M27 - The Dumbbell Nebula

[brendant]

A night of many first last night, been building an 8.5" - f6 Newt over the Summer (what Summer I hear you ask), just had the 400D modded and have had lots of issues mounting the Newt to the EQ5 as cannot source the correct sized rings to fit the non standard tube.

Anyway got it all out and setup last night and everything worked, not perfect by any means, a few issues still to resolve but happy with the first light.

Image details :- 38 Mins total exposure made up of 13 x 3 Min's + 1 x 5 Min, all subs @ ISO800, darks applied. Imaged with the Canon 400D (Baader Modded) an 8.5" Mewt, guided with 400m Sigma lens and QHY5 guide camera + PHD. Stacked in DSS, processed in PS CS2.

Brendan

[ollypenrice]

Good! I might be wrong, but are you a bit thin on the blue here? Maybe check Levels and see where the third channel lies?

Have fun with your new setup,

Olly.

[brendant]

Thanks for the feedback Olly.

Don't know if the lack of blue is because of the modded camera or not, as it has always had a blueish colour when captured with the unmodded camera. All the subs definitely have a greenish tinge on the nebula, I did not alter the colour balance only boosted the saturation.

Brendan

[Catanonia]

modded cams tend to go over a bit on the red. Drop the red channel a little at a time to reduce it each time you process. I have to do this all the time.

BTW : Very nice image, i love M27, it has great colours and is great for testing kit out on.

[adamsp123]

Very nice image, but I have to go along with the "too much red" lobby a few more tweaks should get you a stunning pic as the data seems to be there.

[ollypenrice]

With the usual apologies for playing univited with your image, here is ten mins' worth of Photoshop work. The data is darned good.

-In levels there was a LOT of noise to cut back in a trice. One click.

-In Curves, down with the green, up with the blue.

-Nebula only, a dose of unsharp mask and a tweak on the local contrast levels in Curves.

-Despeckle.

Cheers,

Olly

[jgs001]

Very nice Brendan, and lovely rework Olly.

[Psychobilly]

Nice first light Brendan... must be even more thrilling seeing first light with a scope you built yourself

Peter...

[brendant]

Thanks all for the comments and advice.

Well done Olly on the rework, thanks for the explanation.

Brendan