Eta Up Close and Personal

[Paul Haese]

I have finally got a new STXL this last week and this image is a test image to see if the camera is operational. There was a blooming issue which I think is now fixed but I need clear skies to test that with luminance data.

The stars in this image are still not to my liking. I worked more on the guiding and have that looking ok near Carina. The Ha was done prior to new guiding and as such the stars are not great. However, I am very happy with the detail level. Many features seen in Hubble images can be seen in this image. Happily I can say those features are pretty sharp looking.

The field flattening is still not at the correct distance and I have done a mild lens correction to this data to make the stars a little more round.

Click here (http://paulhaese.net/NGC3372RC12.html) for image.

[Amaranthus]

Very good Paul. Great to see the new camera in action.

[alpal]

Hi Paul,
you have so much detail & the stars around the center are perfect.

cheers
Allan

[sjastro]

Good image Paul.

I hope the new STXL has ended your camera issues.

Steven

[DaveNZ]

Impressive stuff Paul. You have that RC12 singing!

[Exfso]

That image is so sharp, I reckon you have focus perfect, says a lot for the scope as well, obviously.:thumbsup:

[Paul Haese]

Thanks all for the comments.



Yes me too Steven. It has a been a real test of patience so far.



No; not fully tuned yet, but getting close to the mark Dave. The remote system aspect is working very well. I am still fine tuning guiding and the flattener distance to create a flat field with round stars. Unfortunately some manufacturers of equipment don't help with good information to make the path easier. The TS Optical flattener says 106mm for back focus but I am actually now at 108mm and only just getting stars in the corners to look slightly round. When I contacted TS techs about this they said it could be as much as 110mm before I get a flat field. So experiments continue onward.



Focusmax really has an impact here Pete. Robotic focus based on half flux diameter is very accurate; so much more that doing it with a Bahtinov mask which relies on your own assessment of where the spikes should lie. I encourage people to use autofocusing in whatever form to get the desired results and maximise each imaging session.

[RickS]

Looks very promising, Paul. You must have been hanging out for that replacement camera!

Cheers,
Rick.

[Paul Haese]

This is the replacement camera Rick. Just tweaking and tuning now. :)

[multiweb]

Superb! It's got all the right bits in the right places. :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

[Paul Haese]

Thanks Marc, but it does not have the peanut showing. Next mission to get that, straight after I get this flattener in the right position. Nearly there. Guiding is now sorted thankfully. For some reason I need to be a 0.5 second exposures on guiding to get great results. Not seeing chasing as the seeing is generally good; but happy to have that sorted. Blooming pretty well sorted too. Might need to do one more very small turn to that pot on the board.

[marc4darkskies]

Overlooking the stars - a very nice image indeed Paul :thumbsup:

Cheers, Marcus

[gregbradley]

That's superbly sharp. So much detail. Got to be happy with that.

Greg.

[Bassnut]

whoa, most excellent Paul, tight as. How did you "fix" the blooming "issue"?.

[Paul Haese]

Thanks Marcus and Greg.



Fred, Atscopes sourced the information from SBIG. As it turns out it was an adjustment of a pot on the board which just pushed the ABG a little more. I am pleased to say it worked. That pot is about 3mm square with a tiny Phillips head in the centre. You have to make sure you are well grounded and don't have the shakes prior to attempting. There are some terminals close by that connect directly to the sensor. :eyepop: It was easier to do that than send it to Peter again. Anyone who knows me well, knows that if I can fix it myself, I will.

[Stevec35]

Outstanding detail in the nebula Paul!

Steve

[cazza132]

Wow - stunning detail! Love the colours too:thumbsup:

[Peter Ward]

Very tidy indeed Paul.

Good resolution without being under sampled due a lack of focal length

I like the slightly softer look to the processing as well.

Nice one :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[Placidus]

Hi, Paul,

A very fine rendition. You've processed it very well to bring out all our favourite features with nice controlled contrast.

Best,
Mike

[Ross G]

Amazing detail.

A great looking photo Paul.

Ross.

[Andy01]

Lovely shot, amazing "pillowy" look to the dust/gas clouds and beautiful use of the colour palatte.

Interesting to look at the differing FOV's of your's and Mikes images of the same target posted here this week.

Well done :thumbsup:

[Hagar]

Very nice Paul. You have captured the 3D effect missing in so many narrow band images. The detail right to the core star is magnificent.
Well done.:thumbsup::eyepop::thumbsup:

[Paul Haese]

Thanks everyone for the comments. Much appreciated.



As discussed in your thread, this is about contrast control to increase the effect of the luminosity captured. Dr David Malin stated one thing that he really liked about my overall winning M42 image last year was the way I had enhanced the luminosity of light on the gas by stars nearby. I had at that stage started doing this in all my images to increase the 3D effect, I have now developed this process quite a lot to the point where I am using selective masking to further enhance the effect. I think it helps to make features pop out.




You have to be careful with the comparison. My image is at about 66% of full resolution and the only reason I have made it smaller is because the star shapes are quite defective due to guide errors that I have now sorted. Guiding at long focal lengths is much harder than at short focal lengths. The guide errors are so much more difficult to manage. Fine tuning that out has taken some time.

As stated about the pillowy look is about 3D contrast control and really helps to make an image pop. I guess as Dr David Malin once critiqued one of my images by saying one has to "respect the light". The bright areas should be bright and the dark areas should be dark.



Yes several recent images come to mind here Doug. I did an image last year of IC2944 (seen here (http://paulhaese.net/IC2944narrowband.html)) which demonstrates how the 3D effect can be managed with good data. Recent examples I have seen have been flat in my opinion. One in particular looks almost monochromatic with mainly blue tones and little other enhancement.

[SkyViking]

That's a really beautiful Carina Nebula there Paul, lovely colours and nice crisp detail throughout. The Mystic Mountain (http://hubblesite.org/gallery/wallpaper/pr2010013a/) has come out clearly, which is not often seen.
And the IC2944 image is stunning, spectacular work Paul.

I've just this week filled the last two positions in my filter wheel so I now have a complete set of Astrodon 3nm narrowband filters - looking forward to trying them out!

BTW I totally agree re Focusmax, it is really worth getting this up and running.
And about guiding, your experience is similar to mine; I get best results using 0.6s - only sometime switching to 1s exposures if seeing interferes.

[Paul Haese]

Thanks Rolf. On the subject of focusmax I can honestly say I could not get focus even remotely close on my RC with a Bahtinov mask.

I am looking into direct guiding so I can get away from using short exposures. It might be something to consider for your system.

I have one slot left in both my filter wheels and I have considered and IR filter in each, but still thinking about the price. There are other things I need first. ;) I imagine though your images will have more contrast from here on in with 3nm. I only have two Astrodons with that band pass. I would like more but I have paid for two rigs with Astrodon filters and you can imagine what the cost of that is. :eyepop:

The mystic mountain is a cool object and I am pleased to have obtained that with my GSO scope. It goes to show the quality of the optics from them is comparable with other systems, though not having all the bells and whistles.

[Gem]

Really good!! I love it. The only slightest feedback would be the slight reddish rims to the stars. I know the narrow band is what makes the image, but it would be nice to have the stars a consistent colour...

But overall - love it! :)

[Paul Haese]

Hi Grant, I agree the stars are a pain. I don't like the colour either. This shot was only really a test to assess the performance issues of the system. That being guiding, camera operation and flattener back focus distance. I did not take it any further than I have simply because I have sorted those issues in the last week and will now recapture the entire data set and include RGB. I will be capturing short subs too to get the homunculus too. So stay tuned as another image will arrive in the next month or so. I appreciate you taking the time to say something.

[jahnpahwa]

Paul, this is such a good image, and reading that it was a test with blooming issues is just mind blowing to me.

I wonder if you can tell me what this feature is, not far from mystic mountain, it looks like a less flashy but equally interesting cousin?

[xa-coupe]

Amazing

[Peter Ward]

A great result Paul. That's an A list Eta by any measure. Well done.

[LewisM]

Yeah not bad for 5 years ago lol

[multiweb]

Eta never gets old. Super result. :thumbsup:

[LewisM]

Aw, I dunno, it's probably a few million years old at least.

[codemonkey]

5yrs old or not, that's still a fantastic image.

[Camissa]

Old image or not - I love the details on mighty Eta Car. I can recognize the Homunculus nebula!

[jahnpahwa]

Bumping my question back up on top of the renewed appreciation for this!

Anyone know the name of the un-pretty cousin of mystic mountain?

[Paul Haese]

Thanks everyone for commenting on this old one.





Thanks JP, I don't know the name of that object. It is an interesting one for sure.

[Bart]

Very nice Paul. Well detailed.