NYE Horesehead and Flame

[AstroViking]

Hey all,

Who needs an NYE party and fireworks when we have the entire night sky to look at?

I used last night's clear skies here to grab some H-Alpha data to combine with my existing OSC data and came up with the following image.

I hadn't been able to catch this one, and am happy with the result.

Cheers,
V.

Session 1 data:
* Gain: 100
* Offset: 10
* Temperature: 0 degrees C
* Exposure: 60 seconds
* Frames: 61 Lights, 50 Darks, 25 each of Flats and DarkFlats (61 minutes integration in total)
* Filter: UV-IR Cut

Session 2 data:
* Gain: 100
* Offset: 10
* Temperature: 0 degrees C
* Exposure: 120 seconds
* Frames: 61 Lights, 50 Darks, 25 each of Flats and DarkFlats (122 minutes integration in total)
* Filter: Optolong L-Enhance

Image processed with SiriLic (stacking) before pre-processing and star removal with Starnet++ in Siril then finished in Affinity Photo v2

Equipment:
SW72ED @ 420mm / HEQ5-Pro / ASI183MC-Pro / SV165+SV305 / Kstars/Ekos

[Mickoid]

Another great shot of this Summer favourite. Yes, it was a clear night for a change with a few hours before the Waning Gibbous moon rose to spoil the show. I was out there too, shooting the same target. I got less than 25mins of RGB and 24mins of Ha as the moon came up, so not a patch on yours. Well done Steve. :thumbsup:

[AstroViking]

Thanks Michael.

Compared to some of the other HH images doing the rounds at the moment, I think I was a bit heavy-handed with the processing - as evidenced by the missing streak of H-Alpha that gives the 'mane' within the horse's neck. (Check Peter's image and you'll see what I'm referring to.)

Cheers,
V.

[bluesilver]

Looking like a very good image there.
Just a suggestion here, but have you tried just using Bias fames instead of Dark Flats?
So you end up with Lights, Darks, Flats , Bias
Top image though.

[AstroViking]

Hi Peter,

Thanks for the feedback! :)

I don't use bias frames because the '183 doesn't cope well with exposures under 3 seconds. I have tried them in the past, and they do not work very well at all. A bit of research showed a lot of other people with the same problem, so I followed their advice and started using darkflats. So far, they've worked really well.

Cheers,
V.

[BlackNebula]

Great image Steve, awesome way to bring in the new year!

[AstroViking]

Thanks, Mark. :)

Best part is that there was no hangover the following morning! :)

[BlackNebula]

:rofl:Me not so lucky!!

[Dave882]

Fantastic shot Steve. Tonnes of detail but still looks very natural and not over processed. Love it!