M17

[CoolhandJo]

This is image represents a few firsts. First Light 533MM pro, First light on my AM3 mount. First Light Antlia HA, OII, Sii*. I loved OSC and said I wouldn't go back to mono. But I reached a limit with my gear and knew the only was was to go back to mono or get more aperture. I think I got about 25% more detail using the same amount of integration time I used to do with the 533MC pro. The guiding on the AM3 compared to my HEQ5 pro was not miles better, but once dialed in, gave me the same 0.5 to 0.7 consistent RMS. But the big differences was weight and ease of set up. Cut the time by over 50%!

Getting the Swan processed in Pixinsight was not easy due to its stubborn reluctance to color map outside of SHO traditional Green.

This image is 29 hours integration time total using 300 sec subs through Askar V @ 600mm FL at 80mm.

High res Astrobin here https://astrob.in/74hkhu/0/

[Startrek]

Paul,
Congratulations on your first light with new rig
A excellent M17 and nice SHO colour palette too
Well done !!
I totally concur with the OSC vs Mono debate, after 3 years using the 2600MC I decided to take the plunge and go Mono with the 2600MM about a year ago. Best thing I ever did , so much more detail and fidelity in my images plus the added bonus of being able to create bonafide Narrowband palettes with ease. Mono is a win win under both Bortle 8 and Bortle 3 skies.
I use Startools to process and Mono has been a pleasure to process compared to my OSC.

Cheers
Martin

[gregbradley]

That's a fabulous image Paul. 29 hours! Quite the effort. The widefield framing shows up that lovely reddish nebula contrasting with the O111 areas.

Greg.

[CoolhandJo]

Thanks Martin! I didnt choose my battles though! New CAm new filters new mount all at the same time! :lol: Im working though refining the AM3 to get below 6 constantly RMS because I noticed some spikes in the graphs periodically just nudging on the border of my image scale.


Thanks Greg! Yes I did a stack of Ha to go for the outer detail. Then I need to adjust the colours to bring it out. Overall happy with this target becuase its not the most sharp object in teh sky to image for some reason :question:

[Ryderscope]

Excellent work Paul. The colour palette has worked well and everything else is behaving itself in terms of star shapes, a nice flat field and all :thumbsup:

[strongmanmike]

Gotta get your Swans in before the season ends! :) This one is really nice, a very interesting framing too Paul, I like it :thumbsup:

Mike

[CoolhandJo]

Thanks Mike. My square sensor has its limitations but also forces me to plan the frame and its always close and right lol



Thanks! The stars were lucky to escape the new AM3 learning curve to be honest. RmS was nudging the limits of my image scale but I'm slowly working through the tweaks required on a harmonic mount to get them well within rms range

[Dave882]

Looking great mate. Stacks of detail to take in and great framing. Well done!

[CoolhandJo]

Thanks Dave. I was expecting a tad more clarity on this but looking at other images I think this is a factor of the actual region, although my eaf failed a few times