M20 Trifid Nebula last night

[Startrek]

Another great night on the South Coast NSW last night , imaged in Sagittarius again , this time M20 Trifid Nebula, a great target with emission, reflection and dark nebula all thrown in plus an incredible star field as a backdrop. Captured this object back in June during a waxing moon but wasn’t that happy with the result using the L Extreme

NexDome Obs
8”f5 GSO newt with Baader MPCC Mk3 coma corrector
Skywatcher EQ6-R pro mount
ZWOASI2600MC set in Ascom to highest dynamic range Gain 0 , cooled to -10C
No filters required on this target during the dark
45 x 3 minute dithered guided subs
Tracking and Goto EQMOD and Ascom Stellarium
Captured in APT
PHD2 Multistar guiding ( 0.75 arc sec error total )
Subs reviewed in Astap
Stacked in DSS
Processed in Startools V1.7 Linear data set OSC RGB

Comments welcome
Thanks

[Retrograde]

That looks great Martin!

I grabbed a few subs on this last night too but being in Bortle 7 skies I'm not expecting much.

[Startrek]

Thanks Pete

[RyanJones]

Arguably your best image yet Martin. Beautiful star field and such a natural rendition of the gasses. Very nice indeed

[Startrek]

Ryan
Thanks mate
Appreciate the kind comments
Martin

[Dave882]

Really nice Martin. Yeah the l-extreme cuts out any reflection nebulas so better to go with just a uv-ir cut or nothing at all

[Startrek]

Thanks Dave,
My 2600MC OSC camera has an internal UV/IR protective window which is all you need under darker skies for an object like M20. Using the L Extreme on M20 plays havoc with faint detail and colours etc..
The L Extreme filter is definitely more suited for strictly emission nebula in both light polluted and dark skies
Cheers
Martin

[rustigsmed]

nice M20 Martin - well done!

[Startrek]

Thanks Russell
Dark skies and a great camera makes all the difference
Unfortunately I’ve had to head back to Sydney as my daughter and daughter-in-law are expecting again this month , so once lockdown finishes its back to grandparent duties for my wife and I
I’ve still got my 6” f6 newt set up in the yard on the EQ6-R so won’t be heading back down south to the NexDome for a few months
Have to get use to imaging in Bortle 8 skies again ......

[Craig_]

Great take on this target!

[Startrek]

Thanks Craig
It’s a great little target , it’s got everything
Martin

[strongmanmike]

Dang! but think of all the loungeroom cubby houses and re-runs of pepper Pig you have to look forward to :)..or do I have the age bracket wrong..? :question:

Very nice Trifid too :thumbsup:

Mike

[AdamJL]

Agree with that, definitely one of your best, Martin



Congrats!

Any reason you can't remote into the obs down south?

[Startrek]

Thanks Mike
Yeh the grandkids range from 7 down to newborn. It’s Bluey , Thomas the Tank engine and Paw Patrol at the moment.
Bit different from when I was a kid , it was Superman, Lost in Space , The Three Stooges .......and many more

[Startrek]

Thanks Adam,
Down south is our little piece of heaven in retirement to escape the madness of a big city ( we only stay in Sydney about 6 months of the year )
Swimming , Kayaking , Surfing , bush walking , dining out etc..... oh and yes Astronomy
I never intended to fully automate the Dome for remote operation , I enjoy being out under the stars whether it’s observing with my big dob or tinkering inside the dome with a filter change or a refocus etc.. it basically runs itself for the majority of an imaging session and I’m more than happy about that.
Cheers
Martin

[strongmanmike]

You need to introduce them to Thunderbirds! then you can enjoy watching with them. Ok, so, you see some puppets smoking occasionally in an episode or two...meah...:thumbsup:

Mike

[Startrek]

Mike,
My son ( their father ) has all the cast alloy models from the 80’s ( including the Rolls - fetch me the Rolls Parker , yes me lady )
Classic series
I’m sure the older ones have watched an episode or 2
Cheers
M.

[Bassnut]

Thats great Martin, much detail. Yes, i would imagine the L Extreme filter might not work too well on reflection nebula, but it seems to me this filter would be a game changer for emission nebula on a color cam, 2 narrow band images at the same time!. Much time saved or double the data for the same exposure time. Have you found it good on emission nebula?

[Startrek]

Thanks Fred
The L Extreme and my 2600MC are a certainly a game changer for me over the past year imaging emission nebula as prior to this I used a stock Canon 600D DSLR for 3 years or so and didn’t even bother to image after a first quarter moon due to poor detail and excessive noise
Moon or no Moon it performs incredibly well to bring out fine detail and nebulosity.The only drawback with these OSC NB filters is that they can cause some minor Star halo and colours are not so natural as with straight colour RGB. I use Startools Compose to create some OSC Bi colour renditions which has worked out Ok
See attached
Cheers
Martin

[Bassnut]

They look great, like they were with a mono with NB filters !. Stars come out crap with NB filters, always have, nothing new there, which is why I usually process NB starless, take short RGB pics just for the stars, and insert them at the end.
Or, just leave the small white stars on the Ha channel (as lum) and be done with it (with the colour channels starless).