I was in two minds as to whether to post this..? I took it last night but although it was clear it was a bit misty.. I've also since discovered this is actually quite a difficult object to image so I should have probably saved it for DSC rather than downtown Bromley.
Anyway here it is in all its glory... (not...!) I'm not happy as it's very noisy (& red)...comments welcome
Cheers, John
(http://homepage.ntlworld.com/john.punnett/graphics/oas/cone2-resize.jpg)
John,
It's very noisy and red, isn't it. :)
Tony G
That doesn't look too shabby at all John. Are you planning on getting more data tonight?
I was wondering about having a pop at this one this evening.
I had quite a good night last night, finally getting some of my equipment operation woes sorted. Nowt wrong with the kit. Errors located between keyboard and observing chair.
I think the image is great, I'd be well chuffed if i got something even close to it, i seem to have problems picking up any red in my photo's, would a Ha filter help with that at all?
Very nice image and very tight FOV. What kit did you use?
Cheers Mike - I still don't like it. I used my Atik 16ic with my MN56 + Ha filter - It was a lot of data - approx 30 X 4min subs + 20mins each for R,G & B... I think local seeing last night had a lot to do with it. I've seen some brilliant images of this & mine doesn't come close.....
John
It's still good. I agree, the noise looks like the sky was a bit milky maybe?
I'm trying to think what this nebula reminds me of!
I think it looks like a hand, thumb uppermost reaching for the bright star.
What do you think it looks like then fay?
John, I like it. It is quite noisy though. Wonder what the surface brightness is?
Daniel, you have the same problem as me - the Canon is just not sensistive to H-alpha. This does cause problems with nebulae. The reason is that the standard infra-red filter in front of the CCD also cuts out 75-80% of the H-alpha. You can get the filter changed http://www.astronomiser.co.uk/eosmod.htm (http://www.astronomiser.co.uk/eosmod.htm) but I wouldn't do so if you also use the camera for everyday use as well as astronomy because it affects the colour balance. My secondhand Canon EOS300D is dedicated to astronomy but I still haven't done it - but I will get around to it sometime ...
Cheers Mark - I put it down to seeing as total exposure was actually the longest image I have ever taken... It was kinda misty...
I'm not sure about surface brightness but I suspect it is quite low as it's a very large object.
Cheers, John
If it was 'kinda misty' then that would explain the grainyness of the image.
Hi Mark, Just looked into the Astronomiser website and decided to give the guy a call, he says that with custom white balancing or a seperate IR filter on the lens, there wouldn't be any noticable difference after modification, sounds like this may be the way to go!
:O)