M16 in RGBLHa

[theastrodragon]

This is a really hard target for me - its very low from Oxfordhire anyway, and trees and houses mean I only get about a 60 - 70min imaging window.  Even so its only 18 degrees above the horizon.

Normally I wouldn't really bother, when we get nice days in the summer the haze typical makes this object un-imageable due to the clag. But the recent fine spell has been different - lovely clear nights, clear down to the horizon. So while its still suffering from the altitude, and lighting made the gradients horrible, I took 4 nights to work on it.

1st night 30m RGB 20m each of RGB

2nd night RGB 20m each again

3rd night 70m L

4th night 70m H-alpha

A lot of fiddling around to process! Even with 4 nights of data, it was a lot more grainy in the outer parts than I was happy with, so in the end I binned it x1.5 in software - while you can still see the graining, its a lot less noticeable.

120mm Tak APO @ F7.5, Starlight Express Trius 814