IC5146 The Cocoon Nebula in Cygnus, 2019-07-03 Manche

[The Thing]

A quick shot on a night with no real darkness. I have just rebuilt my Newtionian so excuse the collimation errors. The new black Krylon paint inside has really sharpened up the contrast, the original Teleskop Service paint went a bit grey in only a couple of years old. Tweak the collimation tonight!

3h28m 50x250s, Gain 121, Offset 4, CMOS Temp -15c. Captured with APT3.69.1 Satcked in DSS 4.2.0.Beta 5 with Darks, DarkFlats, Flats. DSS is having major work done under the bonnet and although the authors say they haven't changed much I'm getting better results than before. settings used are below. There has been a lot of discussion about the use of "Set Black Point to 0" and Bias frames at the same time. I checked the option and didn't use Bias frames.

Image date, time and location:       2019-07-03 Manche, France
Telescope aperture and focal ratio:  TS1506UNC f4, TS Komakorr
Camera and filters used:                ZWO ASI294MC Pro, Baader Neodymnium 1.25" filter
Processing applied:                        DSS 4.2.0 Beta5, DarkTable




DSS Settings:

Code Select Expand

FitsDDP|BayerPattern=4
FitsDDP|BlueScale=1.0000
FitsDDP|Brighness=1.0000
FitsDDP|DSLR=Generic RGGB
FitsDDP|FITSisRAW=1
FitsDDP|ForceUnsigned=0
FitsDDP|Interpolation=AHD
FitsDDP|RedScale=1.0000
RawDDP|AHD=0
RawDDP|AutoWB=0
RawDDP|BlackPointTo0=1
RawDDP|BlueScale=1.0000
RawDDP|Brighness=1.0000
RawDDP|CameraWB=0
RawDDP|Interpolation=Bilinear
RawDDP|RawBayer=0
RawDDP|RedScale=1.0000
RawDDP|SuperPixels=0
Register|ApplyMedianFilter=1
Register|DetectHotPixels=1
Register|DetectionThreshold=84
Register|PercentStack=90
Register|StackAfter=1
Stacking|AlignChannels=0
Stacking|AlignmentTransformation=2
Stacking|ApplyFilterToCometImages=1
Stacking|BackgroundCalibration=0
Stacking|BackgroundCalibrationInterpolation=1
Stacking|BadLinesDetection=0
Stacking|CometStackingMode=2
Stacking|CreateIntermediates=0
Stacking|DarkFactor=1.0000
Stacking|DarkOptimization=0
Stacking|Dark_Iteration=1
Stacking|Dark_Kappa=1.5000
Stacking|Dark_Method=2
Stacking|Debloom=0
Stacking|Flat_Iteration=1
Stacking|Flat_Kappa=1.5000
Stacking|Flat_Method=2
Stacking|HotPixelsDetection=0
Stacking|IntermediateFileFormat=2
Stacking|Light_Iteration=2
Stacking|Light_Kappa=1.6500
Stacking|Light_Method=4
Stacking|LockCorners=1
Stacking|Mosaic=0
Stacking|Offset_Iteration=1
Stacking|Offset_Kappa=1.5000
Stacking|Offset_Method=2
Stacking|PCS_ColdDetection=759
Stacking|PCS_ColdFilter=2
Stacking|PCS_DetectCleanCold=0
Stacking|PCS_DetectCleanHot=0
Stacking|PCS_HotDetection=759
Stacking|PCS_HotFilter=2
Stacking|PCS_ReplaceMethod=1
Stacking|PCS_SaveDeltaImage=0
Stacking|PerChannelBackgroundCalibration=0
Stacking|PixelSizeMultiplier=2
Stacking|RGBBackgroundCalibrationMethod=1
Stacking|SaveCalibrated=0
Stacking|SaveCalibratedDebayered=0
Stacking|SaveCometImages=0
Stacking|UseDarkFactor=0

-> IC5146 Cocoon Nebula APT TS1506
Stacking mode: Standard
Alignment method: Automatic
Stacking step 1 ->50 frames (ISO: -) - total exposure: 3 hr 28 mn 20 s
RGB Channels Background Calibration: No
Per Channel Background Calibration: No
Method: Kappa-Sigma (Kappa = 1.65, Iterations = 2)
-> No Offset -> Dark: 10 frames (ISO : -) exposure: 4 mn 10 s Method: Median
-> Dark Flat: 10 frames (ISO : -) exposure: 1 s Method: Median
-> Flat: 10 frames (ISO: -) exposure: 1 s Method: Median

[ApophisAstros]

Great target and really well processed , think i will have a go tonight for comparison between our cameras , i think i have found the near optimum imaging plan for mine for the targets i have gone for anyway, ie Ha and Luminance 90s Binning 1x1 and 23s RGB s at 23s and Binned 2x2, posted 2 images with these , also unity gain 111 offset 10.
Roger

[MarkS]

Perfect field of view for showing the Cocoon and the dark lane!

You didn't quite nail the focus - there are double spikes on the bright stars.

Also it looks fairly green - if you examine the histogram of the whole image, the red channel is well to the left of the green and blue.  Adjust the levels so the left hand edge of the R,G&B histograms are aligned and it will look a lot better.

Mark

[Hugh]

A great picture but look at all those stars!

When you click on and magnify, there are so many more.

Hugh

[Carole]

A good effort Duncan.  I agree with Marks comments, and also to say the guiding looks a little off as well. 

But as an unzoomed in image it looks really good with nice star colour.

Carole

[Roberto]

This is very nicely framed!  Just get rid of the green and you are off! 

Roberto