M16 - Eagle Nebula Thro' Nexstar 8SE Alt-Az

[AdityaR]

PRE-READ: Everything was made possible by me(17), with the help of My Brother(16).

 

 

Equipment:

Telescope - Celestron Nexstar 8SE with f/6.3 SCT Focal Reducer on an Alt-Az Mount

Alignment - Auto Two Star Align, and added some Stars afterwards.

Camera - Canon EOS 600D/ T3i (Unmodified)

Acquisition Software - APT

Processing Softwares - Siril, Adobe Photoshop 2023

Total Light - ~30mins

LIght Frames - 6s x 300 decent frames at ISO1600 (took 400 but DSS rejected 100 of 'em)

Dark Frames - 6s x 50 frames at ISO1600

 

 

So Hey Guys, This is my first attempt at a nebula (without a filter, I have ordered a UHC filter, it's on the way!). I guess it turned out pretty well for a Newb like me, and for a 30mins exposure through Bortle 7, lol😅. My area has two big Mercury Lights and they pose a lot of hindrances, but they turned off again last night somehow and I knew it was a sign. The area I live in has a Bortle 7-8 sky (Pretty Harsh!), so had to deal with a lot of noise. But I somehow managed it. The processing is still off and I can see it, you can too. But since it's still not the best time to photograph this nebula - I will get a lot of chances till Late July and I plan to get atleast 2000+ exposures! So yeah that's pretty much it. I hope I will have lots more to show to you guys in the future.

 

Thanks and Sayonara~

 

PS: I would be happy to share the stacked exposure(unprocessed) if anyone of you is willing to give it a try!

[Cosmic Geoff]

Congratulations on getting this result with a 6/8 SE mount not suited to astro imaging.

[Norris Adams]

You must be delighted Aditya!!

Amazing!

Regards,

Norris

[AdityaR]

1 hour ago, Norris Adams said:

You must be delighted Aditya!!

Amazing!

Regards,

Norris

Yes, Yes I Am. Gotta Grind More and get some more exposures throughout the next two months. Thank You!

[AdityaR]

1 hour ago, Cosmic Geoff said:

Congratulations on getting this result with a 6/8 SE mount not suited to astro imaging.

Short Exposure AP, is a chore but i enjoy it to some extent and i am thinking of doing Alt Az Autoguiding, so maybe it would get easy a lil bit😅. Thank You!

[Elp]

I would say this is a good result via alt az, I've only ever attempted alt az imaging twice on an azgti and short FL refractor so it was much easier but the same thing you have to keep the exposures short to avoid star trails. To do it with a C8 is pretty amazing and shows what technical perseverance and keeping at it can do. 

[AdityaR]

35 minutes ago, Elp said:

I would say this is a good result via alt az, I've only ever attempted alt az imaging twice on an azgti and short FL refractor so it was much easier but the same thing you have to keep the exposures short to avoid star trails. To do it with a C8 is pretty amazing and shows what technical perseverance and keeping at it can do. 

Yea For Real Man. Thanks!

[Cosmic Geoff]

I second Elp's remarks.  Alt-az imaging can be done. I used an alt-az mount in a setup for EVAA style imaging a few years back, but switched to using an equatorial mount. 

Besides being alt-az the C8 SE mount isn't a good mount from an imaging point of view, having a wobbly tripod and drives that (in the example I own) have backlash and poor controllabilty. 

The wildly popular Seestar S50 uses alt-az imaging, which shows what can be done. 

I suspect our young friends don't have the budget for a better mount, but they might be able to afford a dual narrow-band filter which would substantially improve the imaging of nebulae, weakening the stars and bringing up the gas.  E.g. this one: ZWO 2" Duo-Band Dual Narrowband Filter | First Light Optics

The 1.25" version is cheaper.

[Elp]

The SVbony 220 is a new cheaper version of the Optolong lextreme. Not sure if they will work at such a short exposure through going by when I polar align with it how I need to increase sub exposure length.