Heart Nebula...Work in Progress...

[oymd]

Hello everyone

Following on from the good advice I received from members regarding framing on Nebulae, I looked for a star in the center of the Nebulae, and slewed to it, I think it was SAO 33926, not sure now, and took a set of images.

I was super pleased and excited to be able to get most of the Nebula! Seems silly to be so excited about taking a picture that is already not so good, with all the amazing quality pics I see every day by experienced members....but it just feels so satisfying!!

This is just a quick process of the frames that I have so far, 10 subs @240 seconds. This is still a work in progress...

I have just re positioned the scope a little, and hopefully I will have also the brighter lower part of the Nebula. It will be light in about 3 hours, so hope I can get some good data...

NINA, or SGP with EQMOD and plate solving is my next project, to avoid this hassle!!

P.S. Will PixInsight accept and combine my images, even though i just VERY SLIGHTLY re positioned the scope? Can I integrate all the light frames together?

Many thanks!

 

[spillage]

That is a great image and worthy of being satisfied about. I am sure that everyone here is too critical of their own work. It keeps the guys at flo busy....

I use N.I.N.A and think its a great bit of kit. Similar to SGPro but with a better support group who seem very keen to move things along an listen to the users. I have not used sgpro for a good 6 months now.

Not sure how many images have been stacked or what software was used but DSS should remove you trails with the right settings.

 

[oymd]

5 minutes ago, spillage said:

That is a great image and worthy of being satisfied about. I am sure that everyone here is too critical of their own work. It keeps the guys at flo busy....

I use N.I.N.A and think its a great bit of kit. Similar to SGPro but with a better support group who seem very keen to move things along an listen to the users. I have not used sgpro for a good 6 months now.

Not sure how many images have been stacked or what software was used but DSS should remove you trails with the right settings.

 

Thanks for your comments! Very encouraging!

Well, I quickly processed the above image as I was not able to see from the individual FIT files coming out of APT if I was on the nebula at all. 
 

So waited for the first 10 subs to come in, then did a very quick stack in DSS with just 20 Ds, 20 FDs & 20 Fs, and opened the file in PI just to see if I was on the right track. 
 

I know, that’s a very long and tedious process just to be sure I am imaging the right area of the target!

its so so much easier with galaxies, as they show up clearly on individual FIT files, or even on LiveView in APT. 

The scope is imaging away in the garden now. Hope I can get some more good data, now that I repositioned a tiny bit to the left and upwards. 
 

The reason I stayed away from connecting to the mount when I got started is EQMOD, and also Stellarium refusing to connect to the mount, even when I used Stellarium scope. It would connect one day, then for a few more tries nothing!

[spillage]

I prefer stellarium for choosing target but always use cdc to connect to the scope as I just like the way it works. I do find that once your platesolving you really do not need to use cdc or stellarium to move the mount to you target as it is all done via the software (APT, NINA, SGPro). I am sure with APT you can also load up a previous image and use this to platesolve back to the same position.

With APT you can download extra targets to add to the standard list available. (I have them somewhere if wanted).

Hope some of the above is useful and not just me rambling on..

[oymd]

Hi all

This is what the image looks like now, this is just after applying DBE division + subtraction.

Is this workable at all, or should I just avoid stacking both of the LIGHT sub sets together?

Yesterday night, 20 subs @ 240 seconds into the imaging session, I did the very quick processing in the top image above, and saw that I am missing the lower part of the Nebula.

 

So stopped imaging, and slewed the mount a very tiny bit upwards and to the left, and then continued another 35 subs, hoping to capture the nebula completely.

Is the problem in the algorithms I used in WBPP?

Or this final image to be expected if there has been re-orientation mid session, and can be fixed with some clever processing?

Many thanks

 

[oymd]

5 minutes ago, spillage said:

I prefer stellarium for choosing target but always use cdc to connect to the scope as I just like the way it works. I do find that once your platesolving you really do not need to use cdc or stellarium to move the mount to you target as it is all done via the software (APT, NINA, SGPro). I am sure with APT you can also load up a previous image and use this to platesolve back to the same position.

With APT you can download extra targets to add to the standard list available. (I have them somewhere if wanted).

Hope some of the above is useful and not just me rambling on..

extremely useful!! thanks

Yes, please. I am only 3 months into the hbby, so not familiar with all the software out there.

I have been using APT, DSS & PI so far.

I have looked at Stellarium a few times, but never used it during a session.

The less new software I use, for now, the better.

I am growing more familiar with APT, so if you could help me with those files, it would be very helpful!!

Thanks

P.S. what do you think of my last post above? Is this workable? Or need to restack with new settings?

Many thanks

Ossi

 

[spillage]

I would crop  the inner part and work on that. www.lightvortexastronomy.com is a great site for help with PI.

If you are having eqmod issues it might be worth listing your kit as it would help diagnose any issues.

[oymd]

2 hours ago, spillage said:

I would crop  the inner part and work on that. www.lightvortexastronomy.com is a great site for help with PI.

If you are having eqmod issues it might be worth listing your kit as it would help diagnose any issues.

Thank you for the tip. I have actually seen on that website a guide on how to do a mosaic. I am following it now just as a fun project. Will be interesting to see how it comes out. 
 

With regards to my equipment:

Mount: SW AZ-EQ6 Pro. I bought this in January. It’s the newer version with the USB on the mount head. 
 

Scope: SW ED80 + FR 0.85 & Celestron C11 XLT. 

Software used: APT for image acquisition and DSS or PI for the rest. 
 

Currently my setup is as follows:

I have 2 windows laptops connected via team viewer. One is connected to the camera and lives in the garden on a bench. 
 

I control the laptop from inside the house. Initial setup is as usual: 

Ipolar for precise PA, then 3 star alignment using the mounts handset. Usually my 3 stars are Arcturus, Vega and Capella, in that order. Arcturus is almost always very slightly off centre, as it’s the first star. Once I centre it, Vega and Capella are dead Center. Every time. 
 

Leave the scope printed on Capella, focus using bhatinov mask, try Bhatinov grabber in APT, and usually give up as it’s never stable. 
 

Then pick a target on the handset, check live view on APT. If it’s a galaxy, it’s easy framing. 
 

With nebulae, it’s a struggle. 
 

Start the imaging, and go inside and monitor using the other laptop. 
 

Now if the garden laptop can connect to the mount as well, that would be great, but do not know really how to set that up?

When I bought the mount in January, I experimented with EQMOD and Stellarium and CDC. Sorted the COM port, baud rate etc. 
 

CdC worked ok with the mount, but Stellarium was very very temperamental. 

[oymd]

Just completed processing the second set of images of the heart nebula. Still following Light Vortex's tutorial on mosaic, on how to combine the image from the first set.

This is how the second set looks like:

23 subs @ 240 seconds.

Unfortunately 17 more subs were discarded, as there were some tree branches in the way!!

WBPP and processed in PI.

Please let me know what you think...

Still taking very early steps in processing...and imaging for that mater!

 

[Allinthehead]

Looks great, pity about the frames lost to the branches. There's always some obstacle to overcome with this hobby🤪

[oymd]

24 minutes ago, Allinthehead said:

Looks great, pity about the frames lost to the branches. There's always some obstacle to overcome with this hobby🤪

Yes, definitely! Every imaging session is like going to school!! 

[oymd]

25 minutes ago, Allinthehead said:

Looks great, pity about the frames lost to the branches. There's always some obstacle to overcome with this hobby🤪

Also am considering investing is a short FL wide field APO. I feel that the ED80 + mosaic is too much work!!

[newbie alert]

I can just about squeeze it in if I cut off the fishhead.. framed in NINA,  all the rest in APT..

[oymd]

and here is the mosiac. I followed a tutorial on Light Vortex. I think the result is POOR.

Possibly because the top part of the mosaic is from an inferior quality image, and obviously my skills are lacking...

 

[MarkAR]

Great attempt, I think for nebula mosaics you really need good skies over many nights. 

Maybe de-saturate the lower portion to balance the colour depth better with the top.