January 25, 2008
Another full moon imaging session, so the Hydrogen Alpha filter came out to play. Neither of these images had enough subs to make them smooth and noise free, but I was fighting my kit all night, so I`m glad I managed to get something to show for the evenings work. The use of flats is HIGHLY recommended, the amount of detail I can now bring out in my images is greatly improved, and I`m not fighting any vignetting gradients anymore.
First up, NGC1499 California Nebula
OTA: NS8GPS @ f/2 (Hyperstar v3)
Guiding: William Optics ZenithStar 66 SD + DSI-C + PHD
RGB Imaging: QHY8 + MaximDL, 8x600s, Astronomik 13nm Ha
Stacked: DeepSkyStacker (3x drizzle)
Post Process: ImagesPlus + PSCS2 + Noel Carboni’s AstroTools
(Click on the image for the larger version)
If you compare the above image with the version I took a while back with the WilliamOptics ZS 66 SD, the difference is quite obvious.
Second, NGC2024 Flame Nebula and B33 Horsehead Nebula
OTA: NS8GPS @ f/2 (Hyperstar v3)
Guiding: William Optics ZenithStar 66 SD + DSI-C + PHD
RGB Imaging: QHY8 + MaximDL, 12x300s, Astronomik 13nm Ha
Stacked: DeepSkyStacker (3x drizzle)
Post Process: ImagesPlus + PSCS2 + Noel Carboni’s AstroTools
(Click on the image for the larger version)
Posted by Steve under Astro | Comments Off on NGC1499 and NGC2024/B33 in Ha
January 20, 2008
Had a couple of evenings out in the last week, both were cut short by clouds, but it gave me a chance to try the Hyperstar system with Ha imaging, and also started using flats for the first time. No details on these images because they were both just a test.
First up was M42. It has some strange gradients that I couldnt get rid of, probably from the next door neighbour’s bathroom light streaming into the front of the OTA. Oh well..
Next up, IC1396 on an INCREDIBLY windy/blustery night. The autoguiding was getting incredibly upset. And I also forgot to check collimation on the Hyperstar, and sadly it was a long way out. Despite all that, I did get some reasonable data, and also I took some flats for the first time. The diference was incredible. All the odd gradients I have fought against just disappeared.
Posted by Steve under Astro | Comments Off on M42 and IC1396 in Ha
January 10, 2008
OK, I promise I wont fiddle with this one anymore, honest!
Picture of the Month, BBC Sky at Night Magazine, April 2008
(Click on image for larger version)
Posted by Steve under Astro | Comments (2)
January 9, 2008
After the excitement had worn off from my first light, I had the chance to take a closer look at the images the Hyperstar had spat out. One thing that stood out was that the stars were always big and blobby, and detract from the DSO itself. After trying various different ways to reduce the star sizes (without much result!), it was a comment from Noel Carboni on another forum said that triggered a little lateral thinking. Up until now I have always processed my images as one, but if I wanted to reduce the star sizes, I needs to work on the stars as a seperate entity. I had a play with this idea quickly last night, and the results from those briefs tests showed some real promise.
As such, I have just spent my lunchbreak reworking my original image from scratch. Compare this image to the one posted two messages below:
(Click on image for the HUGE version)
Personally I like this version much better. The stars are still there, but far less obtrusive.
Posted by Steve under Astro | Comments Off on NGC2237 Rosette Rework
January 6, 2008
More Hyperstar goodliness!
OTA: NS8GPS @ f/2 (Hyperstar v3)
Guiding: William Optics ZenithStar 66 SD + DSI-C + PHD
RGB Imaging: QHY8 + MaximDL, 15 x 240s, CLS filter
Stacked: DeepSkyStacker (2x drizzle)
Post Process: ImagesPlus (2×2 bin) + PSCS2 + Noel Carboni’s AstroTools
No bigger image on this one, I need more subs to get better detail (and less noise) before I let you loose on the full size image 🙂
Posted by Steve under Astro | Comments Off on Cone Nebula and NGC 2264 Xmas Tree – (Hyperstar)
January 6, 2008
First light with the new Hyperstar system… and WHAT A FIRST LIGHT… I defy you to not look at this with your jaw open, saying “WOW!”, considering this was only an hours worth of subs.
OTA: NS8GPS @ f/2 (Hyperstar v3)
Guiding: William Optics ZenithStar 66 SD + DSI-C + PHD
RGB Imaging: QHY8 + MaximDL, 20 x 180s, CLS filter
Stacked: DeepSkyStacker (2x drizzle)
Post Process: ImagesPlus (2×2 bin) + PSCS2 + Noel Carboni’s AstroTools
This image goes out to Greg Parker / Cybermystic for all his help with my questions 🙂
(Clickon the image for the HUGE version)
Posted by Steve under Astro | Comments Off on NGC2237 Rosette Nebula with Hyperstar v3
January 3, 2008
Managed to squeeze in a couple of hours of RGB imaging lastnight between cloud banks. I had nearly forgotten which end of the scope to look through…
Just a first-pass quick mosaic of Heart and Soul, with RGB and Ha data. On closer inspection, I`m not 100% happy with this, still some odd gradients in it, some colour shift in the stars, and a mismatched background colour, but its good enough for now. Maybe I`ll come back to it later.
OTA: William Optics ZenithStar 66 SD + 0.8 FR/FF
Guiding: NS8GPS @ f/10 + DSI-C + PHD
RGB Imaging: QHY8 + MaximDL, 10 x 900s + 8 x 900s, CLS filter
Ha Imaging: QHY8 + MaximDL, 2 x (8 x 900s), Astronomik Ha 13nm
Stacked: DeepSkyStacker
Post Process: ImagesPlus + PSCS2 + Noel Carboni’s AstroTools
(Click on image for larger version)
Posted by Steve under Astro | Comments Off on Heart and Soul Ha(HaR)GB Mosaic
