NGC 7000 at uDSC with banana scope

[MarkS]

NGC 7000 taken at Rother Valley Campsite on Fri 4 June with the banana scope.

22 x 5min exposures.  H-alpha modified Canon EOS 350D on Takahashi Epsilon 180ED at F2.8 with Astronomik CLS filter.



I'm still suffering some combination of mis-collimation or camera tilt so the stars on the left hand side are more blurry than they ought to be.  But in case you're interested, the full version, warts and all is here:
http://gallery.orpington-astronomy.org.uk/albums/userpics/10046/ngc7000_04062010.jpg

Mark

[Carole]

Looks good to me.

Carole

[Tony G]

Great Image Mark, and there doesn't seem to be much difference on the left hand side.
To self-critical  

Tony G

[MarkS]

there doesn't seem to be much difference on the left hand side.

That's because I meant to say it's the stars at the top of the image that have the problems. 
I was mixing it in my head up with a different image.

[Tony G]

And there was me thinking, that I had finally nailed it, and could see the imperfections that experienced imagers were talking about when they were talking about field flatness, bloated stars, etc.
Now I'll have to start again. 

Thanks Mark. 

Tony G

[RobertM]

That's very nice Mark, I especially like the star colours you manage to produce.

Robert

[MarkS]

Is this rework an improvement?



Larger version: http://www.markshelley.co.uk/Astronomy/2010/ngc7000_04062010v3.jpg

Mark

[Whitters]

Colours in the stars are beautiful. Lovely image Mark.

[Carole]

I like the rework much better.  Colours are brighter.

Carole

[PhilB]

The rework lifts the image a lot, Mark. I like it.

[Mike]

Great image Mark. Was worth all the effort.

[Rocket Pooch]

Hi Mark,

The second one definately, the only possible thing though if the black areas, I don't think there is any black in that area at all, more like light red as a background.  But thats being picky, the banascope is really working well

Chris

[RobertM]

That's much better, now I can see the oil slick 

As Chris has already mentioned, I also think you could reduce the black point a bit more.

Yes it's being a bit picky but being a masochist astrophotographer, I think you want people to be like that.

[Mac]

Love the full image.
The detail is amazing.

I thought the stacking that you use gets rid of things like satellites ect.
so is the line through the Black bit. an artefact of a satellite or something else?

Mac.

[MarkS]

I didn't use a strong enough parameter in the sigma stacking to remove the satellite trail completely - I will do that for the very final version.   There are also some remaining artifacts from hot pixels - I need to add them to my map of hot pixels used in the pre-processing stage.

Chris, Robert - I'll also try playing with the black point - thanks for the suggestion.

It will soon be ready to submit to the ROG Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2010  competition

[Mac]

It will soon be ready to submit to the ROG Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2010  competition

Better clear a space in your trophy cupboard. 

A sure winner.

[RobertM]

Good luck !  I'll have to pay a visit this year to see your image

[mickw]

Wasn't there some stupid megapixel size restriction for entrants so it could be displayed large scale ?
You needed an SBIG or similar, a DSLR couldn't produce the scale 

So much for amateurs 

[Fay]

Fantastic, Mark!!!!

[MarkS]

Wasn't there some stupid megapixel size restriction for entrants so it could be displayed large scale ?
You needed an SBIG or similar, a DSLR couldn't produce the scale  

This year they say you must ensure:

1) your photo has been taken on a sufficiently high-resolution camera so your image could be displayed in an exhibition. As a guide we may reproduce it at 300dpi at A2 size
2) you have a high-resolution version of your photo available. If you cannot produce an image of sufficient resolution you may not be eligible for the competition shortlist.

They don't mention specific number of megapixels but I hope (!) a DSLR is fine ...

Mark

[Tony G]

Go for it.

Good luck.

Tony G