M8

[Peter Ward]

The BOM forecast was for a run of sunny days..... but I guess the garden did need the rain. ;)

None the less I did manage a mere hour of 10 minute subs before the clouds rolled in.

It was fun to see those big fat CCD pixels soak up the photons without having to worry about the rapid pixel saturation of my other CMOS imager.
The down side was I only managed to get two exposures in for each channel, hence little or no errant pixel rejection routines could be applied....
but still, M8 is big, bright and brash enough....I think I got away with it here (http://www.atscope.com.au/BRO/gallery526.html)

[kosborn]

Really nice image! I like this close up version better than the wide field versions! Fantastic detail and beautiful signal to noise.

[JA]

Yes Peter , I think you "got away with it. It looks great up close and personal like that :thumbsup:

Best
JA

[multiweb]

Subzero cool. :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

[Retrograde]

Wow - stunning detail from the Alluna. Amazing.

[Startrek]

Peter,
Excellent image of M8 from your impressive rig
Cheers
Martin

[Peter Ward]

Thanks gentlemen. Taking the STX16803 out of mothballs (which took a day to clean every optical surface and re-charging the desiccant plug) and
putting it back into the RC was like putting on a comfy pair of slippers.

It all seems to just work...particularly at a FL of 3400mm (which what the
image was taken at).

I had intended to do a mosaic, but as I said, at least the garden is getting some water. :lol:

[Andy01]

Excellent Peter!:thumbsup:

That said, I'd encourage you to look beyond the classics - there are plenty of rare and interesting targets off the beaten track to Image with with those lovely toys of yours. :D

[gregbradley]

Yep, there is life in CCDs yet.

Spectacular.

Greg.

[Peter Ward]

Agreed...For long FL/big scope imaging I don't think CMOS is there yet.



Ta Andy. I hear you...not another M8!!! :doh:
...but my "serious" quarry needed to gain some altitude,
hence the "quickie" M8 seemed like a good idea....then some strato-cumulus rolled in. :sadeyes:

That said...3400mm M *any number" objects are not that common.....they are often very interesting up close and personal....
So much is missed at 1000mm or so.

[kosborn]

I agree with that. Looking at the classics, there are some fascinating areas that can be brought out with a longer focal length.

[keller60]

Amazing resolution. :eyepop: Not your average M8 for sure.

[alpal]

Hi Peter,
a fantastic picture - right up there with the very best.
I take it that adding a luminance filter channel would have added nothing?



cheers
Allan

[markas]

Great result, Peter:thumbsup::thumbsup:


I like the colour rendition, and the image looks very noise-free on my big screen.


Mark

[Bassnut]

Gee thats very impressive for 2 exposures per channel!, well done. And yes the more i look into CMOS for long FL long exposure the more I see how far CMOS has to go for that task, before it even matches CCD.

[petershah]

Stunning!....clean, sharp and colourful....what more do you want!

[multiweb]

I do so agree with that view. I don't understand why people feel the need to advise others on what is ok or not to image. These comments often come from imagers who do widefield "perceptive" views of DSO and haven't even scratched the surface of the next level of details that a larger aperture and long FL reveals. It is fun to shoot bright objects close up because it is easier to get relatively good SNR from light polluted environments and it's a whole new world close up when you get into the fine details. The point is totally missed on some though. :shrug:

[Peter Ward]

Thanks guys! ...I frankly didn't expect that response.

Some comments about the image: yep, sure would have loved to have got some more exposure time (particularly some Ha) but I was happy to get what I could before the skies closed in.

That said, there is about 14x more flux (allowing for the secondary) being caught by a 16" 'scope vs a 4"
so if I said it was 4.6 hours in each channel with say a FSQ106, there might have been some "oohs" and "aahs" about the heroic exposure times.

The image scale however, would still have been vanilla.

Make no mistake: deep sky at 3400mm is a challenge. Seeing has to be good, the gear has to be producing RMS 0.5 pixel (or less) tracking errors
(i.e. 0.25 arc seconds or so)

*Any* systemic tracking problem or drift will show as eggy stars. Off axis guiding is a must.

Finding an optic that is fully corrected to the edge of KAF16803 sensor is...well...not easy.

But on this occasion it all just worked.

I wish I could say that happens all the time (it doesn't) but when it all comes together,
you see fine details and structures in the data that makes you go "Wow!" when it first pops up on the screen.

Sure, M8 is a bright popular target, but at this image scale, for me at least, it takes on a new appearance.
Your responses have been a wonderful validation of that notion.

Many thanks! :)

[LKD]

Absolutely stunning image

[Ryderscope]

'tis good to take a nice deep dive into the classics from time to time. One never knows what can be found lurking there :D. Thanks for posting a great view.

[multiweb]

Too right. Being on the edge it's at the mercy of so many more variables that can and do go wrong, the sky conditions being one but also temperature, wind and equipment behaving on the night. But the rewards are worth the pain when it all clicks.

We have so many beautiful colorful bright nebulae up ahead at our latitude many being circumpolar. I for one plan to hit them again and again at different FL and different emission lines while it lasts. We're spoilt for choices. Keep doing what you're doing and have fun doing it. :thumbsup: