M42 OSC Lucky Imaging

[xelasnave]

this image makes me very happy.

I started the day at 4 am and started work on my second set of piers at 6 am and by 10 am had completed the job..22 bags of concrete most put in place laying on my belly:D.

Very proud I was as it really caused me to push my limits past the limit:D.

I managed half an hour nap and then I replaced the ZWO 2600 MONO with the ZWO 2600 OSC.

The evening was clear:thumbsup:.

I went to open up and forgot that one winch was now on the work bench getting the dual drum stuff done:eyepop:...and so bolt it back on...:D
only to find the focus was so off the EAF would not work..for what ever reason I could not get the hand box to work or control the EAF from the Lap Top so I lessened the grub screws at the motor and focused by hand ..the manualy:P ...happily by 9-30 pm I was ready to image..so some test shots and after hours on NGC 55 realised the data was not going to the USB stick :mad2: anyways NGC1365 was up and that was what I was after..I have yet to look at it...at about 2 am I thought to try out 10 second exposures on M42 as a test and ended up with with an hours worth by 5 am cause I also tried some very long exposures and generally trying this and that.

the stack result got me excited and I rushed thru star tools taking the result to Photo shop where I did the Auto in raw which was a jaw dropping moment as the nebulosity appeared from nowhere but the Trap stars disappeared (the main reason for my excitement) so I openned the Auto processed image and brought in the original so I had two and overlayed the bright image over the original anf used the rubber tool to bring out the original trap area...I should be able to do better as I rushed this as I have so much to do today...

Conclusion...for me narrow band on the RASA is a waste of time and its filters will go to the 115mm and housed in two filter wheels... to seperate then and fit the wheel..unless I can get a 8 spot wheel for 2 inch.

but what a great day ( 4am to the following 5am) and I have yet to do NGC1365.

if the colour is terrible say so I am just so happy with such a result for only one hour at 10 sec subs.

alex

[Kuz]

Wow Alex. That's is a awesome result mate. Colours are spot on in my books. Had a bit of a play at 2.30am this morning on the same target. :thumbsup:

[glend]

Alex, very nice image, and yes the colours are wonderful. When does your 2023 Astro Calendar come out?

[oska]

That's the best "why not" I've seen to date, better than all my "why nots" put together. Nice one mate! You have to give it a go without the shenanigans, again "why not".
Superb :cheers:

[AstroViking]

Excellent image, Alex. The colours look great to my eyes.

[AdamJL]

I never tire of seeing images of this beautiful nebula. Thanks for sharing, Alex

[Startrek]

Alex,
A lovely M42 , beautifully framed and colours are spot on
Your resilience is astounding
Well done !!

Best
Martin

[Crater101]

Given the description of what you went through, I'd be very happy indeed with that result. Well done young man, that one's a keeper!

[Doogs38]

That’s a terrific image, Alex. The colours are very pleasing and the accompanying detail and structure in a lovely wide field view really makes it all ‘pop’ - definitely a keeper :thumbsup: Don’t you love it when a canny cunning Plan B comes together. Alex

[xelasnave]

Thanks everyone...I should not have rushed the processing as I notice things that could have been avoided.
But dropping the mono on the RASA seems the way to go..I will use those filters and the mono on myb115 mm ( thanks again Glen) the best scope Known and the only scope I have bought second hand...but it is a little ripper.
But when it came out of StarTools it looked good because of the trap but just hitting auto in Photoshop raw changed my world..and only 10 second subs..very encouraging.

I do havectge guiding via Asiair and it seems ok under 2 sec..that's good but I still see trailing so there must be something needing attention.

Hopefully it is clear again tonight..I hope to try the plan feature on Asiair plus which means the scope goes from one object to another..but I don't think I stand the strain wondering if a cable is snagged or something.

I need the security camera thingy.

Thanks again

Alex

[Stonius]

So do you feel that the lucky imaging has delivered a much sharper image than the longer subs you took?


I'm curious about combining longer exposures with lucky imaging on bright targets in the L channel to see if it will pull out some finer details.


Cheers


Markus

[xelasnave]

First..true lucky imaging turns on subs of one second or less..I grew into the habit of short subs because of seeing..even atc30 seconds I could see stars growing shrinking etc..M42 was not under those conditions but I decided to see what 10 seconds could do and was pleasantly surprised..certainly at f2 thatvjs..what times faster than f5 so my ten etcet etc...I do not have any really long exposures to go by..
Alex

[Stonius]

Fair enough. I'll have a go myself when I get that chance, but given that it's planet season, I think any breaks in my schedule that coincide with clear skies will be dedicated to the planets until I get that elusive image that lies just beyond my grasp... I'm sure you know the feeling.

[xelasnave]

Especially for you ..I have just set up the "plan" feature on Asiair plus to take 300 subs of 10 seconds on the Helix, NGC 300 and NGC 55..I think :D so that will be interesting to see detail results.
It is tempting to have a go at Jupiter which I may do as the seeing isn't too bad up there it seems ...well it is much better and of course it may still not be good for a planet...I gave up on them years ago because getting the perfect night never happened.
Anyways I also have it dithering as well but I think I will go and look when it changes targets...
Alex

[Stonius]

Ah! That will be interesting to see the results!. I'm in Melbourne, so the seeing is always crap here - the city-heatsink effect sees to that. Since I have to travel to astronomize anyway, I don't mind travelling to a spot with better seeing. It's amazing how much better it can be just by picking a location with laminar airflow. Not much use at the moment with all these clouds and everything though. Laminar clouds are still laminar clouds. Makes me think I should take up radio astronomy :-\

[xelasnave]

I nailed 180 of Helix that I will process to see how the 10 seconds work on it..dim enough to get a feeling for how successful on a dim object...but I had a connection problem and after I sorted that out I dropped the plan and am now taking more of NGC 1365 to see if I can improve the current image ...

And it is getting very wet unfortunately.

Alex

[xelasnave]

HERE WE GO ..ONLY 44 MINUTES AT 10 SECOND SUBS 100 GAIN..sorry caps..
I dont know where the colour went...maybe a 10 second legacy.

anyways there you have it..probably triple subs would be the go...but picked up a tiny galaxy upper rightish
alex

[Stonius]

So what was your assessment? Did you think it was better?

[oska]

Do you have your FITS settings in DSS set for osc and the correct bayer pattern?

[xelasnave]

I don't know...I still have not looked.

Alex

[xelasnave]

I think with more subs it would be better...I need more testing to feel confident..the lack of colour needs to be cnailed down..must be a setting or not enough subs as it was not as issue for the op image.

I think the Trap stars in the original image says it all...I look at them and feel very happy, particularly given the recent seeing...

It is hard to say for sure..was it the 10 second thing or is the EAF just giving more consistent focus...

What surprises me with the op image is at 10 seconds there is plenty of nebulosity and for me I would have thought prior to my experience with my image that such nebulosity would only come from long exposures.

I just want to get a decent run and stack a 1000 or more given that is why I got my new computer...

Anyways this M42 makes me happy as it means the OSC works best on the RASA which is not what I wanted but here we are....

Alex

[Dave882]

These are great images Alex! Well done mate you gotta be ecstatic about that result! If I’m imaging with the ASIAIR and haven’t gone to bed yet I often use the livestacking feature as you can see how the image grows in front of your eyes. Not only is that a lot of fun, but It also will alert to issues with the chosen capture parameters. Make sure you click the option to save every individual sub and then you can use that data to run it through dss for proper image processing. It’s also a good comparison to the post processed image- because if you can’t get a better result through dss / startools then you know it’s something with the processing steps and not the data itself.
You’ve got some fantastic images in progress and I can’t wait to see how they all shape up. :thumbsup:

[xelasnave]

Thanks David.
I don't understand what you are trying to tell me...my subs get saved on a sub stick which I take to my computer and save, etc.
Alex

[Dave882]

Yes what I mean is that ASIAIR can save your subs in a few different ways: plan, autorun, live mode. If you use “live” then it uses your calibration frames and does a livestacked pic on your phone/tablet AND it also saves the subs to the thumb drive. This way you get the advantage of seeing a stacked version of your subs in real time and also the opportunity to stack and process them properly later on the computer.