ASI 533mm Pro First Light , First SHO Attempt. NGC 2175 Monkey Head Nebula (updated with 2nd process)

[Grimbles]

Hi Everyone,

 

Its been ages since my last post, life & weather been getting in the way of any serious imaging , but hope to change that now with the purchase of a 533MM pro earlier this week.

I had only planned to set the camera up and have a quick play between clouds , but ended up with  two consecutive nights with about 2 to three hours each of variable seeing and clouds so tried to take advantage.

Framing is not great  and his is my first attempt at Mono and SHO so colours may be off, it obvoiusly needs much more data and need to make a tweak to the offset sort out a proper routine for calibation frames.

That said I am extremely  happy with the camera.

533MM Pro, 150PDS, HEQ5,  ZWO 2" filter Drawer, Optolong Ha 7nm, Baader OIII 8.5nm, Baader SII 8nm

Captured using Sharpcap Pro -  Gain 100 @ -5c, Offset 10

17 x 180 s SII

19 x 180s OIII

31 x 180s Ha

Total 3hrs 21 min, processed in APP and PS

All suggestions / advice welcome

Thanks

Martin

First attempt.

2nd process attempt , i think it's much better, many thanks for the advice

Edited February 4 by Grimbles

[Elp]

Colours are nice, nice ethereal look. Maybe dial back the aggressiveness of noise reduction and sharpen the nebulosity a bit more.

[Grimbles]

4 minutes ago, Elp said:

Colours are nice, nice ethereal look. Maybe dial back the aggressiveness of noise reduction and sharpen the nebulosity a bit more.

Thanks for the comments , i do often find it hard to know when to stop with the noise reduction, i think i need to walk away from the screen every so often and then come back with fresh eyes. 🙂

[geeklee]

2 minutes ago, Grimbles said:

i think i need to walk away from the screen every so often and then come back with fresh eyes. 🙂

Nice first light @Grimbles This is a good idea - also compare against your master(s) integrations (usually Ha!) - look at detail, noise, background etc.  See if you've compromised anything to get the final image, and if you're happy with that compromise (if there is one).

17 minutes ago, Grimbles said:

533MM Pro, 150PDS

I'm currently using the same combo and enjoying it.  The smaller sensor feels less restrictive at slightly higher focal lengths.

[Grimbles]

15 minutes ago, geeklee said:

Nice first light @Grimbles This is a good idea - also compare against your master(s) integrations (usually Ha!) - look at detail, noise, background etc.  See if you've compromised anything to get the final image, and if you're happy with that compromise (if there is one).

I'm currently using the same combo and enjoying it.  The smaller sensor feels less restrictive at slightly higher focal lengths.

Thanks, refering back to masters is a good idea and will certainly do that next time.

I used a modded 500d for a long time and more recently a 585MC (very good non cooled camera by the way), so a range of FOV's but think i am going to get on with this one. I am sure once I get to grips with it I will be looking to have a crack at some mosaics on larger targets.

[Grimbles]

28 minutes ago, geeklee said:

I'm currently using the same combo and enjoying it.  The smaller sensor feels less restrictive at slightly higher focal lengths.

Out of interest what gain / offset combination have you settled on ? I did a few test images / darks etc and went for an offset of 10 but not sure if i need to up it a little to move the histogram slightly more to the right?

[geeklee]

1 minute ago, Grimbles said:

Out of interest what gain / offset combination have you settled on ?

For my narrowband setup - Gain 100, default offset.  My data and processing will be the limiting factor way before tweaking the offset will make any difference     Keeps things simple for calibration too.

[Elp]

The HGC kicks in at gain 100 so best to use it around there to get the best dynamic range, reasonably low read noise, decent full well depth.

 

[WolfieGlos]

Nice image. I'm thinking about either a 533mm / 2600mc later in the year, so it's good to see some images produced with the mono option I'm considering. Look forward to see more in the future 👍

[Grimbles]

On 02/02/2024 at 14:53, Elp said:

Colours are nice, nice ethereal look. Maybe dial back the aggressiveness of noise reduction and sharpen the nebulosity a bit more.

 

On 02/02/2024 at 15:07, geeklee said:

Nice first light @Grimbles This is a good idea - also compare against your master(s) integrations (usually Ha!) - look at detail, noise, background etc.  See if you've compromised anything to get the final image, and if you're happy with that compromise (if there is one).

I'm currently using the same combo and enjoying it.  The smaller sensor feels less restrictive at slightly higher focal lengths.

I had a second go at this whilst bearing in mind your comments , i think it is a significant improvement so many thanks

[Sp@ce_d]

That’s a good first light