Orpington Astronomical Society

Astronomy => Astrophotography => Topic started by: Fay on Feb 20, 2012, 12:10:44

Title: NGC 2174 Monkey Head Nebula/Monoceros 190212
Post by: Fay on Feb 20, 2012, 12:10:44
Glutton for punishment, had a bad throat & really did not want to go outside last night, but as it may be the last good sky for a while.

Problems, problems.  went outside at 6pm & did not get going until 9pm!! used the SW120, and the finderscopes have been playing up & did not align with the main scopes. could not find my alignment star as not in FOV. restarted mount about 10 times, to no avail, so decided to look at polar alignment, well the mount had moved. i think the weight of the 120 etc etc, moved it, as although i tighten the screws up really tight, i am obviously not doing it tight enough.

I cannot stress how long all this went on for, i finally got going & went inside, set  Team player was ok, after not being able to see the garden laptop,  & I went to look at a rubbish Korean vampire film. when I went to have a look, i had lost 4x900 sec subs, to drift, as the scopes were pointing west & the mount probably need re calibrating in PHD.

ok, did flats etc. started stacking today & DSS would not stack as wrong size subs, did not match. the flats were under half size for some unexplainable reason. i did think that they were downloading very fast. this happen a few weeks ago when i did the HH. the laptop is playing up a bit. when i started the flats, AA went down & I had to restart, bad omen.

so this is, 8x900, QSI, SW120, 0.85 fr 7nm ha, with flats from 2011. it is noisy, but to be expected. would like to get some more, but a good night will have to come up pretty soon.

the equipment should thank its lucky stars, as last night it all nearly met its end!!!!!!!! :twisted:

Replaced image after sorting gradient


(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7196/6909296465_38201d374a_b.jpg)

Title: Re: NGC 2174 Monkey Head Nebula/Monoceros 190212
Post by: Rocket Pooch on Feb 20, 2012, 12:42:13
Very good Fay, don't ask Jim how whisky and imaging go together?
Title: Re: NGC 2174 Monkey Head Nebula/Monoceros 190212
Post by: JohnP on Feb 20, 2012, 12:58:22
Despite all your probs Fay that is a lovely image.. John.
Title: Re: NGC 2174 Monkey Head Nebula/Monoceros 190212
Post by: Fay on Feb 20, 2012, 13:36:59
I could have done with a good drink last night Chris!!!!

Thanks a lot John, will add to it asap, probably next year, if we don't get a good night
Title: Re: NGC 2174 Monkey Head Nebula/Monoceros 190212
Post by: MarkS on Feb 20, 2012, 20:08:11

Sorry to hear about your problems.  It's come out very nicely though - the scale is just right.

I did a 9 hour session last night - from 7pm to 4am.  I was asleep for most of it though, because of work today ;-)

Mark
Title: Re: NGC 2174 Monkey Head Nebula/Monoceros 190212
Post by: Fay on Feb 20, 2012, 20:10:46
I have been worn out today, i have rallied a bit, but have been waiting for bedtime all day!!!!!

what did you do last night Mark?
Title: Re: NGC 2174 Monkey Head Nebula/Monoceros 190212
Post by: MarkS on Feb 20, 2012, 20:21:00
Quote from: Fay
what did you do last night Mark?

3 hours more data for my cone nebula which I started back in November:
http://forum.orpington-astronomy.org.uk/index.php?topic=8003.0

5 hours more data for my Leo Triplet which I started in April 2010 - one of my first ever Tak images:
http://forum.orpington-astronomy.org.uk/index.php?topic=6000
Title: Re: NGC 2174 Monkey Head Nebula/Monoceros 190212
Post by: Tony G on Feb 20, 2012, 20:27:23
Another lovely MONO image Fay.

Tony G
Title: Re: NGC 2174 Monkey Head Nebula/Monoceros 190212
Post by: julian on Feb 20, 2012, 20:33:16
Nice image as usual Fay.
I went out last night like a light after only 2 hours sleep at Mark's.
Then speckle woke me up to go out at 3am so I still feel like a zombie.  :x
Title: Re: NGC 2174 Monkey Head Nebula/Monoceros 190212
Post by: MarkS on Feb 20, 2012, 20:40:51
Quote from: julian
I went out last night like a light after only 2 hours sleep at Mark's.
Then speckle woke me up to go out at 3am so I still feel like a zombie.  :x

Speckle?
Title: Re: NGC 2174 Monkey Head Nebula/Monoceros 190212
Post by: Fay on Feb 20, 2012, 21:08:57
i assume its the dog?
Title: Re: NGC 2174 Monkey Head Nebula/Monoceros 190212
Post by: MarkS on Feb 20, 2012, 21:39:08
Quote from: Fay
i assume its the dog?

What?  NGC 2174?  Doesn't look like a dog to me.  Unless it's a dog that's been squashed by a 50 ton army tank.
Title: Re: NGC 2174 Monkey Head Nebula/Monoceros 190212
Post by: Fay on Mar 15, 2012, 19:25:24
I did another 9x900 for this, so have added to previous 8x900. It has lost a lot of the noise, although I had to crop as alignment was not quite the same.

17x900, SW120, 7nm ha, QSI, 0.85fr

(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7209/6985365797_d211d4b1d1_b.jpg)
Title: Re: NGC 2174 Monkey Head Nebula/Monoceros 190212
Post by: Carole on Mar 15, 2012, 21:23:01
Must have missed the original post for this due to being on holiday. 

What a nightmare Fay, though I have experienced some similar ones in the past.  Don't you just love this imaging lark  :cheesy: :cheesy:

The latest subs seem to have smoothed it out a bit.

Carole
Title: Re: NGC 2174 Monkey Head Nebula/Monoceros 190212
Post by: MarkS on Mar 15, 2012, 21:48:20

A few hours worth of data!  That's coming on really well.  A lot of fine detail.

Mark
Title: Re: NGC 2174 Monkey Head Nebula/Monoceros 190212
Post by: Fay on Mar 15, 2012, 22:09:01
yes a lot better, but i will do some OIII when i can, thanks
Title: Re: NGC 2174 Monkey Head Nebula/Monoceros 190212
Post by: JohnP on Mar 16, 2012, 21:29:19
A lot smoother - additional subs made a big difference - Nice one Fay.  John.
Title: Re: NGC 2174 Monkey Head Nebula/Monoceros 190212
Post by: Fay on Mar 16, 2012, 21:32:24
Thanks John
Title: Re: NGC 2174 Monkey Head Nebula/Monoceros 190212
Post by: julian on Mar 17, 2012, 11:32:38
Nice image Fay

julian
Title: Re: NGC 2174 Monkey Head Nebula/Monoceros 190212
Post by: Fay on Mar 17, 2012, 13:29:21
thanks Julian............
Title: Re: NGC 2174 Monkey Head Nebula/Monoceros 190212
Post by: Whitters on Mar 22, 2012, 21:17:10
What a beautiful object, a lovely image