Ngc3324

[Paul Haese]

I am pleased to present my latest image out of Clayton Observatories. This object nicknamed Gabriela Mistral Nebula and properly known as NGC3324 is a nebula which has given birth to several very large stars in the last million or so years. Those stars are now illuminating the entire nebula.

Once again only a short amount of data on this project at 8 hours.

Click here (http://paulhaese.net/NGC3324.html) for larger resolution image.

[IanP]

Better 8h than nothing, as we’ve had in Perth for the last week(s) .. :shrug:
Very nice version, Paul .. :thumbsup:
Q: Where are the star spikes come from :question:

[DJScotty]

Very impressive! :thumbsup:

[Ryderscope]

Nice, smooth data with little noise for 8 hours looking at this image on my iPad. Is the blue/ green of the "face mask" OIII data? Fascinating sharp transition between there and the surrounding nebulosity.

[Paul Haese]

Thanks Scott,

Ian, the diffraction spikes are from the RC12. You might be thinking that I am only using a refractor, but I have two systems. If this is not your thinking can you elucidate your question a little please?



Rodney the OIII data and the Ha data are probably contributing to the blue green colour. I have mapped SII to red, Ha to green and OIII to blue. It's a fascinating object altogether in my opinion, but the boundary/gas wall is present in all channels. I think the wall is being illuminated by stars from behind the edge which are hidden from view. Though I could be completely wrong and would be pleased to here from anyone that actually does know.

[IanP]

I'm not familiar with RC12, I was not aware it produces spikes ..:innocent:

[Paul Haese]

Yes another reflector with secondary held in place by a secondary assembly. Like this one here (http://www.bintel.com.au/Telescopes/Cassegrain/Bintel-GSO-RC12-A-f/8-Astrograph/1790/productview.aspx).

[Stevec35]

A very nice NGC 3324 indeed Paul! I've always felt that this object looks best in the Hubble palette and it doesn't need a lot of data for spectacular results.

Cheers

Steve

[RickS]

Very nice, Paul. The colours are atttractive and the detail is great. The GSO is performing well.

Cheers,
Rick.

[Paul Haese]

Thanks Steve. It is a very bright object compared to some and I found noise was significantly reduced overall pretty quickly. The palette does seem to work quite well with this object. The SII is quite thin though and I only had two subs. I should have collected more but, once I put it all together the noise level did not seem too bad.



Thanks Rick. There is one more tweak that I need to do yet to get this system really working well. I now have the correct adapter between the flattener to the filter wheel. Or so I am told. I need to fit this in place so I don't have to crop my images. I plan on installing that sometime in the next few days. With any luck the distance will be right this time. TS Optical are reasonably sure they have given me the right distances now. Time will tell.

[multiweb]

Beaute picture. Incredibly smooth. :thumbsup:

[Placidus]

Very fine. A pleasure to explore.

[Rod771]

Lovely result Paul, well done! :thumbsup:

[DarkArts]

Fantastic shot. Love it! :thumbsup:

[kkara4]

Paul this is fantastic and a real inspiration for me to buy some Sii, HA and Oiii filters - really like the hubble pallete on this!

i tried my first eta carina with my DSLR on the weekend (will post up later). i feel with filtered work and mono camera i could have got a far superior result (and of course the Sii, Ha, Oiii colour combination is completely different to RGB!).

Can you share what filters you used for this / what filters you use in general for your DSO imaging? (apologies if you have posted this somewhere already, i did a search and couldnt find it!)

[gregbradley]

You've got your RC singing. Looking good.

Greg.

[Paul Haese]

Thanks DarkArts and Rod for your comments.



Not much noise control needed to produce a smooth image. Nor was much integration needed on such a bright object.



Your image got me thinking Mike and the subject was small enough so I could crop out some of the crap stars in the corners.



Krishan, this image is composed of SII Ha and OIII filters from Astrodon. My filters are 5nm for both SII and Ha and then 3nm for OIII. For galaxy work I use RGB and Ha. I usually decide what filters to use based on the objects predominant gas composition and what I have seen works for others. The information about my images is listed below the image on my website.




Nearly there Greg. I installed the correct (hmm so I am told by TS Optical) adapter today, so hopefully I will get a perfectly flat field from here on in. The collimation still needs a little looking at I think, but that will be just a tweak or two. I just hope the field is now flattened correctly. You might hear me scream all the way over there if it is not.

[Logieberra]

Nice one Paul. Would be interested to see (with pics) what flattener + adapters you arrived at, along with your results.

[Paul Haese]

I am using the TS Optical 3" flattener. Their original specifications called for a back focus distance of 106mm I tried that and other suggestions they had up to 109mm. The longer distances made for worsening star shapes in the corners of the 11002 sensor. Eventually I contacted them and sent images showing the problem. They now say that the distance should be 103mm. I have had yet another adapter made up and now awaiting for the sky to clear to get an idea if their calculated measurements have proven correct this time. Time will tell.

[SimmoW]

Lovely Paul, good to see the GSO is in good hands!

[SkyViking]

Another great image Paul, you are cranking them out :) The colours are really nice and well suited to the object. Great work.

[Slawomir]

Very nice colours and good detail - keep them coming Paul!

[niharika]

Ouuch!! The adapters don't come cheap as I know.

[Exfso]

Lovely image, it looks a lot like a right profile of a human face, maybe my imagination getting hold of me hey:D

[Paul Haese]

Thanks Simon and Slawomir for your comments.



It's been a pretty good season and now that I have the replacement STXL I am getting some of the finer details sorted on the RC12.



Having now tested the new adapter last night, I still need it to be a touch smaller. The curvature is not really all that great now but at full res it is visible. I have sent the image off to TS Optical. They were adamant that the spacing would be correct this time and alas it is not entirely correct. Don't get me wrong it is better but not totally corrected.



Yes you are right. The attached image is of Gabriela Mistral and I think you would see that the profile of the nebula really fits the shape of the nebula quite well and hence why the nebula has been named after her.

[SpaceNoob]

Great image Paul, colour is great and detail is top notch.

Good luck on the curvature issue, sounds like a real pain to get right. I'm surprised that GSO don't have something specific for it? I have no doubt they would sell..... probably anyone who purchases one of their RC's would also want a flattener / reducer.

[DJT]

Great image Paul. The saturation and colours to me are just right.

I passed on playing with flatteners opting to work with what came out natively of the RC8 as I wouldn't have the patience you have getting the detail right. Bad experience with the smaller TS flattener and hot spots. Next upgrade may well be the RC12 so watching carefully. What's it like being the pathfinder?

[gvanhau]

Superb result Paul.

[kkara4]

thanks for your reply Paul. I was looking into a cooled CCD for filtered work and had a look at the price of the STXL. :eyepop:

i assume though it is worth every dollar and cent. did you go for the self guiding filter wheel option with it?

[Paul Haese]

Thanks Geert for your comment.



Chris, GSO has not made a flattener for these large scopes. It would need to be 3" in diameter at least. Jim I am told is not keen to make refracting elements for these scopes. I agree though, the flatteners would sell like hot cakes.




David, I have a long habit of being an early adopter, Imaging Source cameras, QSI, RC8 and R12. It is a challenge to remain calm at times, but in the end with persistence the battle can be won.



I had dramas with the first STXL. It failed in the end, but it was replaced only a month or so ago. The integrated guide camera and filter wheel was the reason I went with the STXL series. It allows quite short back focus and this is what I wanted so I could have a flattener, Atlas focusor and rotator in my imaging train. There is still a slight amount of room left for an AOX.

The deep cooling of these cameras and guide solution are worth the money expended.

[kkara4]

Thanks Paul - did you deal with SBIG directly and were they good to deal with throughout the warranty process?

also do you find enough guidestars @ f/8 ( i assume the SBIG sensor for the guiding is more optimised for higher sensitivity than other guiding cameras)?

[OzEclipse]

Outstanding Paul!

[Paul Haese]

Thanks Joe for your comment.



I dealt with both the Australian representative and the management of SBIG both before and after the takeover. Communication was generally good throughout the process. The whole process was rather lengthy though with it being about 12 months from the time the fault was first reported and three trips back to the States and then the replacement camera. That was the most frustrating thing. The process was also complicated by the takeover of SBIG by Cyanogen. I have no doubt that SBIG went to great lengths to alleviate the issue and did lots of testing to ensure the new camera would not repeat a failure.

The guiding prism is in front of filters so it is like any other ST-i or lodestar guide camera. So it is not any more sensitive it is just a better solution than having a separate OAG and guide camera. It relieves an element of back focus that would be eaten up by using an separate OAG.

[Ross G]

A beautiful photo Paul.

So much detail and so sharp.

I love the composition.

Ross.

[Paul Haese]

Thanks Ross.

[kkara4]

Ah yes my mistake, i thought the prism was actually their own guiding camera sensor, i just got confused :screwy:. Either way a fantastic image, and you are certainly making me lean towards going into this cooled ccd game :)

[graham.hobart]

That's looking very sharp indeed Paul. Eight hours well spent!!
:thumbsup:
Graz

[Bassnut]

Very smick Paul, smooth (not in a out-of-focus-way) and noise free.

[Paul Haese]

Thanks Graham for taking the time to comment.



Well not as noise free as your images mate, but it is a bright object so signal is strong. I appreciate your comments.

[stevous67]

This image has excellent detail in the nebula wave front, very nicely presented. It would be nice to revisit this image one day and brighten the surrounding space, it does seem very black, but again, the nebulous regions are very detailed with lots of resolution.

Regards
Steve

[Paul Haese]

Thanks Steve, it depends on which monitor you are viewing this image on I suppose. To me it looks bright on my processing monitor and the histogram reflects that too with no clipping apparent, but on my iPad it looks darker and a little clipped. So I understand your comments here and put it down to the monitor we are viewing the images through. :)

[oilydog]

Awesome work Paul, I was wondering what sort of mount you are using?

[Paul Haese]

Thanks Michael. I am using a Software Bisque PMX mount.