M8 Lagoon

[carlstronomy (Carl)]

Evening all, still taming the ZWO ASI294MC PRO but with some nice clear skies over the past week I have managed to gather some data. I also took delivery of my Wanderer Astro Flat Panel this week.

8" Bintel Newtonian, L-enhance filter, MPCC Mark 3,

10 hours lights (120 sec subs, gain 120)
2 hours darks (120 sec subs, gain 120)
20 flats (10 sec subs, gain 120)

Stacked with DSS
Final tidy up in PS

Comments always welcome, always learning.

Clear skies
Carl

[Bodon (Steve)]

Carl really nice mate

[Cyberman (Rob)]

That's very good Carl. You've got that 294 working really well. Did you use that Wanderer Astro Flat Panel on this image. Where can you get one of them.
Did you use any filter beside the UV filter.
Cheers, Rob

[carlstronomy (Carl)]

Steve, thanks mate much appreciated

Rob,

I have just realised I used my L-enhance filter by accident, I am now very surprised by this image as I have had no luck processing the finished product with that filter and I thought lets just learn the camera for now. If appears the flat panel has made all the difference giving me the ability to get this image. I have read on numerous sites how important flats are for this camera, now seeing the difference between poor 3 second flats and the 10 second flats used I understand what they mean, processing was a breeze.

The AU distributer for the panel is TESTAR but unfortunately they are sold out of all sizes.

The panel can be purchased from AliExpress, they are not copies they are the real thing. It was around $50 cheaper and there is a lot of stock available. If you want the seller info I can message you.

I did use this panel for the flats on this image, but I had to mess around a little as the ASI294 is a nasty beast where flats are critical and also have to be 5 seconds or longer. As the panel is designed for fast flats it did was too bright even at its lowest setting. I had a dimmer that is used on my camping strip lights so I placed this in series with the dimmer that came with it. This allowed me to get 10 second flats which worked very well.

Thanks
Carl

[Cyberman (Rob)]

I'm still using a tracing pad with 1 sheet of paper and 2 white T shirts (4 layers of cloth!). Works ok but sometimes a bit fiddly. ASTAP complains when I stack images but says it will "compensate " for my mediocre flats. I haven't got a filter yet for my modded DSLR (retained IR LPF 1 filter) but was thinking of getting the antila triband filter as it is somewhere between a broadband and dual band filter. Rob

[carlstronomy (Carl)]

Rob until a couple of weeks ago I was using my wife's diamond dot light board also with paper sheets on this camera and a t-shirt flat on my Canon DSLR. The money was well spent on a true flats panel, it made the world of difference for my camera. Not saying this will be the case for all camera's.

Carl

[AstroViking (Steve)]

Hi Carl,

That's a good image of M8 - plenty of sharp detail to look at. To my eyes, the core of the nebula looks a tiny bit over-exposed. Although it's more than likely the brightness settings on my screen.

Originally Posted by carlstronomy

...the ASI294 is a nasty beast...

Just like the ASI183, it seems. Both cameras demand a good set of calibration frames to bring out their best. Especially the dark frames, because the amp-glow is spectacular on long exposures... And as you've discovered, short exposure flat frames simply do not work, with a 5 second exposure the minimum.

Ah! The joys of astrophotography!

Cheers,
V.

[carlstronomy (Carl)]

Steve yes you are 100% correct on the core blowing out. Until last night I did not even realise I had used my L-enhance filter. Before the flat panel I could not even process an image this good with that filter. Plenty to learn on processing the L-enhance images.

I have always been fussy with darks so I have beaten the amp glow, but yes its very pronounced

My 10 second flats worked great so I am very happy with that.

These are great camera's which are very misunderstood. I think a lot of people sell them on this site because they find them too much trouble, but they are very easy to work with if you take nice flats and darks, no requirement for bias. Its a pretty basic work flow.

Thanks
Carl

[carlstronomy (Carl)]

I have changed my processing techniques for the L-eNhance filter image today.

The core is still a little blown out but I think is much better.

Achieved clearer and deeper nebulosity and at the same time reduced the overall brightness of the image.

The pallet of the black sky is a lot more natural and even.

Please any feedback would be great, I think this is much better than the first. Not sure if there is a way of bringing the core a little darker and bring out the nebulosity.

Thanks for looking
Carl

Clear skies

[AstroViking (Steve)]

Carl,

That looks spot-on to me. The core is perhaps a teeny-tiny bit bright, but I'd be more than happy with an image like that. Image detail and colours are all really good! Whatever you're doing for a workflow is working.

I don't know if GIMP can do masks assigned to specific layers. If it can, then one way to drop the core's brightness would be to create a brightness/contrast adjustment layer with a mask that only targets the nebula's core. Then you can play with the brightness to your heart's content without impacting the rest of the image. (This is the technique I use with my images - the layer mask is such a fantastic tool.)

Cheers,
V.

[carlstronomy (Carl)]

One last trial, something new I have watched on reducing the star brightness. Not sure about this, I like it but at them same time do not.

Thoughts on the reduced stars so as lessen their impact on the image?

Thanks
Carl

[carlstronomy (Carl)]

Final image for upload. Traced back to the old days when I worked on the core of M42.

Hope I have done this target justice

Thanks for looking

Carl

[ahmed_haider (Ahmed)]

That's a nice lagoon m8