'll be at the limit on another... either way... reaching the limit of a piece of equipment is actually a achievement....

A dedicated cooled camera will be more sensitive and the next step up... I'm actually contemplating on getting the ASI1600 MM-C but before I do, I'll try adding a peltier cooling system to my 40D and see where that leads me.. surely it'll improve sensitivity and noise will be minimal comparing to now.

 

[laser_jock99]

11 hours ago, alacant said:

Yeah, thanks. I'm feeling that way too although I think it's worth another session if only to convince myself I've reached the dslr limit. I wonder if I'd do any better with a dedicated osc?

How dark are your skies? It might be worth trying longer subs on this target.

 

[scienceguy]

I think you did a good job. It looks pretty awesome if you ask me!

[jjosefsen]

Beautiful shot.. I think it is hard to deal with the noise of uncooled cameras on objects with a lot dark dust.

I ran into trouble on the horsehead and iris Nebula too, maybe different processing techniques are required as well.

[alacant]

On 21/1/2018 at 10:17, laser_jock99 said:

It might be worth trying longer subs on this target.

Here is another hour added but in 5 minute snaps. Slowly getting somewhere...

 

[laser_jock99]

I had a look at some of my data for this object - I went as long as 20 minutes with my Canon 40D. Data seems to have won over the noise in this 1200s ISO1000 sub.

[alacant]

On 22/1/2018 at 23:03, laser_jock99 said:

20 minutes

Phew, yeah. Far superior. I'm gonna have a go at 10 minutes. Without using the CLS, that's the longest I think I'll get here.

EDIT: High cloud/haze and the moon didn't allow me much over 4 minutes last night. Maybe should have waited until the moon had set... Here's another hour anyway. Do I notice a touch of red? 

Cheers, clear skies and thanks for your comments.

 

[laser_jock99]

The extra data is starting to show there I think. Is this one of your fast F4 Newts or a slower tube?

[alacant]

9 minutes ago, laser_jock99 said:

Is this one of your fast F4 Newts

Hi. No. Unfortunately not. I sent the GSO f4 back; it had too large a secondary and wouldn't come to focus with a dslr:(

13 minutes ago, laser_jock99 said:

extra data is starting to show

Yes. I'd like to think so. But 4 hours, and still only this?!

[laser_jock99]

15 minutes ago, alacant said:

Hi. No. Unfortunately not. I sent the GSO f4 back; it had too large a secondary and wouldn't come to focus with a dslr:(

I still can't figure out why that scope didn't work for you? The F4 makes a huge difference in data vs exposure times.

A single 180s sub of M78 with my GSO 6" F4- in focus and picking up the faint stuff!

[alacant]

20 hours ago, laser_jock99 said:

still can't figure out why that scope didn't work for you?

There was not enough outward movement to bring a dslr to focus. I see that TS now offer a modified version which has a sensible sized secondary further from the primary which allows a (equally sensible) dslr focus position. But charge three times as much for it!

Still looking for a 150 f4 for a sensible price which works.

Cheers, and clear skies.

[alacant]

20 hours ago, laser_jock99 said:

A single 180s sub of M78

Your 3 minutes looks a heluva lot better than my 3 hours!