An evening with Eta

[Rod771]

Last week my weather zone app was forecasting cloudy nights all week with Friday 24/4 being the exception. Clear all night, then Storms and cloud back on Saturday, which ended up being the case.

One night to image something :question:. Having not imaged Eta at my long FL configuration before, I decided she would be a solid target for a one night stand. :P

Imaged with the C11 Edge HD with .7x focal reducer (1960mm FL) F7.
Mount - CGEM DX
Canon 60Da @ ISO 800

Ended up with 43 x 240 sec subs for the field. Also shot 20 x 5 sec subs for the stars. Just under 3 hours in total.

Calibrated with darks and flats, processed in Pixinsight.

Large click here (http://astrob.in/full/177044/B/)

Thanks for Looking

Cheers

Rod

[pluto]

That's really nice Rod, great image!

[Stevec35]

Pretty good Eta there Rod. Lots of nice clear detail.

Cheers

Steve

[strongmanmike]

Ah yes, single night (or god forbid even half night) imaging is making a revival Rod, it's the new Mission Brown :P

Well snuck in mate :thumbsup:

Mike

[RickS]

A good result, Rod!

[Placidus]

Like the warm gentle colours around the keyhole. Star colours are good too.

[IanP]

Like it very much, Rod :thumbsup:

Do you replace or just blend stars from 240s with 5s :question:

[Rod771]

Thanks Hugh!



Cheers Steve!



Thanks Mike!

Geez! Mission brown eh :question: If thats the case I'd better get a teak veneer desk for the laptop, maybe a bright orange vinyl chair to go with it. :D



Thanks Rick!



Thanks Mike and Trish! For once I remembered to take some shorter subs for the stars.



Glad you like it Ian , Thanks! :)

I used Pixinsights HDR composition tool to replace the saturated star cores of the 240 sec image with the core data of the 5 sec subs.

[multiweb]

That's a great shot. :thumbsup:

[Rod771]

Thanks Marc! :) I'm looking forward to the clear forecasts this week. :sunny:

[strongmanmike]

I used a decidedly Italian restaurant'esque green and white checked table cloth for yeeears while operating portably...was bit like a security blanket or lucky charm...it can be seen in every photo of my setup over many years :P

2006 (http://www.pbase.com/strongmanmike2002/image/66204409/original)

2008 (http://www.pbase.com/strongmanmike2002/image/81003751/original)

2009 (http://www.pbase.com/strongmanmike2002/image/116099335/original)

2012 (http://www.pbase.com/strongmanmike2002/image/146652329/original)

O Sole Mio!

[gregbradley]

I like that Rod. Overall very tight stars, good star colours and well guided, very detailed.

Good work.

Greg.

[Rod771]

Yep! I feel like pizza for dinner now. :D I hope you now have it hanging on the wall in the Terroux control room. :P




Thanks Greg! :) Gotta love OAG guiding, in fact it was my tightest guiding to date. Fluke or experience? We'll see which on the next time out. :lol:

[strongmanmike]

:lol: No but it is folded up neatly on the shelf in there and now only comes out for the South Pacific Star Party for my camping/card table (same table as in those photos too)...although I am taking my new GOTO dob this year...so it will likely be next to the telescope once again :thumbsup:

Anyway, back to your imaging :thumbsup:.. may the weather improve as the new Moon approaches, hallelujah :prey2:

Mike

[Rod771]

:lol: Thought it may not have been far away. Yes, the weather has been very clear over the last few days, just needs hang on for another 10 days.

[Ross G]

Great looking photo Rod.

Sharp and detailed.

Ross.

[Rod771]

Thanks Ross! It was great to get out and image something. Now just waiting for new moon week.

[RobC]

Quite impressive Rod, congratulations.

Good to see you are imaging at high focal lengths. Curious to know the guide camera and guiding software you are using.

Cheers

Rob

[Rod771]

Hey Rob! Thanks mate! :)

I tend to do more long FL imaging during the colder months. I can expose the 60Da longer with the colder temps keeping the noise down.

The guide camera is the SX Lodestar and I'm using PHD 2 to guide. When guiding with an OAG at F7 or F10 a sensitive guide camera becomes very essential.

[marco]

Nice one Rob, very natural appearance and yet lots of details..
PixInsight is a great piece of software, since I started using it couple years ago I have changed a lot of my processing flow and now I really cannot do without..
Clear skies
Marco

[Rod771]

Thanks Marco! :) I was quite happy with the result for a one nighter!

Yes, PI is pretty good. I've even started using it for my nightscape images. Creating a foreground mask is sooo easy with the Range Selection tool.