NGC281 Pacman Nebula

[The Thing]

This is 37 x 600s subs taken over two nights for my first attempt at the Pacman. The subs were processed in IRIS and the result cropped but no other processing applied. Then the image was saved as a FIT and loaded into the trial version of Star Tools to see what it could do. This image is screen scrapped so this is full size as you can't save in the trial version. I am fairly pleased with the result though I am sure the expert processors out there could make vastly more from the data.


Image date, time and location:           20131029 - 20131104
Telescope aperture and focal ratio:           Meade LX90 @f10 (2000mm)
Camera and filters used:                   Canon EOS 1000D, Astronomik CLS-CCD
Processing applied:                           IRIS for stacking and StarTools for processing

[MarkS]

Looks like you've got some good data there!  I'm sure you can pull more out of that image.

If you post the FIT file it could be a cloudy night challenge for us.

Mark

[RobertM]

I agree with Mark, there's more within to be teased out.  Like he said, it would make a good rainy day challenge.

What do you think of Startools - takes some getting used to doesn't it ?

Robert

[JohnP]

Look good Duncan - nice and close up.. good detail as well for Beckenham...I think this is one of your best images todate - John

[Carole]

Yup agree with Mark, good capture with lots of data still to pull out.  Would be great to have a crack at the tiff file.

Carole

[The Thing]

The FIT is tooo biig for the gallery, I'm looking for another home for it. It goes along with not having a host for my astro website anymore which I must sort out. Off to Gatwick now or I would be out there imaging Beautiful morning!

[MarkS]

What do you think of Startools - takes some getting used to doesn't it ?

Looks like it has some very interesting features - I must give it a go.  Wonder how it compares with PixInsight.

[The Thing]

What do you think of Startools - takes some getting used to doesn't it ?

Looks like it has some very interesting features - I must give it a go.  Wonder how it compares with PixInsight.

It seems very powerful without overwhelming you with settings and terminology. It's worth watching the YouTube videos first for a quick start. My initial impression is that it's PixInsight for mere mortals with a much shallower learning curve. I particularly like the fact you seem to be able to apply processing in almost any order without implications. Mind you you can still mess up an image quite adequately!

[The Thing]

Looks like you've got some good data there!  I'm sure you can pull more out of that image.

If you post the FIT file it could be a cloudy night challenge for us.

Mark

Hi Mark, you should be able to get a zipped FIT here. That's as it came out of IRIS using your script, sigma 1.5 (2000 is the focal length used). My One.Com webspace also has gallery facilities included so my astro photo collection should reappear soon!

[MarkS]

Hmmm - I'll try downloading later.  I was only getting 220 bytes/sec

[Fay]

Duncan have you got a FITS that has not been thru IRIS?

[The Thing]

Duncan have you got a FITS that has not been thru IRIS?

No, the output from DSS wasn't as good and I've messed with it.

[MarkS]

Fay, why do you want a non-IRIS version?

[Fay]

Well it does not come up too well on my computer as it is. I don't know iris and would be better to have a go from scratch

[MarkS]

I was right - there's plenty of good data in there. Here's my re-processing of Duncan's file:



Larger version here:
http://www.markshelley.co.uk/webdisk/duncan_pacmanfinal.jpg