December 27, 2007

IC1805 Ha/(HaR)GB

Well, as the chances of me getting any images this week looked particularly slim, I decided it was time to have a decent play with blending Ha data into RGB. I`ve done this a few times over the last few weeks, but never realy been happy with the results. Also, processing it on the 1Gb laptop wasnt helping much, I was spending more time waiting for PSCS to stop swapping than actually doing anything useful. So, I have just spent 90 minutes or so playing with the following data to create my first Ha blended image that I`m happy with.

I do note that the difference between my laptop screen and my desktop screen is quite large, but as most of the images I see from others look better on my laptop, thats the one I use for the final colour balance and stuff. Apologies if this image looks far too “overly red” or far too “washed out salmon pink” on your screen.

OTA: William Optics ZenithStar 66 SD + 0.8 FR/FF
Guiding: NS8GPS @ f/10 + DSI-C + PHD
RGB Imaging: QHY8 + MaximDL, 10 x 900s, CLS filter
Ha Imaging: QHY8 + MaximDL,8 x 900s, Astronomik Ha 13nm
Stacked: DeepSkyStacker
Post Process: ImagesPlus + PSCS2 + Noel Carboni’s AstroTools (Ha as ~60% luminance, Ha/Red = 80%/20%)

Note: The RGB data for this is slightly flawed, due to the fact that my imaging train wasnt perfectly aligned (doh!)… the RGB stars on the left of the image are larger than on the right.

(Click on image for larger version)

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December 20, 2007

NGC1499 California Nebula in Ha

OK, that was the coldest, frostiest night I`ve had to endure yet…

The horizon was very murky, but the zenith was very clear and steady… just a shame about the moon illuminating everything. Time to break out the Hydrogen Alpha filter again.

OTA: William Optics ZenithStar 66 SD + 0.8 FR/FF
Guiding: NS8GPS @ f/10 + DSI-C + PHD
Imaging: QHY8 + MaximDL, 10 x 900s, Astronomik Ha 13nm
Stacked: DeepSkyStacker
Post Process: MaximDL + ImagesPlus + PSCS2 + Noel Carboni’s AstroTools
Note: I forgot to take bias frames… doh!

Not sure which version I like best… the slightly softer whispy one (first), or the more contrasty version (second)

(Click on the image for a larger version)

(Click on the image for a larger version)

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December 17, 2007

Heart and Soul Ha Mosaic

Been after the other “half” of this for a while now (Had a few self generated problems that havent helped much 😕 😯 )

OTA: William Optics ZenithStar 66 SD + 0.8 FR/FF
Guiding: NS8GPS @ f/10 + DSI-C + PHD
Imaging: QHY8 + MaximDL, 2 images, each being made up of 10 x 900s taken 17 days apart, Astronomik Ha 13nm
Stacked: DeepSkyStacker
Post Process: MaximDL + ImagesPlus + PSCS2 + Noel Carboni’s AstroTools

(Click on the image for the larger version)

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December 11, 2007

M42 and a poor M51

Blimey,it was cold last night (and colder still tonight!).

Anyway, here goes:

OTA: William Optics ZenithStar 66 SD + 0.8 FR/FF
Guiding: NS8GPS @ f/10 + DSI-C + PHD
Imaging: QHY8 + MaximDL, 40 x 30s, 20 x 240s, 15 x 480s, CLS
Stacked: DeepSkyStacker
Post Process: ImagesPlus + PSCS2 + Noel Carboni’s AstroTools
Note #1: I left the blackpoint quite grey to show allthe dusty bits 🙂 but it also shows some of the oddities when I remove the gradient
Note #2: This damn near killed my 1Gb laptop!

Published in Practical Astronomer, February 2008

Think thats OK? Well, click >>HERE<< for the 8Mb 2886×3492 version, or clickon the image above.

This is a process straight from stacking, and I may go back and do a three layer mask version of this (on my desktop… think I`ll leave the laptop to recover)

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M51
OTA: Celestron NexStar 8 GPS @ f/7.(something)
Camera: QHY8 OSC
Guiding: William Optics ZenithStar 66 SD + DSI-C + PHD
Imaging: MaximDL/CCD, 10 x 900s, CLS Filter
Processing: DeepSkyStacker, ImagesPlus, Photoshop CS2 + Noel Carboni’s Astro Tools
Note: I didnt nail the focus on this, and it shows 🙁

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