NGC7380 with new QHY128C in narrowband

[joelshort]

I recently received a QHY128C OSC camera to test and since the moon was bright I decided to test how well/IF this OSC camera could capture narrowband (Ha/OIII). The results were surprising and encouraging.

This image of NGC7380 has 4hrs Ha and 4.5hrs OIII captured with the 128C and my CFF250RC. RGB color data was supplied by a QHY163M and SV80ST.

http://buckeyestargazer.net/Images/Thumbnails/NGC7380_3.png (http://buckeyestargazer.net/Pages/Nebulae/NGC7380.php)

[alpal]

Hi Joel,
the image you've posted is only a tiny thumbnail.

[joelshort]

Thanks, I thought I posted a visible thumbnail image here that linked to the full image on my website.

Here's the link: http://www.buckeyestargazer.net/Pages/Nebulae/NGC7380.php

http://www.buckeyestargazer.net/Images/Nebulae/NGC7380_3.jpg

[alpal]

Hi Joel,
that's looking very good.
You have very tight stars - that's top optics.
I would have been tempted to do some local contrast adjustments
in the brighter areas with a blurred layer mask.

cheers
Allan

[RickS]

That turned out well, Joel. How did the individual NB masters look? Did you notice a lot of difference from doing it with a mono camera?

Cheers,
Rick.

[joelshort]

I actually directly compared the Ha from the QHY128C with Ha from my mono G3-16200. These images are each 4hrs total exposure. It's hard to tell the difference. The QHY128C shows a bit better dynamic range, but the G3-16200 is perhaps less noisy. Which is expected since the QHY128C is really just the "red" channel from the camera.

[RickS]

I had always assumed that NB would be difficult with an OSC camera but maybe it's not so bad...

[joelshort]

That is true of traditional CCD cameras where the read noise is higher. Lower noise CCDs and especially these new CMOS sensors make this more realistically possible.