Eta Carina in NB

[AlexN]

So I got 2 hours of clear sky early last week, and managed to be free, and not too tired to drag the gear outside!

I had lots of stuff to test out that's been sitting there since early Feb, waiting for a break in this lovely Brisbane rain, alas, I digress...

I got 2hrs on Eta Carina, and to be honest, I know it isn't perfect, but it may well be my best effort to date...

Details:
Askar 65PHQ
Player One Artemis C Pro
Player One OAG (New)
Player One Filter drawer (New)
Askar D1 7nm Ha/OIII filter (New)
Losmandy G11 Gemini

Thanks to some choice help from wasyoungonce, my G11 is really singing at the moment, providing 0.4~0.5" RMS guiding for the duration of the session which was brilliant!

This was my first attempt at processing dual nb data from an OSC camera, so I followed a few youtube tutorials, and came up with something I didn't mind at all...

Image at Astrobin (https://www.astrobin.com/9qs4yr/C/)

I'd love to hear your thoughts!... I'll add a link to the HOO version when I upload it shortly...

[AlexN]

Same data, represented as HOO.

Astrobin (https://www.astrobin.com/td08uu/)

[Dave882]

Nice work that’s turned out really nice! My preference is with the HOO. It’s interesting the HOO seems to retain better detail in the bright areas and I think there is a real appearance of depth as well- almost 3D. Detail is beautiful- a real pleasure to scan around taking it all in. The foraxx version seems a little ‘harsh’ to my eye for some reason. Great work!

[AlexN]

Thanks Dave,

I think I know where I went wrong with the foraxx image, largely, it comes down to me processing it late at night when my eyes were not working correctly - but I think I pushed the initial stretch a little far, and then in the process of adding contrast later in the game, things got a little blocked up in the core... I'll give it another run soon.

I also re-added the stars in the 'quick and dirty' stars+starless way, which didn't do me any favors in the bright areas...

I'll have another pass on the data in foraxx later this week and see if I can't make something a little less agressive!

[AlexN]

Gave this another run.... Think this is better... Definitely feels less aggressive.

Astrobin link. (https://www.astrobin.com/9qs4yr/C/)

[Startrek]

Alex,
Nicely reprocessed and definitely an improvement on the original
Colour palette is excellent
Well done !!
Martin

[Ryderscope]

A good result Alex. The revision definitely helped with bringing out more detail in the core. It helps sometimes I think to leave an image for a day or two after it is "finished" and then come back to it with a fresh set of eyes.

[AlexN]

Martin:
Thanks! I'm still wrapping my head around PixInsight, and all the available tools to improve images and really pull out the best from the data - but slowly but surely I have a baseline workflow coming together that is seeming to be working...

Rodney:
100% - Having been away from Astrophotography for so long, I've fallen back into the "I HAVE DATA! I MUST PROCESS IT NOW" sort of mentality. There's much excitement. In fact, when I was imaging this, the first sub hit my monitor for the night and I started rubbing my hands together like a child in front of a birthday cake...

The target is certainly a very popular target, however this was my first go at Eta Car since 2009... So it was really nice to see a big bright target that filled the field of view even with a single sub...

Bring on winter I say - I have lots of plans!! I just hope the Brisbane sky wants to cooperate...

[strongmanmike]

Rather nice Carina Alex :thumbsup:

Mike

[AlexN]

Thanks mate! starting to get back into the swing of things... Still haven't had the weather to put together a substantial data set yet... but we're coming into the better months for that, right in time for the winter milky way to start making an appearance!

[CoolhandJo]

Great processing and looks nice

[AlexN]

Thanks mate - Really quite stoked with this to be honest, and beginning to feel like this may be the best astrophoto I've ever made...