NGC3372 Eta Carina in Ha 12hrs

[Bassnut]

Hi Guys.

Nebula NGC 3372 Eta Carina

A work in progress, click here (http://fredsastro.smugmug.com/Photography/Astrophotography-1/i-Rxt4mv2/A) for big.

Taken on an RCOS 10" RC Scope at f9, SBIG STXL6303E Camera and PME mount at itelescopes Siding Spring Observatory.
Processed with CCDstack, Star Tools and Photoshop.
37 off 3nm Ha subs 20min each bin1.

Subs for this one were 20min ea (Ha 3nm), due to its brightness.

Ill do more Ha hrs on this and then some SII, OIII when the moon goes away.

[Rod771]

Looking good Fred! Nice and sharp. :thumbsup:

I'm Looking forward to the colour additions :)

[RickS]

Great resolution, Fred!

[strongmanmike]

Well firstly...:zzz2: :rolleyes:

Then, yes certainly some nice resolution in places but the selective sharpening is a bit too obvious :question: :shrug:

Finally...a dramatic image, very Vanderhavenish :clap: :thumbsup:

but Eta is missing :shrug:

...it is sharp though

Mike

[alpal]

Very nice indeed but why remove the hypergiant star Eta Carinae?
Couldn't you remove the blooming & still retain the star?

[Bassnut]

Damb, Im so stupid sometimes.

Stupid comments now gone, leaving out Eta was stupid, and a bit over sharp, also a bit stupid.

Il. Do it again properly and leave the main bit in :P.
Thanks for your patience. If I keep this up, they won't let me out anymore.

[gregbradley]

I like it Fred. I like the fine sharpness and there is a 3D layer look to it where you can see some Ha is in front of the other like a mountain range.
Putting back Eta would be good though.

I am impressed by these narrowband images you are getting. A 6303e chi could be in my very near future.

Greg.

[Bassnut]

Thanks for the nice comments guys.

Greg
Yeah, I recon (especially) Ha comes out OK with this rig.
Im not entirely sure why, guiding isnt that flash (the PME gears need a regrease or something). I think the combination of hi Ha QE, lots of hrs, ST and good seeing does the trick. Ive noticed Startools has a way of stretching thats hard to copy in PS too. Its a bit tricky but rediculosly easy and intuative to use, sort of suck and see until it looks good (not useing curves as such). It pulls out deep stuff and controls noise automatically very well. At -35deg the SBIG is pretty low noise too. At least it seems to be, I know other cams are lower noise, but the Ha QE maybe makes up for that.

Ive got some more Ha now, so Ill do Eta again..... with Eta actually in it :P

[gregbradley]

Your PME was out in SA for a while wasn't it? It probably got hammered with dust.

Greg.

[Bassnut]

Yes, I havent done a regrease since new.

[multiweb]

That's pretty special. :thumbsup:

[Bassnut]

Originals are now replaced.

Cant say it looks any better, and it all looks a bit messy, Eta is all crunched up and distorted (thats what a NABG cam does). Anyway, at least all the stars are there :).

[alpal]

OK - I see what you mean - it turned into a single big diffraction spike.
Why is that?
It could still be fixed up if anyone is worried about it.

BTW - I noticed on the original size that the "finger" is showing.
That's nice resolution!

Hubble version of the "finger":
http://d1jqu7g1y74ds1.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/carina_hst.jpg

[Octane]

Such beautiful use of punchy contrast. Another work of art, Fred.

H

[Rod771]

No no no!

The stupid comment was when my wife asked me "Why did he put his ha subs in the bin for 20 minutes?" :rolleyes: ( she was joking but received a massive groan from myself :P)

Nice repo Fred :thumbsup: