Flaming Star Nebula struggles

[Desmond]

Hi all,

 

I have been having a go at the Flaming Star Nebula with the recent clear nights and have around 9 hours of data on it using the following.

Skywatcher ED72

Modified Canon 1000D @ 200 ISO

lEnhance filter

Approx 180 exposures at 5 mins each

I was hoping this would be my best image yet however, the nebula is so dim I struggle to  get anything out at all once stacked!

I have to stretch so far I get really bad artefacts before the nebula appears.

Any thoughts on what I'm doing wrong would be much appreciated.

Not had this trouble before...

cheers!

I got 

 

[barbulo]

Perhaps too low iso? Try with 800 or 1600.

[Stuart1971]

Yes, as @barbulosays when using a Narrowband filter you need a higher gain, or in your case ISO, minimum 800 I would have thought….👍🏼

Edited March 28, 2022 by Stuart1971

[Desmond]

ahh - thanks guys

I have not had the filter in for a while as I was shooting Andromeda.

I used to shoot at 800 but dropped to 200 as i read that was a better ISO for the 1000D

Makes total sense to shoot at higher ISO with that filter in as it does block a lot of light.

It's obvious to me now you both say it out loud

Back to the drawing board as they say... be kind clouds... be kind...

Cheers!

 

[Clarkey]

The other thing to remember about the Flaming Star is that it is an emission and reflection nebula. The l-enhance will remove a lot of the reflection data.

[alacant]

13 hours ago, Clarkey said:

l-enhance will remove a lot of the reflection data

+1

And lots of other stuff besides. Far better without. In fact we've not yet found a target where the l-enhance does anything much different to a modest UHC. Certainly a disadvantage in this case. 

@OP, in dark skies, we'd recommend always trying without first. Go to filters as a last resort perhaps? Not very good examples, but you'll get the idea.

Cheers and HTH

Edited March 29, 2022 by alacant