M27 Dumbbell Nebula

[simon84]

I took this image last night again unguided on my NEQ6 using the Equinox 120 and unmodded 1000D with the CLS CCD fitted.

50 x 90s subs at ISO 1600 plus darks and bias. Stacked in DSS and processed with CS5.

I am really pleased with the amount of detail I have got with an unmodded dslr and am looking forward to imaging this again once I have done the mod to see just how much of an increase there is in the red region.

I also took a quick crop of the nebula itself just to see how the detail holds up when the image size is increased.

I hope you enjoy them, I certainly had a very good time getting the images.

At one point I had a lay down on the decking next to the pier and just enjoyed the view, I do believe at one point I felt so relaxed that I nodded off....

[glennbech]

a little bit of trailing north/south, but great widefield!

[Deneb]

No Stopping now is there Simon, good result..

Nadeem.

[simon84]

Thanks chaps. Yes I noticed the trailing, I have to take the mount head off the pier at the end of the evening but am about to get it setup permanently. The other night I managed an alignment with upto 3 minute subs but the last couple of nights its been 90 seconds tops.

As it will be going permanent very soon and am still getting used to everything I havnt put too much time into correcting the alignment. It will be better soon.

I've got the bug good and proper now Nadeem. So much so that I've just got myself another 1000D and am putting a widefield rig together to use with a finder/guider that I've got coming.

I cant get enough and tonights clouded out.......grrrrrr

[ollypenrice]

Reckon Photoshop can deal with the trailing...

Nice result. Personally I would drop the green a tad and lift the blue but it is very nice as it is. Very nice indeed.

Olly

[simon84]

Thanks Olly, just had a play with it and to be honest never even noticed how green the image looked until you mentioned it. Cant wait until I get to a point where I notice these sorts of things. It does look much nicer like that.

Am now looking around how to reduce the star trails in this image but I will be coming back to M27 once the mount is permanent and the camera has been modded.

[JCJC]

Really nice detail! Well done Simon.

To get rid of the trailing try, duplicate the layer and set the duplicate to blend mode 'Darken' (I think it's that one).

Then filter -> other -> offset and play around with the pixel offset. Looks like down 1 or 2 down/up on the zoomed image.

Hope this helps,

Jordan

[ollypenrice]

Yup, that's the trick I learned from Jordan!

Olly

[simon84]

Thanks chaps, just having a play with it now.

I've duplicated the image but cant find where to set the blend mode to darken.

I've found the offset settings and am able to move it to where I want it.

If I then go into apply image and select darken in there it dosnt appear to do anything as after applying the image I zoom in and the stars still have trails.

I'll keep plugging away though.

[simon84]

I figured it out. When applying the image I was still on the copy rather than the original. Once I had switched to the original and then applied the image using darken the magic happened.

Thanks again. Just about to play with the green and blue channels and then hopefully I'll have a final version to post.

[simon84]

Well here is the re-worked version. Might have gone a bit OTT with the colours, added some extra saturation to try and raise the red in the nebula and then added some blue and removed some green from the image overall.

The star trail removal works like a charm, really impressed with that.

[ollypenrice]

Brilliant! Really glad the trail trick worked and I don't think it is at all OTT.

Olly

[simon84]

Thanks Olly, that really means alot.

I have had so much fun these last four nights. I've spent ages getting the gear and planning it all out but you cant beat just getting out there, and all the kind comments just make me want to get out there even more.

Thankyou

[JCJC]

Wow, great image. The colour in the Neb and stars are great.

I wrote an action for the trail trick here

Jordan

[simon84]

Thanks Jordan. I'm really pleased with the result and really cant wait to get my Canon modded. I have all the gear here ready to do it I'm just trying to convince myself that its worth attempting it.

I've downloaded your action. I'll give it a try later and report back to you.

[Digz]

A really great effort. This is next on my list and I can only hope to get as good a image as you've managed here!

[simon84]

Thanks Digz. Good luck with your go at M27, looking forward to seeing the results.

[RobH]

Very nice result Simon, it is really addictive once you get results like this coming in!

Once you get a permanent setup, the sky is your oyster

Very nice star colour BTW.

Re lying down gazing at the sky while the scope does it's thing, I have a folding camp bed in the obs, and often lie there gazing at the heavens, and quite regularly drop off to sleep too

Cheers

Rob

[simon84]

Thanks Rob, addictive isn't the word. I cant get enough of it. I'm really impressed with what an unmodified dslr can do. I didn't think it would do aswell as it has with the colour. I know it doesn't have the fov of the ccd cameras but it certainly offers something different.

It wont be too much longer until, at least the mount, is out there setup permanently. I think I will invest in a camp bed, although being more comfortable could be disastrous