M16 Eagle Nebula - just how little data can we get away with?

[Ouroboros]

I don't usually image in summer. But with a clear night in prospect I thought I'd have a go at M16 - the Eagle Nebula. Daft really. It's low in the southern sky, even here in Cornwall. Plus the town 6 miles south of here throws up some nasty LP.  I could hope for maybe 2 to 3 hours of data as the nebula skimmed above the hedge at the end of the garden ........ but clouds rolled in leaving me with 28 minutes of usable data.  10 x 120s OSC + 4 x 120s Ha - OIII (OSC) using my  SW ED80 refractor.  Shot: 14 July 2014.

I didn't bother taking flats or dark flats.  There didn't seem any point.  However ,when I looked at the data a realised it wasn't too bad. So here's my attempt to make something of what I got.  I'm surprised it scrubbed up so well.

10 x 120s OSC Only

4 x 120s Ha + OIII 

Osc + OIII data combined.  14 x 120s 

A Rotated zoomed view of the nebula. OSC + Ha, OIII

 

I only realised later that I should have framed the shot rotated 90 degrees. Anyway, an interesting exercise in how much can be get with so little data plus no flats or flat darks.  Definitely worth returning to this target.  I doubt it'll be this summer though.  

 

[Elp]

It's a surprisingly bright target, my effort in SHO I thought was short at just over two hours, but my, you have a lot of detail.

[Roy Foreman]

Nice image. You are correct in that with a reasonably bright object you can produce results with surprisingly little data. I get so few clear nights that I have to do this all the time. My recent post of the Sadr nebulosity was with just 12 minutes of OSC data.