NGC 6357 the lobster.

[tilbrook@rbe.ne]

Hi,

This is the first time I've imaged the Lobster nebula, and I'm very happy the way it's turned out. Some more data later would be nice, that's if I can find another couple of hours cloud free.
Tuesday and Wednesday look promising, probably jinxed it now saying that.

Equipment.

8" Newtonian astrograph f/4. on HEQ pro 5 mount. Orion (http://www.astronomyforum.net/wiki/Orion) mini guider.

Unmodded canon 1100D, baader coma corrector, cooler box.

13 x 9 minute subs, iso 800, stacked in DSS (http://www.astronomyforum.net/wiki/DSS), processed in PS7.

Cheers,

Justin.

[Larryp]

Lovely image, Justin. The red colour is excellent for an unmodded DSLR :thumbsup:

[tilbrook@rbe.ne]

Thanks Laurie!

How's the ankle healing?
You must itching to get out.

Cheers,

Justin.

[Larryp]

Yes, itching to get out, but still a long way off, Justin. Thanks for asking :)

[RickS]

Nice Lobster, Justin!

[tilbrook@rbe.ne]

Thanks Rick!

Cheers,

Justin.

[David Fitz-Henr]

More great work with that DSLR of yours Justin; a very nice lobster :thumbsup:

[tilbrook@rbe.ne]

Thanks David!

Think I'm getting the most out my DSLR images.

Cheers,

Justin.

[rmuhlack]

loads of the red stuff there Justin. If you can pull that sort of response out of a stock 1100D, surely you must be wondering what potential that camera of yours holds if you were to do a filter mod.... ;)

[strongmanmike]

Lots to like about this image Justin with plenty of interesting bits everywhere. The background looks a tad red to my eye, be interested to see that toned down to see what a difference it might make to the nebula contrast?

Nice work though and good luck with finding that clear sky :thumbsup:

Mike

[tilbrook@rbe.ne]

Hi Richard,

Your right, I have thought about modding the 1100D, just can't bring myself to do it. The dark skies I have seem to help a lot with capturing faint nebulosity.
Think I'll eventually get a CCD to capture more HA.



Thanks Mike,

Yep I'll tone down the red a little more. This area of sky seems be to very red, I think there's a lot more emission nebula there that's just beyond my reach. In PS I do an equalize to see what I'm dealing with in backgrounds and there's a lot of red in this one.

Cheers,

Justin.

[tilbrook@rbe.ne]

Here's a repro with less red in the background.

Cheers,

Justin.

[Stevec35]

You're turning out some good ones Justin. Nice shot!

Cheers

Steve

[tilbrook@rbe.ne]

Thanks Steve!

Cheers,

Justin.

[multiweb]

Good stuff Justin. :thumbsup: You just need to watch your colour balance. Check your histogram. The stars in front are blue but for one that is yellow. If you boost your levels in the green and blue then lower you red you'll be spot on.

[tilbrook@rbe.ne]

Thanks Marc!

I have more data from last night, so will start from scratch, had a quick fiddle with the current image and applied your suggestions.

Cheers,

Justin.

[Ross G]

Another great looking photo Justin.

You need to get a CCD. If you can get this quality from an unmodded DSLR, just imagine what you can acheive.


ross.

[Regulus]

Really like this picture Justin, but cannot stop looking at those 4 stars.
Excellent photograph.

Trevor

[tilbrook@rbe.ne]

Thanks Ross!

A CCD, hmmm one of these day's.



Thanks Trevor!

Those stars really hit you in the face!!

Cheers,

Justin.

[Elio]

Beautiful image for an unmodded dslr, great job!

[tilbrook@rbe.ne]

Thanks Elio!

Cheers,

Justin.