Pillars of Creation (Eagle Nebula) - single sub

[Cimitar]

I recently got a ZWO ASI174MM (uncooled) to use with my OAG.

I was up late one night in July imaging Mars. It was absolutely freezing and I was keen to call it a night, however, my new camera had just arrived so I was curious to see what it could do on a DSO (my primary imaging camera is a DSLR). I wasn't guiding that night and I hadn't spent any time on my go-to alignment so I wasn't expecting much.

I shot a single 60sec test sub. Well, I got quite the surprise!

Minimal processing only:
Dust & Scratches, contrast enhancement, levels.

[xelasnave]

I would be very happy with that.
Alex

[multiweb]

Great catch. :thumbsup: It would take me an hour or so to find it at that FL. :lol:

[Imme]

Excellent work

[RyanJones]

Wow.

Not sure if you saw my post about my troubles with capturing any of eagle but you have just made me very jealous.

Great work !

[cometcatcher]

That's excellent Evan! What was the telescope?

[Lee]

Well done... You'll get an even nicer surprise when you stack 50 of those together......

[cometcatcher]

Or several hundred...

[Cimitar]

Cheers Alex


Thanks Marc, the pillars were at the edge of the frame so I think I got lucky! :thumbsup:


Thanks Jon!

[Cimitar]

Cheers Ryan!, yes I did see your post about the Eagle issues. That was me who suggested temporarily raising the ISO (just to ensure you can actually see the thing). I didn't realise you were in Melbourne though, so the light pollution will certainly play into that. When I'm trying to frame an object I usually expose at ISO 12800 for about 15sec. It also gives me an idea of how much data I'll have to play with (across the frame) once I embark on collecting subs at a lower ISO.

I captured this image at f/10, mine's an 8 inch SCT. I have pretty dark skies though.

Cheers
Evan

[Cimitar]

Cheers Kevin, It's an 8" LX200 ACF fork mount, with a microfocuser. I was operating at f/10.


Thanks Lee, that thought did briefly cross my mind before I remembered my hands & feet were numb due to the cold! :thumbsup:


Absolutely! :)

[RyanJones]

I am going to try the higher ISO. As I said, I don't like giving up. I might try and find my self a darker spot to do it. I've gotten into the habit of instead of taking high ISO framing shots, taking a 80 or 90 second one. Although it gives me oval stars with my mount ( at the moment ), it helps me confirm the framing before embarking on my sub collection. Same thing I guess, just a different way of skinning the cat. I can't wait till the day I can get the kind of pictures you and several others get. I know bigger apature and a better mount would make this easier but the size of my setup is directly proportional to my bank account so I guess I'm lucky that I like a challenge :)

[lubbdub]

Nice one Evan :)
What were your other settings, offset, gain etc?
cheers
yash

[Cimitar]

I'm hearing you! It's taken me 6 years to gather all of the equipment I use at the moment. I learnt astrophotography on a SCT which some will say isn't the best idea, however, I've found it's been really enjoyable and I love the challenge. At the moment I'm trying to save so I can build a little ROR Obs :thumbsup:

[Cimitar]

Cheers Yash :)
I'm not sure, sorry. It was my first night using FireCapture and I mostly just used the default settings.