Modestly deep Helix

[Peter Ward]

I had hopes for decidedly more data....but the Sydney weather has put a hiatus on my imaging for a bit :rain:

Blending such a silly amount of H-alpha (34 hours worth) proved to be a challenge with such little RGB...which I suspect the only way I'll solve the problem is to get more L + RGB... weather permitting.

Anyway, the link is here (http://www.atscope.com.au/BRO/gallery325.html)

[PeterEde]

Very nice

[alpal]

Very nice Peter,
how do you manage to get 34 hours of integration time?

cheers
Allan

[RickS]

Beautiful deep Ha, Peter! I can see some structures clearly that were only hinted at in the 20 odd hours of Ha that I did with the Ceravolo at f/9.

Cheers,
Rick.

[Peter Ward]

Ta



Ta... 3 nm H-alpha filters are pretty much immune to Moonlight and skyglow...hence a few hours at a time slowly adds up.

[Larryp]

Very nice, Peter

[Logieberra]

Peter, that's beautiful! Well done!

[Peter Ward]

Thanks gentlemen.



Thanks Rick. I think your excellent Ceravolo rendition has a tad more res...to be expected at F9...so swings and round-abouts I guess.

I've got an additional 10 hours of OIII....it will probably get blended in at some stage...

[Octane]

Look at those pinpoint round stars!

Were your exposures 30 minutes in duration each?

Look forward to the final product! I've been capturing this with the FSQ as filler waiting for NGC253 to rise; it's a tiny little blob in the middle of the screen. :)

H

[Peter Ward]

Thanks H.... I started with 20 minute subs but quickly realised 30 minutes was the way to go. In fact I'd go deeper again, but I suspect there is a plot by Sydney ATC to constantly vector aircraft above my obs :)

The seeing however wasn't the best for a good portion of the data run, so I think some needs to be tossed and replaced.

That said, I'm pretty happy with getting some rarely imaged, faint outer detail from the 'burbs.

[Peter Ward]

Just layered in 5 hours of OIII....

Seems to have accentuated the "spokes" a tad more :)

Same link as before (http://www.atscope.com.au/BRO/gallery325.html)

[atalas]

Peter,impressive even on my crap monitor.

[Peter Ward]

Thanks Louie....but I often wonder what would be possible if I moved the rig to a dark site...:question:

[leon]

I don't understand all the technical points you list Peter, but i would certainly be happy with that shot, :eyepop: beautiful work indeed.:thumbsup:

Leon :thumbsup:

[Peter Ward]

Thank you Leon. Hopefully this weather will clear so I can give it some finishing touches :)

[atalas]

The Universe!just do it!

[beren]

Class image Peter as expected from yourself.....hopefully I can achieve something half as good with my STT :P

[Paul Haese]

I like the OIII version. Nice work Pete.

[Peter Ward]

Thanks Paul.



STT's + AO can work miracles even for a hack like me :)



I wish... but the one that must be obeyed might need convincing :lol:

[gregbradley]

The O111 version has come up nicely as you say picked up more of the structure. A great image. This must be one of your longest images?
The 8300/AO is a good match for the Honders.

Greg.

[Rod771]

Loads of faint detail there Peter! Very nice image.

A change in the weather would be well received. Its looking good so far today but showers are forecast for the rest of the week. :shrug:

[Peter Ward]

Thanks...I've always had this theory: if it's a new moon it must be raining :)



Ta Greg. While the RHA works well with the 8300, but I think I get better resolution with the RC and 16803. That said, neither like average seeing much...more so with the RHA.

It is indeed the longest exposure I've made to date. Not a lot of faint galaxies however, as it's only deep in h-alpha (at present ;) )

[Bassnut]

The neb extension is insane for urban imaging, shows what can be done with megadata in urban skies :thumbsup:.

[Peter Ward]

Thanks Fred. I did a fair bit of research on other Helix images prior to posting.

While some of the very faint outer elements have been hinted at, its true structure has often been invisible or distorted by processing artifacts.

As it turned out some so-called "deep" examples were just processed noise, rather than real structure.... hence I'm pretty confident to have brought something new to the table.

[Elio]

Modestly :eyepop:
stunning I'd say :thumbsup:

[Peter Ward]

Thanks for your feedback.

I've since made a roll-over image which shows the main features as identified in the Hubble image of the Helix

The annotated link is here (http://www.atscope.com.au/BRO/gallery325a.html)

[LewisM]

It's revenge for every time you have asked for a track diversion :)

I gave them your lat/long just to help out. They were very grateful :D

[Peter Ward]

OK. Just don't tell the tea-cosy wearing nutters about the chemtrails switch that I use while at work :)

[LewisM]

After-take off - FLEX, SRS, HDG, CHEM :)

[multiweb]

Very nice shot. The noise is certainly very low in the outer nebs. :thumbsup:

[Peter Ward]

Thanks Marc. I'm looking forward to getting some more RGB data to finally put this one to bed. Then again, maybe I could add some RCOS data :question:

[Ross G]

A great looking photo Peter.

Amazing detail!

Ross.

[Peter Ward]

Thanks for the feedback.

....The Met Bureau simply haven't cottoned on to the fact: a full moon causes clear weather :)

[Rex]

Wow that spectacular Peter. Really nice.

[graham.hobart]

Bloody hell, a cracker.
Peter, I know you are a man of few words.
But that is a marvellous image and if it really is a modest one, then I would be looking forward with tremulous eyes (if this were possible) to your un modest ones.
Astonishing really..
:thumbsup:
Graham

[marc4darkskies]

Like this one a lot Peter. :thumbsup: A bit more RGB will do the trick I reckon. Those outer extents are hard aren't they. I had to push and smooth my version very hard to show them. I must revisit it one day.

Marcus

[Peter Ward]

Thanks Marcus, extra data is always a good thing :thumbsup:



Thank you Graham, most kind. I suppose I could have given it a more snazzy title :question:

How about: "Mote in fiery God's Eye!! " (now that's bound to improve the ratings :) )



Ta. Glad you liked it.

[Peter Ward]

I've recently uploaded a deep negative version of just the h-alpha data.

(same URL as the original post)

With some very kind help from none other than Fred Watson and one D. Malin, it was very rewarding to discover some deeper features and revealed in my humble effort that were only hinted at in the AAO red plate data from a generation ago!

[Stevec35]

Well you did a pretty good blending job there Peter - it's a nice looking Helix. That 34 hour Ha is pretty amazing - there are structures there I didn't know about.

Cheers

Steve

[marco]

Great one Peter :thumbsup: Great details and resolution, the OIII turquoises core stands out very very nicely

Clear skies
Marco

[Peter Ward]

Thank you indeed Marco...too kind, but I think it needs a little more work. I'll be happy when I improve the star colour and tighten up the resolution



Thanks Steve...the deep h-alpha shows structure I've not seen elsewhere....but as I mentioned earlier, it needs just a few more tweaks :thumbsup:

[SimmoW]

Bloody heck, such a deep image, and good on you for spending all that time!