IC 1396 in mono Ha

[Mike73]

This is my first real image taken since I started imaging a couple months ago but a prolonged amount of cloud has made me wait until now to actually see something for all the cash I've been spending!

Its work in progress with the aim of adding Oiii at a later date to make a final bi-colour image.

So far its around 6 hours of Ha only but even though its been clear transparency has been fairly average at best and with a full moon on both nights the data was captured.

I'm pretty sure there is far more fainter nebulosity but I'm guessing that I need more data, less moon and maybe less aggressive stretching to pick it out.

Completely happy for constructive criticism and ways to improve and move forward with this.

72 x 300s 

40 darks, flats and dark flats 

Edited with APP and PS 

Edited August 25, 2021 by Mike73

[powerlord]

very nice. It made me want to go back and do one of my NB attempt on a close up bit. I think you've done a better job on the noise removal though.

[Mike73]

13 minutes ago, powerlord said:

very nice. It made me want to go back and do one of my NB attempt on a close up bit. I think you've done a better job on the noise removal though.

 

But look at that detail!! 👏

[Richard_]

Very nice! I was thinking of shooting this last night with my OSC but decided to spend more time on the Pelican instead. I took a sub or two and noticed this target was a fair bit fainter than the Pelican so nice work on getting some great detail in here. What camera, filters and telescope are you using? 

I don't shoot mono so correct me if I'm wrong here, but my understanding is that the OIII wavelength region is sensitive to light pollution and moonlight. So right now, you're doing the right thing by capturing Ha data. Maybe wait until we get a new moon in a couple of weeks to avoid washing out your OIII data with moonlight. 

[Mike73]

11 minutes ago, Richard_ said:

Very nice! I was thinking of shooting this last night with my OSC but decided to spend more time on the Pelican instead. I took a sub or two and noticed this target was a fair bit fainter than the Pelican so nice work on getting some great detail in here. What camera, filters and telescope are you using? 

I don't shoot mono so correct me if I'm wrong here, but my understanding is that the OIII wavelength region is sensitive to light pollution and moonlight. So right now, you're doing the right thing by capturing Ha data. Maybe wait until we get a new moon in a couple of weeks to avoid washing out your OIII data with moonlight. 

Thanks Richard. 🙂

Yes that's pretty much my plan, using Ha at full moon then Sii (if needed) and Oiii. I'm moving on to another target for a couple nights now though.

I'm using a Redcat 51, HEQ5 and Antlia 3nm narrowband filters. The filters a pricey but I've placed everything that's in the image train a priority.

[The Lazy Astronomer]

That's really nice - very smooth.

All you need now is another 6 hours of OIII and that'll be a cracking image 👍

[Mike73]

17 minutes ago, The Lazy Astronomer said:

That's really nice - very smooth.

All you need now is another 6 hours of OIII and that'll be a cracking image 👍

Thank you 😎

 

This leads me on to a couple questions.....

From what I understand Ha and Sii can be used with a full moon (to an extent) with Oiii being the least tolerant of LP of any kind. May be a daft question but how do I know when its worth starting a night of Oiii subs? Is it just a case of taking subs and looking at the previews?

So far I've been looking at other people final images on Astrobin to get a rough idea of how much time and what targets work well with each filter. Is there a better way to work out what targets need certain filters and integration times?

[JeremyS]

That’s super @Mike73 👍🏻

[The Lazy Astronomer]

3 hours ago, Mike73 said:

Thank you 😎

 

This leads me on to a couple questions.....

From what I understand Ha and Sii can be used with a full moon (to an extent) with Oiii being the least tolerant of LP of any kind. May be a daft question but how do I know when its worth starting a night of Oiii subs? Is it just a case of taking subs and looking at the previews?

So far I've been looking at other people final images on Astrobin to get a rough idea of how much time and what targets work well with each filter. Is there a better way to work out what targets need certain filters and integration times?

OIII is more sensitive to moonlight, so it's best to try and capture it when the moon is less prominent or you'll lose contrast. 

For filter and target choice, all you really need to do is look up your intended target(s) to see what filter(s) will give you good results. You can't really go wrong with Ha on nebulae as most (all?) emit strongly at that wavelength, but some targets can be practically completely devoid of SII, for example. A test shot would probably tell you all you needed to know if unsure if a filter would be worth it. 

Ideal integration time is a little trickier to determine, other than "lots". I've used this tool to get an idea of SNR for given targets and integration times: https://snrcalc.vercel.app/calculators. It's designed for luminance filters on mono cameras, so probably isn't much use with NB work though...

[powerlord]

It's definately worth all 3 for 1396. Here's my NB one for instance:

 

[Mike73]

 @powerlordYep I've noticed that a lot of the outside fainter stuff gets picked up with Sii. I started another target but will go back to it tomorrow and add some more.