Captured NGC 6752 last Wednesday night , a 6 magnitude globular cluster located in the constellation of Pavo ( Peacock ) under Sydney Bortle 8 skies , a 85% waxing moon and neighbours ( 2 story mansions ) on both sides exterior flood lights on until 11.30pm lighting up my backyard for no apparent reason !!!!
A nice bright little cluster with some larger stars fringing the core and also in the wider star field
I captured this object last year but only managed an hour of data , this year managed over 2 hours and the result is significantly better
6” f6 Bintel GSO newt on an EQ6-R Mount
Canon 600D with Baader coma corrector ( no filters )
100 x 80 sec dithered guided subs ( dithered every 3rd frame )
60 x darks
PHD2 guiding at 1.20 to 1.40 total rms error
Goto and tracking EQMOD, StellariumScope and Stellarium
Frame , focus and capture BYEOS
Stacked in Deep Sky Stacker
Processed in Startools V1.5 Linesr data set
That's a very nice NGC6752, despite the neighbours. Lovely star colours as well.
You're going to have to slow down your output of images though, you'll have nothing left to image in a year or two at this rate, but it must be fun so far.
You have managed to capture a lot of different star colours.
The stretch (or is it developing in Startools?) is spot on.
I have found keeping the exposure times and gain low to avoid saturating the pixels is the trick.
Jeff
Thanks for commenting, I’ve only imaged about 40 objects in just over 3 years so if I live to 90 ( I’m 60 ) that means I would have imaged 400 objects and there’s 42,000 observable objects up there ! So got a long way to go
I think I got the maths right ?
Peter
Thanks for commenting
Startools has 2 stretch options ( Develop and AutoDev )
I mostly use Autodev which gives you significantly more control over the stretch and exposes more good detail in your image
Startools has a Wipe module which is very powerful and removes most of the gradient, vignetting , skyglow etc... plus a few other modules to mitigate noise. It’s very powerful software which requires a good processor and plenty of ram. I use a gaming computer ( HP Omen ) which has an i7 generation 9 processor and 32GB ram plus 1TB HDD and 512GB SSD
The Colour module has a scientific mode which is great for globular clusters to bring out the different colours in the core and star field
I’ve been using Startools for 3 years now and can’t see myself changing for the immediate future
You should try a demo if your computer has enough processing power
Martin
Great images Martin.
I have gone to using auto develop based on your comments and although the first result is horrible after a wipe and the develop after it gets to pleasing.
Star Tools just keeps on giving.
I would encourage you to go to narrow band if for no other reason than to slow your production but in your hands I think you could do wonders.
I love the star colour in your images which gives me something to aspire to...
When can we expect a YouTube video of your journey?
Alex
Alex
Thanks so much
My new ZWOASI2600MC hopefully will arrive end of July ( my first journey into cooled OSC ) I’ve also ordered a ZWO 2” Duo band filter to use when I’m in Sydney
It will be a whole new learning curve from my 600D DSLR
Have thought above going Mono with filters etc ... maybe a few more years down the track
Yeh Startools keeps unlocking little secrets during processing, I love it
My hat off to Ivo Jager for developing such a simple to use but very powerful Astro Tool
Another stunning cluster Martin. I think you're at the stage where your camera is holding you back. I'm certain that your images will go to another level once that new camera arrives. Something I find interesting though, is that the AutoDev gives more control when stretching. I don't use or know anything about StarTools so please excuse my ignorance, but I assume that AutoDev is an auto adjustment? If so, then why does it allow for more control? I would have thought that it would be the other way around?
Thanks LIS For your kind comments
I’m looking forward to using the new OSC Camera although if the specs are correct then I’m going to have to tread lightly wth it with a step by step approach ( the QE on my Canon is 40% , the QE on the 2600MC is +80% )
Attached is a brief explanation about Startools AutoDev
It’s my favourite module in the Startools work flow as it the key that opens the door to your image
Thanks Martin. I also had a read of this on their site. https://www.startools.org/modules/develop. I may be wrong, I'm probably wrong , but my take from that is that a Develop stretch is best used in linear situations where finer control may be required. For example on low magnitude targets, suppressed by high noise signal, as you'd risk crunching pixels in a non-linear process. I guess this is where AutoDev shine's with non-linear data and its ability to calculate optimum pixel values to provide the best stretch possible.
, but my take from that is that a Develop stretch is best used in linear situations where finer control may be required. For example on low magnitude targets, suppressed by high noise signal, as you'd risk crunching pixels in a non-linear process. I guess this is where AutoDev shine's with non-linear data and its ability to calculate optimum pixel values to provide the best stretch possible.
