Quick Ha Bubble with old 12” SCT

[assouptro]

Hi Stargazers! 

I haven’t posted an image in a while due to life getting in the way.

I have to admit, as much as I love summer  it’s great to have astronomical darkness again (for an hour) at my location! 

I was playing with my old 12” Meade sct as Jupiter and Saturn are lurking behind trees and I was hoping to capture them. 
Unfortunately although the planets are higher than last transit, my Wife’s trees have grown also! (Maybe she’s trying to tell me something? Like get some sleep? Or stop spending money on Astro gear?) I guess I will have to either risk getting the loppers out, travel to a different location or wait a couple more years before I can play with planetary imaging! 
 

So deep sky if is!

I would normally be using a different rig at this time of year for deep space, something wider to capture the many dusty delights in Cygnus and surrounding area but as I had the Meade rigged up I decided to pair it with my atik 460 (with 6.3focal reducer)  and try the bubble nebula.

I stuck with the Ha filter over 3 nights whilst solving several guiding issues, decided to bin my images 2x2 and ended up with 3hr 20min of “acceptable” 5 min subs 

stacked in App, Stars removed with Starnet, resulting image tweaked in photoshop and denoise ai then combined with the stars 

I may stick with this and capture the rest of the filters if the weather allows 

I am always dubious what to expect with such an “old” ota, it’s not an easy beast to tame and over weight for my Azeq6 for imaging but I’m quite pleased with the results so far 

anyway, enough waffle 

here is the image for anyone still reading! 
 

24887878-A0BF-4B3C-80ED-726C543C7CB8.tiff

 

Thanks for looking!

Cheers and clear skies 

Bryan 

[Stargazer33]

Lovely image Bryan! It really 'pops'. It feels like you could hold that bubble in your hand. 

P.S. Don't knock things just because they're 'old'! 😁

[simmo39]

Thats nice and clear!

[assouptro]

Thanks for the comments! 😊

I really appreciate them 

It can be a solitary hobby and it feels heartwarming to receive some encouragement from other people that like you are daft enough to spend hours and hours capturing and processing these images!

Bryan 

[Allinthehead]

That's a great image, very dramatic.

[CraigT82]

Very nice! The big old Meade is still paying its way

[Padraic M]

That's super! I love the Bubble.

[Ags]

That's a terrific shot.

[Sunshine]

This is a great image, so nicely detailed and contrasted.

[Rodd]

One of the best I have seen.  I am shooting this with a similar scrap (C11Edge) but in broadband. It will be interesting to compare

[assouptro]

10 hours ago, Rodd said:

One of the best I have seen.  I am shooting this with a similar scrap (C11Edge) but in broadband. It will be interesting to compare

Thanks for the comment Rodd

I would be interested in seeing your results too although I would imagine the edge would have the….erm, edge!? 
😊

[Rodd]

Stars look pretty small to me. It’s amazing how much signal there is in Ha in emission nebulae.  If one goes deep enough, it’s everywhere. Then the challenge is picking up different densities and structures in the cloud as opposed to picking up faint stuff in space.  Ain’t this fun?

[assouptro]

1 hour ago, Rodd said:

Stars look pretty small to me. It’s amazing how much signal there is in Ha in emission nebulae.  If one goes deep enough, it’s everywhere. Then the challenge is picking up different densities and structures in the cloud as opposed to picking up faint stuff in space.  Ain’t this fun?

Thanks Rodd

I know what you mean it’s a proper dusty region!

I’ve seen some stunning examples here recently of incredible processing on cloudy dusty regions.

This Hobby I’d always throwing another curve ball tempting you to start again and learn new processing skills! 

I have developed a certain skill set that 5 years ago I didn’t think I would but it’s hard to be satisfied when you see some of the incredible work on this forum!

Thanks 😊 

Bryan 

[skyhog]

Nice image, and being a user of the ahem... Old beast myself.. Always worth seeing what the aged blue tubes can do. I'd like to see it on that eq6 mind you, always wonder how these things sit when deforked.

[assouptro]

50 minutes ago, skyhog said:

Nice image, and being a user of the ahem... Old beast myself.. Always worth seeing what the aged blue tubes can do. I'd like to see it on that eq6 mind you, always wonder how these things sit when deforked.

Thanks Skyhog

Here it is on my AZEQ6 (which I believe has a similar load limit as the heq6 

Bryan 

[skyhog]

Thanks for the pic👍

Actually looks more at home there than I thought it would. 

[peter shah]

stunning detail

 

[Chris]

Superb image! 

[assouptro]

5 hours ago, skyhog said:

Thanks for the pic👍

Actually looks more at home there than I thought it would. 

You are welcome! 

The mount “copes” but I’ve just had to strip down and re-grease the gears again, recently as it was binding occasionally whilst slewing. Mainly as I had used a light silicone grease last time but I’ve reverted back to an quality engine assembly grease and it copes so much better! 

thanks 

Bryan 
 

[assouptro]

2 hours ago, peter shah said:

stunning detail

 

Thanks Peter

I really appreciate your input, your last image was awesome! 
 

Bryan 

 

[assouptro]

2 hours ago, Chris said:

Superb image! 

Thanks Chris 

I just watched your Fuji vid, well done for finding the time to help others make informed choices in this minefield hobby! 
 

Bryan 

[Adam1234]

Great detail in the Bubble!

[assouptro]

6 hours ago, Adam1234 said:

Great detail in the Bubble!

Tbanks Adam 

I hope I can maintain the detail with the rest of the filters!? 
 

Thanks for your comment 

Bryan 

[Cozzy]

Cracking Image Bryan.

Can't be easy shouting through the city lights of Lancaster, I can see the light dome from where I live. Thank goodness for filters, I look forward to seeing your image with the addition of colour when the weather holds for you.

Tim

[assouptro]

4 hours ago, Cozzy said:

Cracking Image Bryan.

Can't be easy shouting through the city lights of Lancaster, I can see the light dome from where I live. Thank goodness for filters, I look forward to seeing your image with the addition of colour when the weather holds for you.

Tim

Thanks Tim 

I’ve been imaging from my back garden in Lancaster for 12 years or so and I have to say Narrow Band has opened a whole new world of possibilities for me! 
I’d love to live somewhere dark enough to go deep with visible light imaging but I am where I am! 
I notice you are just up the road in carnforth? It’s a bit better up there I suspect? 
PS I went to Carnforth high school in the 80’s 😊

Cheers 
Bryan 

Edited August 11, 2021 by assouptro
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