Another Flame n' Horse in H-Alpha: Repro added

[LucasB]

Hi Everyone,
Happy new Year!
Thought I would test out the new APM Riccardi 0.75x reducer and get some horse action (which I have never shot before would you believe?). Reckon I might frame it a little differently next time to get IC 432 in the shot also.

Image details :
Scope : APM 130mm/780mm LZOS Triplet APO with APM Riccardi 0.75x reducer to give F4.5.
Mount : NEQ6 Pro (Belt drive)
12x10min using 7nm Baader H-alpha with Darks,flats and dark flats.

Here is the full res larger 1800 x 1341 version on Astrobin :
http://www.astrobin.com/full/70764/0/?real=&mod=

Comments and Critique always welcome.
Thanks for looking,
Lucas

[strongmanmike]

I think you mean Flat darks ;)...unless you take flats for your darks.. but then they would be..?..darks :question: :lol:

A very solid and quite deep Ha Horsey Lucas, well done :thumbsup:

Mike

[LucasB]

Gave me a good laugh but yes, Flat darks they are indeed. I am not pioneering any new techniques that would be useless.:lol:
Thanks for the feedback - you certainly know what deep is (Yes - Centaurus A still lives!)

[LucasB]

Did a little repro on this one to add some contrast, sharpen and reduce noise a little and finally adjust the black point. It is attached to the original post so you can blink between the two or the full res. repro can be found at :

http://www.astrobin.com/full/70764/B/?real=&mod=

Thanks for looking,
Lucas

[RickS]

That's a nice improvement, Lucas!

[Ken]

That,s a great looking horse there Lucas, just wondering what camera you used.
Clear Skies Ken.

[gregbradley]

Sweet looking Ha shot there Lucas. Nice. Alnitak is well controlled. Those little diffraction spikes - have you added those?

Greg.

[LucasB]

Thank you Ken. The camera I am using is the QHY9 mono. Really happy with it. Cooling is great , I highly recommend it.



Thanks Greg. I haven't added the diffraction spikes. They are the classic KAF8300 chip microlens spikes. I believe that the SBIG program CCDOPS has a tool that can remove them so I might have a look at it. I am starting to warm to them a little though..:thumbsup:

[Ross G]

A very nice looking Horse Head Lucas.

Great detail and I love the monochrome.

Ross.

[LucasB]

Thanks Ross. I am a big fan of Ha and it was a good test for the new reducer.