She sells sea shells....

[Peter Ward]

Testing the new FSQ106 645 reducer and QHY600M....and despite being a well worn theme from me of late...I suspect another pair of panels to the right would look cool.

The original image weighs in at 9000 x9000 pixels...but made more web friendly at the link below.


The link is here (http://www.atscope.com.au/BRO/gallery509.html)

[tornado33]

Very nice. The native 16 bit A/D in the camera would be very handy for the brightest parts of the Tarantula yet still picking up all that faint stuff.
How long are the individual subs?

[Peter Ward]

Ta...I've been stuck in "testing mode" for one reason or another for a while now.

When compared to the similar AP130 image I posted earlier, the field coverage is super-impressive with the 645 reducer....there's hints of many structures out of frame to the right which I am keen to explore.

Well depth however is on par with what I've been used to with my STX16803.

The subs were 300 seconds.

[TrevorW]

Hi Peter nice image plenty of detail and pin point sharp as usual, just a question would the Baader H-alpha filter works Ok with a OSC camera :)

[Peter Ward]

Much is written elsewhere about why NB filters with OSC cameras is not a good idea....

In short any brand of H-alpha filter with a OSC is not something I'd recommend.

On the subject of filters however, I note the $AUD is slowly rising against the $USD.

Humm...if this keeps up, I can see a set of AstroDons on my QHY rig in the New Year ;)

P.S. returning to OSC and h-alpha filters. Say you have a RGGB Bayer on your camera.
With a h-alpha filter, you have just killed the signal from the GGB pixels and placed a ND filter
over the R pixels.....Sure you will still get a signal...but not very much compared to a Mono camera.

[Zuts]

The ZWO duoband seems to work well with OSC cameras, they just seem to show a lot of Red. I was wondering if I added some subs with an SII filter then in effect I could add another channel (say Green) to my processing along with the Ha, O3 and so get more interesting colours. Would this work?

The attached image is 30 by 240 sec subs, ZWO 1600 MC Pro with ZWO Duoband filter.

Cheers
Paul

[Peter Ward]

Nah...duo band? What's that? :)

To paraphrase Mick Dundee.

...that's not a knife

....that's a knife (http://www.atscope.com.au/BRO/gallery422.html)

[Zuts]

Fair comment, but when you live in Glebe, have a OSC camera and need to setup each time the options are limited....

[The_bluester]

The 600 is certainly producing the goods. The latest CMOS generation really looks likely to give CCD a decent shake, at least for asthetic astro imaging rather than perhaps more serious science. My ASI2600 is certainly a quantum leap ahead of my ASI294.

I am actually thinking of heading down the NB filters in front of an OSC route in preparation for hopefully getting a mono camera sometime in 2021. It would allow me to spread the spend out considerably.

It is certainly not ideal but people must be doing it. I use Astro Pixel Processor for stacking and a recent update brought specific debayer algos for various different NB filters, and I think even ones to debayer for duoband filters and save the files for the two band passes seperately.

[Peter Ward]

You can only work with what you have.
Without doubt my best investment over
the years has been an observatory. Makes
everything else much easier and more immediate.

Like cars, electronic imaging gear is quickly superseded but
if you buy wisely, then you can expect many years of
high quality data. While I won’t be selling my KAF16803 system anytime
soon, for short FL imaging the QHY 600 looks like it will produce some
remarkable imagery.

[Zuts]

Hi,

Unfortunately I would have to locate my observatory in a tree house at the top of the dual 80 foot gumtree in my backyard :)

I just ordered an asi 2600 mc so hoping that will give me some good images for many years..

Cheers
Paul

[Placidus]

That's a truly beautiful LMC. The large but faint wisps around the Tarantula are especially fine. The roll-over stars are fun.

[Peter Ward]

Thanks dynamic duo :)

I am champing at the bit to get some data further to the right of the field.
Who knows...I might even find a few Republicans who are lost in space :)

[jahnpahwa]

Yeah, but there's always a bigger knife.

I like this LMC too :thumbsup:

[marc4darkskies]

Nice :thumbsup: Much nicer WITH stars. The blue tint does nothing for me though. :shrug:

[Peter Ward]

What?! Not a fan of Miles Davis? (Kind of blue :) )

A whimsical choice on my part...the supernova shells remind me of smoke rings.

BTW some new adapters arrived with the torrential weather...I can now use the QHY with my STX-FW7 filter wheel, (locked and loaded long ago with 3nm AstroDons )....
but I'm not sure whether I'll be able to reach focus with the 645 reducer. :question:

Clear skies would be nice :prey:

[Geoff45]

Nice composition Peter. Detail excellent, but I suppose that is a given. I think I like the blue today, but not sure about tomorrow.
Geoff

[Ryderscope]

Nice. There is something seriously ‘out there’ about using a short focal length refractor, and a focal reducer ... and a full frame sensor camera. A serious sky grab to be sure. I’m looking forward to many more.

[tornado33]

A dual narrowband filter, eg one that passes Ha and O3 will go better whan an OSC camera then just Ha as there will be some signal from the green and blue pixels.
A fancier option is a quadband filter that passes Ha, S2, O3 and H beta, with 4 to 5 Nm passbands, review here
https://astrobackyard.com/opt-triad-ultra-filter/
If they had a clip in model Id consider it as it would be behind my OAG pickoff prism.

[Peter Ward]

Yep. Sure. You could.

Or you could do it properly: use a mono camera with the appropriate filter. ;)

Don't get me wrong, OSC's are fun (http://www.atscope.com.au/BRO/gallery497.html). I have two. Great for lunar/planets but not the best tool for NB deep sky.

BTW if this (Sydney) weather keeps up, a wet suit and snorkel will be an essential part of my imaging kit too.