Helix Revisited

[Mosc_007]

Even though the viewing tonight was not very good I did get a chance to do the Helix Nebula again. At least the sky was clear all night although their was a lot of wind at times.

I used a Focal Reducer this time to increase the speed of the scope.

Many more subs. A total of 36 Subs at 5 Mins each. That is 3 hours of data. I even did 5 Darks. First time I have used darks with my DSLR. I don't think I can do much better with this scope and a DSLR.

Meade SC8 with a F6.3 Focal Reducer. Modded Canon 1100D.


EDIT,
I have done some more processing of the image. Separated the RGB Channels. Enhanced the Blue and Green channels. Combined them back together then applied a slight soft focus filter. I also cropped the full image and made this one bigger. I think it looks better now ?


Charles

[cometcatcher]

Super result Charles. Looks like the extra time and focal reducer helped.

[blink138]

exceptional charles!
pat

[Mosc_007]

Thanks for the comment. I did want to try and see how good I could get this difficult object. I think this is about the limit for my scope and camera.

Charles

[Mosc_007]

It has certainly made a huge Difference. The first image doesn't look like the same object now :)


Charles

[raymo]

Fine result Charles. The Helix is my next target, when the weather eventually clears.
raymo

[tonybarry]

Hi Charles,

A very nice Helix as well - two good catches in one night !

I like the wispy arc off to the bottom of the image.

Regards,
Tony Barry

[smader]

Great result! Are you using a Meade wedge or another mount?

[Mosc_007]

NEQ6 Pro mount.

I bought that mount with the OTA because I wanted to do Astrophotography.


Charles

[5ash]

Very nice image , love the colours , just a hint of detail coming out in the inside edges of the ring. Tracking looks good . Was this taken when it was low or high in the sky?
Great image , regards philip

[Mosc_007]

Yep, I noticed the slight detail on the inner edges. On the unsized image I can see a little more of it. Some slight knots. Not much more though being limited by my scope and camera.

I started off a little low. The first hour of subs has some sky glow from over sydney. But the 2nd and 3rd hour was pretty clean. The last sub was almost straight up.

I am glad I only had an 8 inch SCT as the wind gusts were high at times. The 8 inch is pretty stable even in high wind. I could see the wind in the tracking graph but it was not enough to show up in the image.


Charles

[BruceG]

Great image Charles. I have been waiting patiently for a clear Saturday night to try my gear on the Helix - it is an object of desire for me ;)
I think yours is superb and hope I can render some of the detail you have achieved.
Looks like my next chance will be this Saturday if the weather is clear.
I'm at the snow this week and will return home Saturday so if I can stay awake I may have a chance.

[Mosc_007]

Thanks for the comment. When I decided to do Helix I had no idea how difficult an object it is. Makes Horsehead look easy :)

Hope you have some good sky when you get a chance. It's pretty much high enough around 9:30pm to get started. Later is better though.


Charles

[Camelopardalis]

Looks beautiful mate :thumbsup: makes me want to try and give it a go too :D

[Mosc_007]

Thanks. I like it. It is a fun object.

I have been playing with the Image and just uploaded a tuned version. I think it looks better ?

I separated the RGB channels. Enhanced the Blue and Green channels. Combined them back together and applied a slight Focus soften.


Charles

[Camelopardalis]

Wow, lots to see there :thumbsup: there's even a faint prominence from the bottom right "corner" sweeping down and round to the left.

[Rex]

Top shot Charles, I love this object and you have captured some nice detail.

[Mosc_007]

Thanks,

I am going to work on this object again. I now have a Celestron C11. More light and increased resolution should lead to more detail. I also want to do the subs with 2 different filters. Using a "Ha" filter for the Red Channel and an "OIII" filter for the Cyan channel. I think it will work fine as they appear to be the only colours in this object. I will stack them separately them add the Red channel and Blue and Green to a new image.

Weather permitting a couple of weeks.

Charles

[BruceG]

Good luck with the next attempt - you've already set the bar pretty high with this one.
I still haven't had an opportunity to try the Helix but hope also to do so in the coming couple of weeks.
Have you signed up with Astrobin or similar site so we can view your images in high res? I find Astrobin is the easiest to use and very good for looking at others with similar equipment to determine what exposures may work and a bunch of other useful stuff. Anyway - I hope your next effort works well for you.
Cheers,

Bruce.

[Mosc_007]

Thanks for the advice about Astrobin.

I have signed up and uploaded a selection of some of my better images. Full res.

http://www.astrobin.com/users/Mosc_007/


Charles

[raymo]

Yes, I think the second version is slightly better, but whatever, They're
both damn good.
raymo

[Mosc_007]

Thanks for the positive comment.


Charles

[5ash]

Hi Charles,
Did you look at the result of stacking only the second and third hour , you described them as "pretty clean"
Regards philip

[Mosc_007]

Yep, I did try that. It didn't make much difference.

Seems more data compensated for the Sky Glow in the first hour.


Charles