Helix Nebula - work in progress

[MarkS]

Really pleased to be able to get this from the UK because it only reaches an altitude of around 18deg.  Taken Sunday night (19 Aug 2012) from High Halden.

H-alpha modified Canon 350D on Tak Epsilon 180ED
30 x 5min at ISO 800

This is a quick stack in IRIS:


I was hoping to get more data tonight but there's a lot of high cloud around.  Maybe tomorrow or Weds ...

Full size version (cropped) here:
http://www.markshelley.co.uk/Astronomy/2012/helix19082012.jpg

Mark

[Carole]

Well done Mark, lovely image as usual, and the faint outer ring is just starting to show.

Carole

[MarkS]

It's nice to finally get the conditions to some some proper imaging again!

[JohnP]

Mark - impressed that you even tried this from UK latitudes.

Colour looks great & outer halo starting to show so a great result.

Well done,  John.

[RobertM]

That's quite an impressive result from the UK.  As John says the outer shell is starting to appear so it looks like you have the makings of yet another fine image there.

Robert

[Fay]

Great Helix Mark, i am surprised you have got it as well

[MarkS]

Here's the final version of this.  Taken over two nights: 19th & 21st August.
This is now 80 x 5 mins at ISO 800.
Modded Canon 350D on Tak Epsilon 180ED with IR/UV filter only.

The extra subs have allowed me to tease out a tiny bit more detail and contrast, but to be honest, not a lot.  Being so low on the horizon, it is a really tough target for the UK.  So I'm reasonably pleased with the result.



Full size crop here:
http://www.markshelley.co.uk/Astronomy/2012/helix19082012v2.jpg

Mark

[Fay]

I like it very much Mark, tiny star, a classy Helix

Fay

[Mac]

very nice indeed.

Mac

[JohnP]

Nice one Mark - John

[MarkS]

Thanks all.

I have to choose my nights with care to image anything that close to the horizon.  I was fortunate to get two nights with exceptional transparency - the glow from Tenterden being much less than usual.

[Carole]

The final result is much smoother Mark, congratulations on even getting this at all, let alone 7 1/2 hours worth, real dedication. 

However I do prefer the slightly brighter nebula of your first process.

Carole

[RobertM]

Likewise.  I'm surprised you managed to capture it at all let alone that well !

Well done.

Robert

[MarkS]

However I do prefer the slightly brighter nebula of your first process.

Yes, maybe it is a bit dark - I can easily brighten it a bit ...

[Mike]

Fantastic image. Looks like another Calendar contender.