First real attempt at Eta Carina

[Rodmac]

Here is one of my first attempts at astrophotography with stacking and processing - before this I was just taking single shots and playing around with focus, exposure, and ISO, etc. I'm pretty happy as a first serious attempt.

Stack of 17 1 minute subs @ iso1600 with master dark processed in nebulosity and photoshop. Unmodded canon 70d, 10" CF Newt on NEQ6 pro, synguider on Orion 80x400.

Cheers
Rod

[thegableguy]

That's spectacular!

Just curious as I'm fairly new to all this - how come you're using short subs at ISO 1600? Not that noise seems to be a major issue, but would have thought that because you're guided you'd go longer subs at a lower ISO...?

Asking because I eventually want to upgrade to a guided 10" f/4 Newt myself. Not anytime soon, but eventually.

[traveller]

That's a great effort Rod.
Chris, the reason behind the shot subs is because Eta is a very bright DSO (second only to M42), so shorter subs will help to prevent the core from being overexposed, esp when you are shooting at f4/f5.
Cheers
Bo

[Atmos]

That's very punchy Rod, love it!
I think you may have your green and blue channels mixed as the nebulosity in the central region should have some blue but not visual green :)

Amazing first image of Eta Carina though!

[Rodmac]

Thanks
Still learning about photoshop so my have got the colour balance a bit off. I might have another go at it and see.
Regarding length of sub that seemed about right and I was not 100% sure of the guiding. I did manage to get one exposure that night guiding off what I think was noise which produced a really weird result. I've got a shot of Orion which I'll post shortly which was using PS HDR option to reduce core blowout.
Cheers
Rod

[thegableguy]

No no, I get that - I was wondering why you'd use ISO 1600 for 60 seconds instead of ISO 800 for 2 mins or ISO 400 for 4 mins. Perhaps because it's first light and you just wanted enough for a decent test...? I'd love to use lower ISOs and longer subs but I'm shooting unguided, so not an option.

[LightningNZ]

You're shooting with a Nikon so using a lower ISO is fine, but they are using a Canon with a large read noise, so shooting at 800-1600 is helpful to overcome the read noise and get the best image possible.

[Andy01]

Surreal colours, I like it :)

[Ryderscope]

That's very impressive Rod. Star shapes look good and lots of detail in the nebula. I'm fine with the colours as well. Keep them coming I say.

[jjjnettie]

Very funky looking colours. I like it. Not at all like your regular Eta Carina that you see time and again. :)