New 6D + Astrotrac at Lake Coolmunda

[cazza132]

A few images taken at Lake Coolmunda, west of Warwick using an unmodded 6D + Astrotrac. Astrotrac calibrated via drift method. Not perfect conditions (crescent moon, 10knot breeze from the lake and some intermittent cloud) but happy with the results. I'd love to get a full spectrum mod 6D. Saving already!

Antares region - 200mm f2.8, ISO1600, 6x120s, 3x60s, 3x30s, 3x15s and 3x8s. No darks or flats.

Coolmunda Milky Way - 35mm at f2.0, ISO1600, 4x180s and 4x60s. 4 shot mosaic. No darks or flats.

Eta Carina - 200mm at f2.8, ISO3200, 5x60s, 4x20s, 4x8s and 4x4s. No darks or flats.

Lagoon and Triffid - 200mm at f2.8, ISO3200, 7x120s, 4x40s, 4x13s and 4x4s. No darks or flats.

Crescent Moon - 600D, ISO400, tracked, bunch of exposures from 1/160s to 1.6s

Cheers,

Troy

[RobF]

Superb shots in there Troy. Bit of fuzziness in the M8 area shot, but the others are fantastic - not easy to get such great data processed to such good effect. Top stuff :thumbsup:

[cazza132]

Thanks for the feedback Rob! Yeah, the wind started picking up while I was gunning for the Lagoon. And I think I might have bumped the tripod that sent my calibration out of whack after having a few beers :)

[RobF]

Yes, but its always important to ensure the imager has been calibrated on beer too before collecting too much data :lol:

[cazza132]

Just checked out your gallery - my god you have some amazing work! I am floored! Might have to drink some more beer I think! Your M42 / M43 and the Triffid nebulae are standouts for me. I'm looking into getting a Astrophotography scope and it seems that the fast Newtonians are the go. And your running an 8" f5 one, autoguided via the finderscope? Really good results mate. Do you have any recommendations for a good fast scope that's portable? A good EQ mount also as I would also piggyback a camera off the side of the scope for the wide field stuff. Say in the 1000mm FL range? Will the image circle cover a full frame DSLR sensor? I guess that the secondary mirror would have a part to play in that.

[Nathan76]

Love em all.

Very impressive for an unmodded cam, very low noise for no darks etc...did you use in cam NR or forgo it entirely?

Nathan B.

[cazza132]

Thanks Nathan. No in cam NR. Converted from RAWs to 16 bit tiff with no sharpening and turned NR to 0 using Digital Photo Pro (Canon RAW converter). This is what I do if dark frame subtraction is required - and believe me, I have done that a lot in the past for landscape photography with long exposures. Used PT Gui to align all subs and output to a layered photoshop doc. Used stack mode = mean via smart objects in photoshop for average out each exposure time. Then brought each averaged exposure into Fitswork to create a file with larger dynamic range then adjusted levels, etc. I am still figuring out Fitswork, but it really seems to be quite a powerhouse program. I'm getting by with just 10% of what that program can do. The rest - I just don't understand yet.
Lucky for me, the 6D has long exposure dark frame noise in check. My old 5DII (2008 version) is shocking for dark frame noise. The 6D can do 10min exposures better than the 5DII at 60s exposures.

[iceman]

Nice work Troy, great shots.

[Dennis]

A superb portfolio of Milky Way images Troy and an excellent (HDR?) blend of the crescent Moon and Earthshine, you have controlled the bleeding of light from the traditionally over exposed terminator and limb really well.

Cheers

Dennis

[Irish stargazer]

Great shots Troy;)
This has inspired me to get out with the Polarie again next new moon.

[gregbradley]

Great shots. These little trackers and a good DSLR open up a world of possibilities. Nicely done.

Greg.

[multiweb]

Very nice framing on Rho ophiuchus. The milkyway and Carina really stand out too. Great resolution and colors. :thumbsup:

[RobF]

Thanks for the kind words of encouragement Troy.

For starting out in deep space astrophotography most people recommend something like an ED80 on an EQ6 mount. You'll need a guidescope and 2nd guide camera of some sort too. You'd be lucky to get going for under $2000, although 2nd hand on Ice can be a real boon. Not everyone that buys quality gear finds they like swearing at a laptop in 5 degree temps at 2am in the morning :)

An 8" Newt at F5 or F4 is a bit cheaper, collects a lot more light and has better resolution, but you have to work a bit harder with guiding because of the slightly longer focal length, balance a bit more awkward, you'll need something like an MPCC coma correcter ideally, and usually have to move main mirror or cut down adaptors to get your camera's focal plane in close enough to reach focus. I had previous Newt experience and felt safer starting out that way, but have to confess going over to the refractor dark side recently. Vignetting is an issue in most standard Newt's not designed for imaging, so you end up working harder at processing (unless you upgrade mirror, secondary vanes, etc).

LOTS to read about all these issues if you search on Ice though. Beware! Addictive!!! :D ;)

[Octane]

Great images, Troy!

Yay for DPP. :)

H

[redomatic]

Great work Troy, I'm going to have to get some tips!

[cazza132]

Thanks redomatic, Octane, multiweb, gregbradley, Irish stargazer, Dennis, iceman, and Nathan76 for your kind words. Really loving the Astrotrac. Does take time to get it right. Figured out a version of the drift method to get it close. Still learning though!

Dennis - Yes, I used SNS HDR for the moon. Two takes of that with different settings , then blended manually. I tracked the moon and took a series of shots with the 600D on Astrotrac. Four of each exposure and stacked before HDR to tone down the noise. Mirror lock up and everything else to minimize vibration. Using a pretty dodgy tripod atm. Was lucky that the wind didn't pick up til later.

Thank you RobF for your reply - yes learning lots here on this site - and yes, very addictive! Really keen on a fast Newt Reflector :) Might have to wait a while for the $$$. Thinking about a $5000 price range for a full Astrophotography setup with a good mount. Have an old 420mm f7 refractor I could use for a guide scope. I have a really dodgy 8" f4 one with a manual EQ mount already that I bought for about $400 new. Does your eyes in as I suspect the primary mirror is spherical, not parabolic. Definitely need a few beers before looking though that one!

Just lashed out for a full spectrum mod 6D + 77mm Vis+Ha filter from Spencer's Camera. So looking forward to capturing some of that Ha, and some daytime IR :)

[mbaddah]

Very nice captures there with the Astrotrac! You've given me a yardstick to aim for with my Astrotrac so thanks for that :thumbsup:



Nice nice nice :D Can't wait to see the results!

[jase]

A beautiful portfolio of images. Hard to pick the best. Productive imaging indeed. Well done.

[seeker372011]

Great work with an Astrotrac

Well done

[Ross G]

Beautiful photos Troy.

Love the Rho O photo.

Ross.