Horsehead

[spearo]

Hello,
Well, last night's efforts weren't in vain. I was very surprised to find that despite high level clouds to the West, East and South there remained a window of clear skies just around the Orion Constellation allowing me to take a few shots. I seem to be getting a bit less field curvature now with the 2" vis back and camera adaptor hooked up to the focal reducer.

Here it is, the Horsehead nebula, full frame and cropped.

Hope you like.

cheers
frank

[Omaroo]

That's a fantastic effort and great result Frank. We (some of the MAS) were down at our dark sky site in Belanglo Forest last night, and although the skies were the best we've had in months we still couldn't get Horsehead. Flame, yes, but no Horsey.... very frustrating. Oh well - other than that it was a fantastic night.

[h0ughy]

great image Frank, you nailed that one

[Garyh]

Done well there Frank, color balance looks just about right..good stuff
Cheers Gary

[spearo]

Thanks guys,
glad you like it. I'm happy with progress i've made in better aquiring guide stars with the 125mm guiderings and the WO 80mm (should have bought that ages ago) and the benefits of putting a 2"vis back on the C9.25 (another thing I should have bought ages ago...)
frank

[spearo]

Hi quick question...a friend just told me of the dust mites visible in the shot.
I couldnt see them at all until I blew up the brightness of the flat screen to very very high. even recalibrated the screen now and still cant see them .

I'm fearful that I may have posted pics i thought looked good (even based on technique such as setting the black point etc...) but that might looked washed out to everyone except me as I have a screen that makes the image look darker than it really comes out?

anyone thought the images looked too bright/washed out/etc?

frank

[spearo]

recalibrated my flat screen at home...
i think it was meant to look more like this attached one
frank

[strongmanmike]

A pleasing and nice subtle colour image Frank!

Mike

[stephenmcnelley]

I know SFA about DS imaging Frank, but to my basic eyes that is an artistic work of art and a suitably dramatic color and contrast tone to that area of Orion.

[Ric]

Very nice images Frank, The colours and clarity all look just perfect to me.

cheers

[jakob]

Fantastic picture.
Looks good on my monitor. Agree first version looks a bit washed out but would not notice if not seeing second version.
Very nice!:thumbsup:

[atalas]

Nice work Frank.

[spearo]

Thanks heaps guys

means a lot
cheers
frank

[asimov]

Excellent Frank! I'd have to agree with Jakob's comment. The 1st one is great, the second one is even better.

Top shooting!

[seeker372011]

man that is a great image and well processed

[Ken]

Great image very well done with the subtle colours, not a easy object to do well. Clear skies Ken

[xelasnave]

I live for the day I could come half way close to your work Frank. Top image you gotta be happy with that.
alex

[Octane]

Frank,

Beautiful.

Regards,
Humayun

[spearo]

Thanks again everyone.
Your encouragement spurs me on.
I'm starting to feel like I might be getting the basic hang of it, though i ned to work on flats next which I havent to date. The addition of the WO 80mm in 125mm guiding rings will make it soooo much easier to center a shot and THEN find a bright guiding star.

I've also probably got the absolute Max amount of weight on the scope and counterweight bar now...adds stability but lets hope it doesnt kill the mount...
i kinda like my trusty little CG5.
Someday i'm sure I'll look back and laugh (secretely hoping to move up to a heavier mount someday-after I win lotto) but for now it does the job as I'm still learning.

I'm still having fun. I'll give it up when it isnt anymore which i dont think will be anytime soon!
there's sooo much more I want to image!
thanks again
frank

[spearo]

Hi
finally figured out something about adjusting saturation after stacking RAWs.

this looks better i think and much closer to what the JPGs looked like in terms of color

cheers
frank

[spacezebra]

Beautiful image Frank, what a huge amount of detail.

Cheers Petra

[spearo]

Thanks Petra
frank

[Striker]

Dam...I missed this Frank.

great shot mate.

its a target that need plenty of exposure.

I think its one of your best.

[spearo]

Thanks Tony,
you're not wrong about the need for lots of exposure!
this is 3x13 minutes. I was initially very excited, especially that my new set up worked well but now I'm especially excited about having learned a bit about color saturation (though it's still a bit of hit ' n miss at this point) which allows me to work with RAWs and then bring out color the way I hadnt done before.

such a steep learning curve!
thanks
frank