NGC2264 Cone Nebula - sorry, another one

[lukebl]

Hi all,

This is my work on the Cone nebula over the past couple of nights with my unmodded Canon 450d. I know I've overprocessed it a bit, but it is pushing the unmodded cam to its limits! I know the big diffraction spikes offend some but, as you wiil know, it's an occupational hazard with the Newt. Any advice on improvement welcome.

About 4 hours of 5 min subs, ISO800, darks, flats, unmodded Canon 450d, SW250PDS f/4.8 Newtonian, NEQ6 mount, guided with ST80 & SPB900 webcam

And here's a single 5 min image to show any newcomers how poor a single frame can appear, and how much detail can ultimately be teased out of it all with a bit of stacking. And this is WITH a light pollution filter!

[Jannis]

Looks quite amasing for my eyes at least!

[AlexxxAA]

Amazing!!!

I finally got equipment to set up both my telescopes together and start getting some long guided exposures... and i also have an unmodded canon.

Its great pictures and explanations like yours here that give me hope to achieve great pictures one day

[Digz]

Nice. Thanks for sharing, this gives me another target to try with my scope and DSLR combo with the knowledge of knowing I should get something

[lukebl]

Thanks guys.

It's a difficult one, with the bright stars and diffraction spikes somewhat overpowering the image. I had a go at reducing the stars using various apps (Annie's Astro Actions and Noel's Astronomy Tools) without success. When the bright stars are imbedded in the nebulosity, as here, playing around with the individual stars really messed up the overall image. But I'm sure there are others out there who know how to deal with that issue.

I'd hoped to get some more subs on this, but the moon's around now and by the time it's gone, and the clouds have cleared, I suspect it'll be lost for me behind some trees.

[Dellis]

I like that, a nice image.

Dave

[shaunster]

I think you've done well to pull this much detail in the nebula through an unmodded camera

[JohnC64]

a very nice image and many thanks for posting the "before image" it does bring home how much detail can be brought out with the black magic art of image processing