Heart nebula SHO image from my used Atik383

[assouptro]

Hi Stargazers 

After deciding to buy an old Atik383 I made the mistake of spending too much time on youtube and astroforums which made me question my sanity buying old noisy tech but I have really enjoyed the camera so far and I was spoiled with a couple of nights clear skies allowing me to capture enough data to put another image together 

Although I would have liked a slightly wider field of view the 383 gives me more sky than any of my other cooled cameras.

4.6 hr Ha astrodon 5nm

4 hr Oiii astrodon 3mn

4.3 hr Sii astrodon 5nm

all 20 min subs 

scope: Revelation Astro ed100 

mount: skywatcher azeq6 

guider: sx loadstar v1 with celestron off axis guider 

 

I dont think I'm finished with this yet but here is my latest version 

Thanks for looking 

Bryan

rev heart SHO-latest mix-pix rotated-copy.tif

[scotty38]

Very nice image!

[assouptro]

Combined the data of the SHO and RGB verions

Cheers #

Bryan

[newbie alert]

Great image Bryan

[MartinB]

Great image!  I much prefer the second which has a softer feel to it.  Nicely squeezed into the frame.  

I think old CCD cameras make for a great purchase.  That Atik is a great camera and this chip has produced some jaw dropping images over the years.  Provided you use long enough subs to get over the read noise  images should be no more noisy  than CMOS.

[teoria_del_big_bang]

Very nice images, I too prefer the 2nd image 🙂 

Steve

[assouptro]

On 05/12/2021 at 08:40, newbie alert said:

Great image Bryan

Thanks for the comment 😊

[assouptro]

46 minutes ago, MartinB said:

Great image!  I much prefer the second which has a softer feel to it.  Nicely squeezed into the frame.  

I think old CCD cameras make for a great purchase.  That Atik is a great camera and this chip has produced some jaw dropping images over the years.  Provided you use long enough subs to get over the read noise  images should be no more noisy  than CMOS.

Thanks for the comment!

I agree the first version is a bit too much. 

I posted before I had finished really! (when are we ever finished?) A bit too eager!! 

And the 383 is becoming one of my favourite cameras, even though the 460 is definitely cleaner on shorter subs

Thanks again 

Bryan 

[assouptro]

35 minutes ago, teoria_del_big_bang said:

Very nice images, I too prefer the 2nd image 🙂 

Steve

Thanks Steve 

I appreciate your kind words 😊

Bryan 

[TakMan]

Really nice second go Bryan - you've got a fine combination with the rusty gold and teal blue in that image.

I still have my 8300 camera (in an SBIG body). Like Martin said, as long as you can overpower the inherent noise, the sensor performs (especially with a guide dither and decent calibration frames).

I went with the reducer on the FSQ to get it down to f/3.6 and 10 min exposures, you took the slightly longer exposure route (but retained the full bandpass of the narrowband filters) and the result paid off.

I always found the image from 18-25 subs produced a decent picture and then the quality visibly jumped again with around 30-40 subs (which was about my limit before I wanted to collect data from the other filters!)

From the sounds of it, with a CMOS camera, you could probably achieve the same result in two thirds of the time.... but some of that saved 'other third', if using the CMOS device would have been needed for the extended processing time of your computer/software - whilst dealing with all the extra shorter subs.... and then being on Amazon choosing (and then saving onto), the additional back-up device for all that extra data!

Never a free lunch in this game, hey!

Clear skies...

Damian

[assouptro]

10 minutes ago, TakMan said:

Really nice second go Bryan - you've got a fine combination with the rusty gold and teal blue in that image.

I still have my 8300 camera (in an SBIG body). Like Martin said, as long as you can overpower the inherent noise, the sensor performs (especially with a guide dither and decent calibration frames).

I went with the reducer on the FSQ to get it down to f/3.6 and 10 min exposures, you took the slightly longer exposure route (but retained the full bandpass of the narrowband filters) and the result paid off.

I always found the image from 18-25 subs produced a decent picture and then the quality visibly jumped again with around 30-40 subs (which was about my limit before I wanted to collect data from the other filters!)

From the sounds of it, with a CMOS camera, you could probably achieve the same result in two thirds of the time.... but some of that saved 'other third', if using the CMOS device would have been needed for the extended processing time of your computer/software - whilst dealing with all the extra shorter subs.... and then being on Amazon choosing (and then saving onto), the additional back-up device for all that extra data!

Never a free lunch in this game, hey!

Clear skies...

Damian

Thanks Damian! 

I think you have hit the nail squarely on its head! Well for me at this moment in time. 
I think I will “slowly” continue gathering data when the clouds allow and enjoy processing the small amounts of data as quickly as my processing power can 😊

Thank you for commenting on the image with such encouraging words and thank you for parting with your hard earned knowledge, that is truly appreciated. 
 

cheers 

Bryan 

[tomato]

Great result, I also prefer the second image, colours are spot on to my eye.

It’s already been said that great CCD cameras didn’t suddenly drop in performance just because a new generation of CMOS sensors came out. Provided the subs are taken in line with how the sensor performs then it will produce some first class results, as your image demonstrates.

I was going to sell my KAF8300 camera, but it is just too good a camera to let go.

[assouptro]

4 hours ago, tomato said:

Great result, I also prefer the second image, colours are spot on to my eye.

It’s already been said that great CCD cameras didn’t suddenly drop in performance just because a new generation of CMOS sensors came out. Provided the subs are taken in line with how the sensor performs then it will produce some first class results, as your image demonstrates.

I was going to sell my KAF8300 camera, but it is just too good a camera to let go.

Thanks for the comment tomato

Hang on to that camera! 
I might even get another whilst they are selling for so little  and try to setup a dual rigg so I can cut down on my acquisition time! 😊

Bryan 

[tomato]

I think there are two schools of thought on setting up dual rigs in the UK:

1. Why would you spend even more time and money on kit that you will still hardly ever use.

2. Dual rigs make most sense in locations where imaging time is severely limited.

I subscribe to the latter view, having a dual rig has enabled me to get a complete dataset on several occasions. I think it is a smart move to pick up an 8300 camera  that’s going for a song.

[scotty38]

Bryan, quick question on the adding SHO and RGB as I sort of have similar choices now I have an L-eXtreme and UV/IR filters, I could add luminance as it were so my question.

On the second image is it the addition of RGB that has made the difference to how it looks or did you process it differently too? If the latter, what would the first image look like if processed in the same way?

Just trying to learn/understand for my own images and hope I'm making sense 🙂

[assouptro]

3 hours ago, scotty38 said:

Bryan, quick question on the adding SHO and RGB as I sort of have similar choices now I have an L-eXtreme and UV/IR filters, I could add luminance as it were so my question.

On the second image is it the addition of RGB that has made the difference to how it looks or did you process it differently too? If the latter, what would the first image look like if processed in the same way?

Just trying to learn/understand for my own images and hope I'm making sense 🙂

Well, I wish I could tell you blow for blow but in truth I probably couldn’t repeat what I did, as I tend to play with settings without keeping notes, although I know I should! And sometimes  I can end up with a nice result. There is a lot of trial and error over a few days. Coming back to it when I have the time. 

What I think I did was add the rgb as a layer changing the layer type whilst looking at the results in real time  then played with the opacity and again cycled through the layer types until I saw something I liked, I think it was darker Colour 10 or 20% then added it again as soft light. Thanks 
when I had something I liked I copied it, took it back to Pixinsight for some deconvolution then re-added it as another layer playing again with opacity. 
when I saw something I liked (again) I reduced the stars using Annie’s actions. 
I’m really sorry I can’t give you a simple answer, and I must try and keep more notes !! 
 

cheers 

Bryan 

[assouptro]

4 hours ago, tomato said:

I think there are two schools of thought on setting up dual rigs in the UK:

1. Why would you spend even more time and money on kit that you will still hardly ever use.

2. Dual rigs make most sense in locations where imaging time is severely limited.

I subscribe to the latter view, having a dual rig has enabled me to get a complete dataset on several occasions. I think it is a smart move to pick up an 8300 camera  that’s going for a song.

It’s a good plan! 
i have to find another ed100 doublet or possibly triplet with a flat field or another tsflat2 but at least I have a dual saddle already!! 😊

[scotty38]

30 minutes ago, assouptro said:

Well, I wish I could tell you blow for blow but in truth I probably couldn’t repeat what I did, as I tend to play with settings without keeping notes, although I know I should! And sometimes  I can end up with a nice result. There is a lot of trial and error over a few days. Coming back to it when I have the time. 

What I think I did was add the rgb as a layer changing the layer type whilst looking at the results in real time  then played with the opacity and again cycled through the layer types until I saw something I liked, I think it was darker Colour 10 or 20% then added it again as soft light. Thanks 
when I had something I liked I copied it, took it back to Pixinsight for some deconvolution then re-added it as another layer playing again with opacity. 
when I saw something I liked (again) I reduced the stars using Annie’s actions. 
I’m really sorry I can’t give you a simple answer, and I must try and keep more notes !! 
 

cheers 

Bryan 

Thanks, appreciate the feedback  it all helps me get my head round the various thoughts involved 

[Sunshine]

This is one beautiful image!

[assouptro]

2 hours ago, Sunshine said:

This is one beautiful image!

Thank you for the kind comment!

I truly appreciate when time spent creating an image is recognised by others who are interested in this amazing hobby 😊