Eta Carina and Key Hole

[jjjnettie (Jeanette)]

I thought I'd share the Eta Carina image I captured last night.
ED127mm
CDS1100D @ ISO 800
3 minute subs for 1hr and 24min of data.
Stacked in DSS and processed in CS3.

I learned a lot about processing stars with this image. Something I'll bring to my next images.
No matter how many times we image an object, there is always something else we can learn.

PS. I had to use such short subs as I was set up at the side of the house, on the lawn. The ground is still rather damp and while I did compact the mount down when I set up, there was naturally still movement occuring as the scope moved.
So the PHD graph was almost flat lining, but I was getting trailing after 3 minutes.

High res version here. http://www.flickr.com/photos/astro_j...ol-973956@N23/
New version here. http://www.flickr.com/photos/astro_j...n/photostream/

OK, So I've given in to popular opinion and have upped the saturation levels.

[multiweb (Marc)]

That's a really nicely processed shot. Gorgeous.

[RickS (Rick)]

Delicate, subtle colours, JJJ. Very nice!

[Larryp (Laurie)]

Nice images, JJJ!

[DJT (David)]

You have squeezed out some really fine detail there. Nicely done

[Sarge (Rod)]

Well done JJJ. That ED127 is producing some lovely results.

Clear skies

Rod

[h0ughy (David)]

nice work JJJ, nice scope arent they

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

Yes, even though t'is only the good'ol Eta Carina Neb, that's very good JJ and I like the subtle variations in the salmon pink hues too

Mike

[jjjnettie (Jeanette)]

Thanks for looking.
Mike, I experimented a lot with colour while processing (as you do) and came back to the "less is more" palette.

[LightningNZ (Cam)]

Those stars are dead sharp JJJ. Very delicate handling of the final image. Hopefully one day I'll be able to make images this nice.

Cheers,
Cam

[alocky (Andrew lockwood)]

Hey! No fair! I got in first...
Very nice and sharp detail.
I think 3372 is so bright that you need relatively short subs anyway, or it burns out.
cheers,
Andrew.

[batema (Mark)]

Very nice. Great start to a great scope. Great night the other night. I will try to photograph my frozen bubbles.

[jjjnettie (Jeanette)]

Originally Posted by batema

Very nice. Great start to a great scope. Great night the other night. I will try to photograph my frozen bubbles.

Aye, the awesome foursome rides again.
I loved the idea of frozen bubbles.

[gregbradley]

Great images JJJ. You must be chuffed with those. Getting such nice round stars is a great thing. Nice detail too.

Whats a CDS1100D? A modded Canon 1100D?

Greg.

[jjjnettie (Jeanette)]

Originally Posted by gregbradley

Whats a CDS1100D? A modded Canon 1100D?

Greg.

LOL It's modded beyond recognition. The only thing original is the sensor and mother board.

http://www.centralds.net/cam/?product=cds-1100d-uvir

[acropolite (Phil)]

Lovely work JJJ.

[Nicola (Nicola)]

Great detail JJ, I'd push the saturation a bit here and there to give a more 3D feeling.

[leinad (Dan)]

Smooth, can even pick out the detail without strain. A great pic,

[gregbradley]

Originally Posted by jjjnettie

LOL It's modded beyond recognition. The only thing original is the sensor and mother board.

http://www.centralds.net/cam/?product=cds-1100d-uvir

Thanks for that. Wow, that is what I call a modded DSLR! It makes a lot of sense to remount the guts of the DSLR in a astro CCD style body.
That must've taken a lot of work. These guys are serious. I wonder if they do a Nikon D800 in a body like that?

Greg.

[SkyViking (Rolf)]

Nice work, the stars look very sharp. You can probably safely push the saturation slightly, there seems to be lots of good data there