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Paul Haese
15-09-2017, 09:49 PM
This is the official first light image of this new imaging rig, on a very rarely imaged target (one that Mike has not imaged yet :)). There is still quite a lot to sort out with slop and tilt, but I cannot sort that until I get my Atlas installed on the scope as I think there is significant slop coming from the Moonlite focuser. Thanks to Ray (Shiraz) for the tip of doing the colour on the same side of the meridian to alleviate a lot of the star colour not registering.

This is really a mini data run for me (no doubt it will amuse a few me saying that;):)), but it shows what can be done with a minimal amount of data with a fast Newtonian. I think I am sold on this fast image scale idea. Though I will be doing deeper imaging, it won't need to be as long as the runs I have done in the past for most objects. Resolution looks ok to me, but I really need the newer sensors to take full advantage. I had to remove a few subs out of the luminance stack as they had rather bad egg shaped stars, but I managed a few good subs the other night with some changes to my guide parameters.

The galaxy is an irregular galaxy about 5.8 million light years away from the Earth. It is apparently one of the few galaxies where individual stars can be resolved; probably with much larger apertures. The star in the foreground is mag 7.7 and the galaxy is about mag 10.6. You can just make out few dust lanes near the centre of the galaxy. There are a myriad of galaxies in the back ground of all manner of shapes and sizes.

Click here (http://paulhaese.net/IC5152.html) for larger resolution image

Atmos
16-09-2017, 08:25 AM
Looking pretty good Paul! More data will help with the colour fidelity but for the short run so far it's looking good :D

multiweb
16-09-2017, 08:29 AM
Great colors.



That's interesting. How does that work?

Atmos
16-09-2017, 09:21 AM
You're a refractor guy, you wouldn't understand this folly ;)

The answer is gravity! There is a small measure of tube flex, camera flex, collimation movement. All of these tiny little flexes may not be noticeable sub to sub visually but can cause some registration havoc.

multiweb
16-09-2017, 10:06 AM
Nah... got too many exotic toys to be a refractor guy. :lol:
Ha ok, that make sense as the flipped fov wouldn't be exactly the same. I use Prometheus from MBJ (MnT) and that will align about anything on top of anything else with incredible accuracy. That's the only program I ever use to register my stacks of subs.

Peter Ward
16-09-2017, 10:15 AM
Encouraging result.

A 12" F4 Newt would be quite the beastie to tame..do you have a dedicated coma corrector for it?

PKay
16-09-2017, 10:33 AM
I found this image absolutely fascinating!

When I spotted the barbed spiral off to the left, I couldn't stop looking.

I will glance up at Indus soon and imagine what is there :-)

Very inspiring and very well done.

Placidus
16-09-2017, 11:51 AM
What a breathtakingly beautiful image!

atalas
16-09-2017, 11:55 AM
Attractive colour Paul......a lot of great shots to come from this new setup :thumbsup:

codemonkey
16-09-2017, 12:47 PM
That's a cracker, Paul. Interesting target that I've never seen before and done very well!

Paul Haese
16-09-2017, 02:16 PM
Thanks everyone for the comments.



Thanks Colin and I agree more colour data will help this image. It is clear here today so I might get a few more hours on it tonight before I move onto something else.



Colin was correct. The inherent flex in the focuser is cause star shapes to change slightly, so it is better to do all the colour on one side of the meridian to get consistent airy disk shapes.



Whilst it is good to have flipped images in the stack for a giant dithering effect, it is problematic for flexure related issues.




Thanks Peter, yes I am using a TS GPU coma corrector. It is very good at dealing with the coma but very fickle when it comes to tilt. It is a speed boat for imaging but a pain to get sorted for consistent results. I am sure it will be excellent once I get it all dialled in.

gregbradley
16-09-2017, 06:18 PM
A smashing image Paul. You nailed that one.

Fabulous processing with that ridiculously bright blue star right next to the galaxy. A really broad dynamic range there.

No sign of tilt etc. Happy days.

That's an interesting tip about doing the colour on one side of the meridian.
I wonder if that applies to my gear. The only thing though would be extinction as the scope sets in the west. Do the blues first then the green and lastly the reds?

Greg.

RickS
18-09-2017, 09:40 AM
That's a great result, Paul. It's always tough to process an object with a bright foreground star in the way!

rustigsmed
19-09-2017, 06:52 PM
Nice one Paul - 12" f4 is hard to tame I've given up on mine till I go permanent obsy.

Cheers