NGC 6523 Lagoon Nebula M8

[Stephane]

Hi all,

Here's my rendition of the Lagoon Nebula. I managed to get just over 8 hours over two half nights of imaging (fog coming in around midnight).

Stars look a little better than my previous Eagle image, but still not great. Overall though, I am very pleased with what this new OSC camera is getting in terms of detail. Please feel free to offer some constructive comments.

Bigger version here (https://www.astrobin.com/qxcag7/).

Clear skies,
Stéphane

[PKay]

Hi Stephane

Not bad at all.

Just had a good look at the hires and I reckon you could play with that data again.

The ole 'star colour' saga comes to mind :)

Have a good study of Startrek's images and that might give you a few clues.

But still pretty good and well done :thumbsup:

[Startrek]

Stephane,
Nicely captured well done !!
I love seeing more images from basic Newts !!!
Detail and resolution spot on
Focus spot on
Colour ok
Stars in the off axis area and corners have Coma ( save up buy that TS Optics GPU coma corrector and ditch the Baader Mk3 )
Larger and medium stars in the on axis area seem a bit odd shaped, not bad but a slight offset on the centroid ( maybe check your primary mirror to ensure the 3 rubber clamps are just touching the mirror and not tight on the mirror. Also check collimation as well
Star colour very bland, even using the L Extreme filter you should be able to adjust some Star colour

Only my observations ….

Cheers
Martin

[Stephane]

Thanks Peter & Martin. Great suggestions.

Star colour: Martin, I struggle to get any realistic star colour when using this filter. Often white in the center and a ring of colour on the outside. I’m thinking of getting a couple of hours of stars unfiltered and replacing the stars from the image, unless there’s an easier way to get natural colour?

Coma corrector: saving up.

Collimation: I agree collimation or pinched optics might be a slight issue. I’ll look into it. Elongation is due to the weight of the new camera causing some mouvement in the focuser. I’ll need to scratch my head on that one.

I appreciate your observations, thanks again.

[Dave882]

I think that’s a lovely image Stephane! Few minor things if you zoom in but to be honest I didn’t even notice until the others pointed it it out. Star colours in rgb would definitely make it pop.
Great stuff mate!

[Stephane]

Thanks for the encouragement Dave. I just can’t process those L-Extreme stars properly. I think unfiltered stars will be the way to go for me, unless someone can teach me how to get natural looking colorful stars with the filter.