Its been a long time !, the tower.

[Bassnut]

Well, finally heres a proper 1st light of sorts, after what, 2 years of no imaging :P.

Zoomed in :D, the Tower, a part of M16 in colour mapped narrow band (http://fredsastro.smugmug.com/Photography/Astrophotography-1/16631549_fD6fJj#!i=2686672218&k=gvWqzCV&lb=1&s=X2).
Taken on an RCOS 10" RC Scope at f9, SBIG STXL6303E Camera and PME mount.at itelescopes Siding Spring Observatory (http://www.itelescope.net/itelescopenet-south).
12hrs of 3nm Ha, 40 min subs bin1, 2.6 hrs each of 3 nm SII and OIII 20min subs bin2.
Processed with CCDstack, Star Tools and Photoshop.

Some things have changed since my last image posts.
New SBIG STXL6303E camera with built in before-the-filter OAG cam.
itelescope Siding Spring location. Insane dark sky 2arcsec (or less) seeing (I operate the scope totally manually via Radmin, just like it was in the back yard :) )
Star Tools processing, it tracks noise as you process, which makes decon and noise reduction etc very smooth and effortless, didnt even bother with the usual fits liberator. No more hrs of masking in PS :thumbsup:, and all tweakable. Just some finishing in PS.

The image is a bit artifacty, but I have to learn processing all over again :lol:.

Ive got lots of data for other bits of M16 coming soon :thumbsup:.

[strongmanmike]

Ah sigh...Narrow Field Fred is back posting on IIS :scared: :rolleyes: :doh:

He he, looks good Fred :thumbsup: nice grand feel to it, its quite detailed I guess?..but it is certainly very smooooooth :cool3: :)

Mike

[ChrisM]

Must feel good Fred to get an image pushed through the new system, which sounds very promising.

I noticed that you used a 3 nm Ha filter. How might the exposure time (for the same result) vary if you used a 5 or 7 nm filter? I am guessing - not much at all.

Looking forward to seeing more of your work.

Chris

[RB]

Oh What Fresh Hell Is This?

:lol:

Just kidding Fred, wow great to see new work from you.
Well done, a wonderful image indeed.

A Guinness to you mate!
:drink:

[Rod771]

Far out!!! ...... or far in!

That's great! Must be very satisfying having it all running smoothly and getting great results.

40 min subs!....wow. :eyepop:

Very well done

[marc4darkskies]

Hideous Fred! Just hideous!! Nowhere neeeear enough stars and ... how do I zoom out??! I had to stand back from the monitor to get that wide field look!

Cheers, Marcus ;)

PS: Congrats Fred - a very impressive and lovely image! :thumbsup:

[jase]

Its the narrowfield, no BS approach I've come to expect and you haven't failed to deliver. :thumbsup: This rendition is substantially better than your previous attempt. Rusty processing? I'd say you've still got it...Depth of field displays well even if a little too smooth for some. The only thing missing that would complete your post is the statement 'in your face widefield woozes' :lol:

I'll take more of that Fred. Well done. :)

[gregbradley]

Back with a bang Fred. A tremendous image.

Greg.

[astronobob]

Was just browsing Fred, But had to log-on to comment !
An Insane Capture, havnt seen anything like it for a long long time, , ! !
Congratts on getting the good gear up & running !
Dam georgous Image ! !

[iceman]

That's awesome! Welcome back Fred!

[Bassnut]

Gee, thanks Guys, its good to be back ;-).
Chris. Yes, 3nm at f9 is a pain, I was at f6 before and 20min subs were fine. I could go to 1hr subs, but its getting silly. One bad sub is an hr lost.
7nm would allow a bit shorter times, but then more other light gets in and that colour isnt as deep. Also, ive got an NII filter. Ha and NII are so close, 3nm is needed to seperate them.

[Larryp]

That's a lovely image!

[multiweb]

Really nice close up. Good stuff. :thumbsup:

[RickS]

Very nice, Fred. At that scale there's lots of opportunities to do something a bit different.

[naskies]

Wow, love it! :)

[cybereye]

Brilliant!:thumbsup:

[Octane]

That is amazing.

One of the best works of art I've seen posted here.

H

[Bassnut]

Yes, art, I like that. Whats the difference between art and a NB astro pic?..... No, I think thats the same thing.

[DavidU]

Wonderful ! Well done Fred.:thumbsup:

[Phil Hart]

Good to see you're a happy camper again Fred :D. That's some impressive combination of gear/location you've got going now!

Phil

[Bassnut]

No , the gear is not ideal for NB NF. F9 sucks. I feel... The need..for...speed.
F6 3m 17", now that sounds more like it. On the case.

[Peter Ward]

Nice one Fred....excellent intrinsic resolution without the need for fancy processing: that fake look of over-sharpening is never good. :thumbsup:

....damm...might have to remount the Ritchey :lol:

[Bassnut]

Thanks Peter, but methinks you and Mike are having a lend of me there, up sized fake sharpening is exactly what I do :P. Although not so much in this case, I'm trying to kick that habit :lol:. Besides, as mentioned, I don't pretend to do anything but art, so long as it doesn't look evil and ugly ill try anything. Yes, NF is the new black. Remounting proper FL is definitely required :thumbsup:

[iceman]

This beautiful image is now IOTW (http://www.iceinspace.com.au). Welcome back Fred!

[Gem]

Wow! Love it!! :)

[Paul Haese]

I like it Fred. Love the detail in the tower, certainly 3D. This has made me want to get my RC up faster now. Just waiting on excavator and my PMX to arrive. Great motivator Fred.:thumbsup:

[Bassnut]

Thanks again guys. Wow, IOTW ! Thanks Mike. The pressures on :P

[Stevec35]

Nice one Fred

Cheers

Steve

[g__day]

Very impressive work Fred - great to see you posting images again!

[dynamo]

stunningly beautiful!
:thanx:

[RobF]

Missed this. Looking forward to more narrowfielded exploits, in err, narrowband. :thumbsup: :D

[prokyon]

Stunning result, Fred! These towers are one of my favorite objects.

[CoolhandJo]

Would expect nothing less from the great Fred. Lovely deep perfect image. Thanks for posting.