NGC 2070 Tarantula Nebula Ha

[Startrek]

The strong winds finally abated last night around 8pm leaving a reasonably clear stable moonless evening.
I haven’t imaged the Tarantula with my 10” Newt yet so grabbed a quick one in Ha at low altitudes ( 22 degrees to 33 degrees ) Pretty tired last night so shut down just after midnight.
Guiding was surprisingly good around 0.50 to 0.55 total rms at such low altitudes

Bortle 3
No moon
NexDome Obs
10” f5 Klaus Helmerich Carbon fibre Newt
SW EQ8-R pro mount
ZWO2600MM cooled to -10C , Gain 100
ZWO 7x2” EFW
ZWO EAF
Antlia 3nm Ha filter only
Orion 60mm guide scope
ZWO290MM guide camera

Ha 34 x 3 min dithered subs
Flats
Bias
EQMOD and Stellarium
APT
PHD2 Multistar guiding PPEC algorithm
Stacked in ASTAP
Processed in Startools v1.8

Startools Spatially Variant PSF Deconvolution did a good job at correcting atmospheric blur at these low altitudes

Ha only ( Synthetic Luminance )
Native frame version
Crop version

Astrobin Link below for full resolution……
https://www.astrobin.com/b2ugf0/

Thanks for looking
Comments welcome
Martin

[xelasnave]

Well Martin you must be very happy with that...you now understand perhaps what I said re the facination when using Ha.
The detail is hard to grasp ...just so good.
It really is wonderful to see how you have pulled it all together.
alex

[Startrek]

Alex,
Thanks for commenting
Hope your well
Extremely happy with my early venture into Mono , especially under dark skies at my Dome
You were so right about the Wow factor using Ha
I put a lot of time into both Mono rigs ( Sydney and South Coast ) and dialing in both 8” and 10” carbon newts. Had to get spacers made up , learn additional requirements in the imaging software , re balancing mount and so on , but all behind me now.
The 2600MM is a tremendous camera and looking forward to more imaging with it. When I get lazy I’ve still got the 2600MC so best of both worlds

Best always
Martin

PS : I had to return to Sydney so missed out on capturing Oiii and Sii data on the Tarantula , maybe next time ?

[matlud]

Looking good Martin, some great detail there and look forward to seeing the final image! CS Mat

[joshman]

That's a great start Martin! I look forward to seeing the final result.

[Startrek]

Thanks Mat

Yep nothing beats a good size scope and clear dark skies to suck in those photons
Unfortunately I had to head back to Sydney for Grand-parenting duties from tomorrow, so Tarantula is a works in progress, at least down at my dark site Dome.
I’ll be back down in November for a week

Martin

[Startrek]

Thanks Josh
Enjoying the transition , challenges and improved fidelity from OSC 2600MC to Mono 2600MM
Im back in Sydney now so this Ha image will have to do for the moment ( Grandpa duties)

Thanks again
Martin

[Dave882]

Super shot Martin! That detail is just sublime. Good thing the LMC is around for a while so plenty of time to finish her off!

[Startrek]

Thanks Dave,
Much appreciated
I rarely image below 30 degrees but this one gave me a big surprise with tight guiding as well, no issues with Ra near the pole.
SV Decon tidied up the image somewhat , very pleased with the result using minimal processing.
Cheers
Martin