Suburban Helix

[Mickoid]

Shot this over a couple of nights this week as the weather was forecast for rain on the weekend. Struggled with the processing on this due to light pollution and having to run the iso higher than I would normally use because of the multiband filter I used on the first night. The second night I just used a UVIR cut filter to capture some star colour with a lower iso but conditions were not good with high cloud drifting by and the sky didn't appear particularly dark. Oh well, it is what it is. Can't wait until this lockdown ends so I can escape these Bortle 6 backyard woes.

Total of 90 x 90 second subs (Multiband 1600 iso and UVIR 800 iso filters), modded Canon 550d unguided on a HEQ5pro mount using a f5 6 inch Newtonian. Processed in DSS, StarTools and PS.

[PKay]

Not bad Mick.

Try pushing the blue.

Stay safe down there!

[Mickoid]

Pushed the blue for you Peter. Thanks for your comments.

[raymo]

I'm surprised at how faint the colours are for 90 sec subs; your scope is a bit smaller than mine was, and my skies were Bortle 4, but the colours were quite vivid with 30 sec subs at same ISO.Must be the filters.
raymo

[Mickoid]

I tried to make it a more natural looking shot, when I brightened it and added colour, the noise it created made it look horrible. To get faint objects like the Helix, I normally shoot from Bortle 4 skies but I cannot travel more than 5kms from home and must be back before 8.00pm. So until restrictions ease, I'm stuck in light polluted skies. It makes it a little hard to get good shots at the moment. ;)