NGC 1502 and Kemble's Cascade

[WolfieGlos]

No need to bleat on about the poor weather we have had lately, and of course when it has cleared, it has been very brief and adversely affected by The Moon.

In the 4 hour period predicted yesterday, I decided to hit up a star cluster so that at least I could produce an image. I decided for Kemble's Cascade as a 2x1 mosaic, collecting 30minutes per panel, and then repeating again for another 30 mins per panel. I intended to do this 3-4 times and luckily that worked in my favour, given that the 4 hours turned out to be 2 hours before clouds stopped play. So at least I've finally got an image for this year.

Wind ruined some of the subs, so this is 01:47 spread across both panels. Starfield 102ED + Canon 800Da, calibrated with darks/flats/biases. Stacked in Siril, mosaic stitched in ASTAP.

NGC 1502 is the cluster to the right-hand side.

[Elp]

This is actually a good idea to do, but only if the setup is quick to deploy.

[Knighty2112]

Looking good. Like the main stars of the cascade and their colours. Nicely done! 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

Edited February 24 by Knighty2112

[Stu]

Beautiful image, the star colours are very strong, didn’t appreciate they were so varied. @NGC 1502 will like this one 😀

[NGC 1502]

1 hour ago, Stu said:

Beautiful image, the star colours are very strong, didn’t appreciate they were so varied. @NGC 1502 will like this one 😀

 

Indood I Dee, oops I meant Indeed I do😊

[WolfieGlos]

8 hours ago, Elp said:

This is actually a good idea to do, but only if the setup is quick to deploy.

Thanks Elp, no longer than usual. I have my routine down to a tee now 👍

I also planned to do this for the Hyades, but at my focal length it would need 15 panels…in UK skies it’s just not going to happen 🙄

1 hour ago, Knighty2112 said:

Looking good. Like the main stars of the cascade and their colours. Nicely done! 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

Thanks Gus! 

1 hour ago, Stu said:

Beautiful image, the star colours are very strong, didn’t appreciate they were so varied. @NGC 1502 will like this one 😀

Thanks Stu! I didn’t realise either, and it helps lift the image in my view 🙂

32 minutes ago, NGC 1502 said:

Indood I Dee, oops I meant Indeed I do😊

Thanks! Glad I got your namesake into the image haha.

[geeklee]

13 hours ago, WolfieGlos said:

Kemble's Cascade as a 2x1 mosaic,

Brilliant result Chris.  Good stars and star colour and I like the framing from the mosaic.  I need to check where this is in relation to my garden obstructions!  I fear I've missed it.

Great idea iterating over the mosaic in short bursts - UK sky experience has taught you well 🤣

4 hours ago, WolfieGlos said:

15 panels…in UK skies

🤣 Maybe one day  

Edited February 24 by geeklee

[WolfieGlos]

Thanks @geeklee ! It’s just on the edge of Camelopardalis, north of the Heart and Soul.

Yep, UK weather definitely has! That and the 6 panel Heart and Soul with varying light pollution, etc, that I did last year…

The 15 panels for the Hyades, even at 15 minutes per panel with no time lost for dithering, slewing, etc, would work out as 3.75 hours. It might be doable, but background noise would be bad. Maybe I need a smaller scope 😂

[geeklee]

1 hour ago, WolfieGlos said:

It might be doable, but background noise would be bad. Maybe I need a smaller scope 😂

This is definitely where resampling could be our friend.  Each of those 15 minutes resampled x2, x3, x4 etc  would kill the noise (as long as you don't want to try and get out much background stuff) and you'd still end up with a reasonably sized mosaic.

Your full size image here is 10401 x 3786, but is it showing any more than if it was at 5200 x 1900 (or less).

This linked image is silly (21 panes), but was a fun couple of hours during a brief clear spell.  Each sub was resampled massively.

1 hour ago, WolfieGlos said:

Maybe I need a smaller scope 😂

Any reason for a new scope is always welcome 🤣

Edited February 24 by geeklee

[WolfieGlos]

4 hours ago, geeklee said:

This is definitely where resampling could be our friend.  Each of those 15 minutes resampled x2, x3, x4 etc  would kill the noise (as long as you don't want to try and get out much background stuff) and you'd still end up with a reasonably sized mosaic.

Your full size image here is 10401 x 3786, but is it showing any more than if it was at 5200 x 1900 (or less).

This linked image is silly (21 panes), but was a fun couple of hours during a brief clear spell.  Each sub was resampled massively.

Any reason for a new scope is always welcome 🤣

I’ve never explored resampling, it might be worth considering and exploring from my end then. Assume this is done in post, whilst still in linear? I’m sure I’ve seen an option in Siril for this.

Thats an insane image Lee, 21 panes?! I’d never have guessed that that image was less than 2 hours of Ha and 1 sub per panel! Very impressive!

Funnily enough I do have a SY135 on the way, does that count as a “scope” 😂

[geeklee]

1 hour ago, WolfieGlos said:

Assume this is done in post, whilst still in linear?

I believe the ideal approach is to resample (bin) first in software while linear then start processing.  Sometimes I'll process and then slightly resample at the end if I feel like the image scale isn't really adding anything or I could clean it up a touch with no real loss of perceived detail.  In PixInsight I use "IntegerResample", in case it's called the same in Siril.

1 hour ago, WolfieGlos said:

Funnily enough I do have a SY135 on the way, does that count as a “scope” 😂

Yes!!  You should have a lot of fun with this lens.  I've just been playing with mine again these past few days while under a big moon (I'd retired it for a while).

Looking forward to seeing your output from this lens.  

[Martthebass]

I feel your pain, I’ve had only tiny amounts of clear sky time over the last 2 months. A couple of weeks back I decided just to hit up a few open clusters as I was lucky to get 45 minutes. Fortunately my set up is sat in the sun room ready to go at short notice. I was amazed I got anything of M35 as the sky was really fighting that night….

[WolfieGlos]

17 hours ago, Martthebass said:

I feel your pain, I’ve had only tiny amounts of clear sky time over the last 2 months. A couple of weeks back I decided just to hit up a few open clusters as I was lucky to get 45 minutes. Fortunately my set up is sat in the sun room ready to go at short notice. I was amazed I got anything of M35 as the sky was really fighting that night….

Nice work! Feels like we are all in the same boat.

Allegedly I have some clear skies tonight...starting after Moon rise, so it might be a cluster night again.