The Veil - DSLR Ha

[david_taurus83]

So taking a bit of inspiration from tooth_dr (thanks for the tips Adam) i have had a go at some narrowband imaging using my 600D and an Astronomik 12nm H-alpha filter. For RGB I have pretty much conceded that I need to travel to a dark site to escape the local street lights so it's been nice to just set up in the garden again and defy the cursed things. It's also been my longest integration time yet. Just over 10 hours worth shot over 6 nights as it's mostly been on school nights! My subs have been taken at temps of 20/25°C so a bit noisy. I made a peltier coolbox solely for taking temp matched darks during the day so will save me time at night. Needs a bit of experimentation with ambient temps to get the EXIF temps to match! Also, I have to say I'm very pleased with the WO GT71 R&P focuser. I've simply been carrying the entire setup back into the house after each session just so the framing matched each time I went back out. Despite the OTA being pretty much vertical for the Veil this time of year, focus was spot on without need for adjustment first time, every session. It just doesn't budge!

 

Anyway, below is 62 x 600s subs stacked in DSS and a quick and dirty process in Pixinsight. I've recently bought the book Inside Pixinsight so I think I will give this another go but pre processing first in PI using the long, manual method. Will take a while I reckon! Overall I'm pleased with the data captured. Even managed to capture some of the faint 'handle' near the top of the Broom. Just need to work on my processing a bit more.

 

10 hours of 600s subs over 6 nights, every frame dithered.

Full set of calibration frames, 15 darks temp matched, 30 flats and 50 bias for each set of lights.

 

WO GT71 on AZ-EQ6 GT with piggy back ZWO guidescope and ASI120MM. Polemaster and Sharpcap for polar alignment, average RMS error 0.6"

 

Taken 4th Aug to 21st Aug from my back garden here in Northfield, Birmingham

[Adreneline]

That's an impressive amount of detail you've revealed. Well done!

[tooth_dr]

Stunning image. Far trumps anything I managed with a DSLR. Keep up the great work. 

[Demonperformer]

Not only an impressive amount of detail, but also an impressive field of view. Good one.

[david_taurus83]

8 hours ago, tooth_dr said:

Stunning image. Far trumps anything I managed with a DSLR. Keep up the great work. 

Thanks Adam. I don't think I've done anything special except putting the time into the capture. It definitely pays off to have plenty of data. The longest integration I'd done previously was only less than 3 hours. I was pleasantly surprised though when I split the channels and stretched the red. The individual subs don't show anywhere near the detail of the final stack.