The Helix and the Pain of Imaging

[leon]

Hi Guys, well before you go to the image have a listen to this short tale of woe, I shall keep it as short as possible.

I'm off to Vic/South next week, so I had already removed the imaging stuff from my set-up, ready for the trip.

Than the night cleared, and I just could not help myself and attached it all again for a bit Helix Imaging. ;)

All was working well, so I sat down in my trusty chair and dozed off, hell, I have done the plenty of times, the scope is quite happy on It's own. :thumbsup:

Woke about 2 hours later, better check the guiding I thought, ah bugger, the Lappy has shut down, :mad2: I had forgotten to turn the Hard Drive, turn off in 1 hour setting. :doh:

Stopped the scope and figured I had better check the images, as I was doing 8 mins subs with ICNR on, so 16 mins shots.

Well, the first had a nice big bug, smack in the middle of the frame, :sadeyes: the next three were Ok, ;) the next one had a sattelite right across the frame, :sadeyes: the next 2 were Ok, ;) but the next 3 were stuffed when the Lappy shut down, and the guiding had stopped. :mad2:

So all in all, I lost 5 x 16 minute frames, after a few choice words I decided to just keep going and did a couple more.

I had had enough and packed it away in disgust at 2am, and whilst walking across the lawn to the house, admiring the great night, looking up I had forgotten about the sand pit i built for my little Grandson that afternoon and triped on the edge and feel face first in the sand. :doh: :lol:

This imaging is becoming dosappointing/dangerous work I reckon. :lol: yea I can laugh about it now, but I was not impressed at 2am, glad I wasn't carring anything, like a 5D. :doh:

Anyway, I did get some frames and this is the result of only 7 @ 8 mins @ 400 ISO through the Tak and modded 5D, ICNR on, and Flats applied, processed in Image Plus.

Have a sticky and see if all the pain was worth it :whistle:

Leon :thumbsup:

[Bassnut]

Leon, yes, worth the pain :). Tight guiding and focus, nice work.

Perhaps you should doze off more often whilst imaging, just let the scope do it properly by itself :thumbsup:

[Matty P]

Apart from the laptop shutting down, a satellite passing through the frame and you tripping over a sand pit, sounds like you had a fun night Leon. :lol:

This story pretty much sums up the life of an Astrophotographer. It takes 10 bad nights where everything goes wrong, to have one good night of imaging. :doh:

The image has come out very nicely. Nice detail in the Helix and the widefield view is lovely.

Well done. :thumbsup:

[strongmanmike]

Ah Leon Leon Leon love it! You made me laugh and I relate to that very well (as I am sure do others).

You can now see why the likes of Ward, Pugh, Davies, Vanderhaven et al can produce such log exposure masterpieces with their permanent controlled setups....I'm jealous :sadeyes: Heck Martin has thrown out a serious amount of identified less than optimal data because...well?...he can :eyepop:

Nice result for your efforts though, the Helix is always nice to see.

Mike

[bluescope]

You'll have to stick a beacon on the sandpit mate ;). As for the falling asleep on the job, I think we've all had that experience from time to time ay !

Image looks good anyway despite your mishaps .... maybe stick a 2x barlow in the train next time to get a slightly larger image scale .... I just reckon the Helix has detail that needs to be shot closer up. It's only my opinion ofcourse and you can tell me to get "further up the road" Leon :lol:

:thumbsup:

[multiweb]

Great story :lol: ... and the picture... well, I'm speechless :eyepop: Stars are pinpoint all over :thumbsup:

[leon]

Well Guys I'm glad you like the image, I have to admit I am pleased with it as well.

Can you imaging the pain if I had broken my leg, or worse, :scared: No Vic/South, that would be bad :lol: :lol:

In the end I did get a good result, so it makes it all worth while, many thanks for your kind words. ;)

Leon :thumbsup:

[Hagar]

With all your trials and tribulations I expected a bit of a joke or catchphrase but didn't get one. Very nice image with loads of detail even if it is quite small. Well done Leon.

[alan meehan]

leon,very nice image indeed well done,well worth the trip....

[jjjnettie]

As you said, things could have ended up being a lot worse.
Hope you've finished your run of bad luck so your time away will be hassle free.
Nice image too.

[leon]

Many thanks Alan, and JJJ, yes I do hope Vic/South will be incident free, I will come home with a full report and post it here when I return.

Leon

[dugnsuz]

Nice one leon,
Sorry mate I laughed too at you getting intimate with the sand pit!
That pic's pretty nice though.
Have fun at Vic South
Doug

[spearo]

hahaha
good one
glad you weren't carrying any expensive bits of equipment when you went on your big trip!
frank

[kinetic]

You only have 10 bad nights Matt?......:)



About a week ago, still high on the euphoria of actually imaging at last
with a serious camera, and finally getting results easily, rather than messing around with the quirks of modified webcams.....I was quickly
brought back to reality....]
I had imaged nearly all night in the dome, and in the hour just before
dawn it had begun to sprinkle light rain.
I thought, bugger this, I'm staying in here and processing this stuff right
now, I'm not letting a bit of rain stop me.
So I grabbed the dome door and walked backwards into the dome while
holding the door.
It's a tricky operation, heavy door, walking backwards down stairs into a dome, in the dark.

I tripped, fell backwards, skinned both my shins and dropped the door,
which started a few dogs barking.

Good times..

Beautiful Helix Leon,

Steve

[leon]

Ah Steve, so I'm not alone with the dangers of imaging, It would be good to hear some of the very painful and embarrasing situations people have encountered in the name of Astronomy.

Many thanks for you comments as well Frank, and Doug, and Doug, you can be assured it will be a great time at Vic/South

Leon

[kinetic]

Another funny one I recall, probably 20 or so years ago when I was
doing some wee small hours viewing:

Most of us amateurs lost our fear of the dark and being alone at night
in a backyard....every noise you pretty much know what it is....
Anyway...
The family dog used to come over and have a cuddle and sniff and then go
back to sleep on the verandah on the same bit of carpet.
She had a choker chain type collar on and I knew she was up and
about when her chain rattled in the dark.
All was dead quiet when all of a sudden I could hear this growling , snarling dog thrashing about in the dark, hitting something metal and
I panicked, thinking she was fighting something feral in the darkness and
having a hard time. What the bloody hell was she fighting with.
My heart was racing, I was truly s*** scared!
More metal clanking and banging, she was fighting all over the verandah , banging into the backdoor, verandah poles , pot plants.
I raced over to the shed to put the back lights on only to find she
had gone to sleep over the yard sink grate,
her collar nametag had dropped into the grate, when she woke up she had the yard sink steel grate trapped to her neck, she had panicked and
had been thrashing about trying to get it off.

Steve :)

[Craig_L]

Nice one Leon, clean and sharp. Be nice to see what detail you have there by cropping a little.

[leon]

Steve, I agree the night time is natural now, and the noises one hears they are accustomed to, but i have to admit your experience with your poor dog would have put the wind up me too. :scared:

Hope she was alright after that ordeal, funny story though. :lol:

Thanks Craig, yea I suppose it might crop reasonably, but I so do like the wide field stuff, just gives one the feeling of size of our Universe, however I will have a play with it and see what happens, many thanks for your comments.

Leon :thumbsup:

Come on guys there must be heaps of good stories out there, don't be shy. :whistle:

[Garyh]

Nice widefield shot! I like it Leon!
Made me laugh about the mishap with the sandpit! (lightheartedly) (glad you weren`t carrying any gear but!) I am forever tripping over all the toys the kids leave around! so I know what sort of choice words would have come to mind!
cheers Gary

[Ric]

Definitely worth the effort Leon, that's a great widefield image and really shows the Helix in perspective.

Well done mate

[leon]

Thanks Gary and Ric for your comments, have to agree I sill smile about that eventful evening. :lol: but after all that, results were obtained, so that is the main thing.

Leon :thumbsup:

[Tilt]

:lol: Too funny.

Well done on obtaining some good shots for the night, the image looks great.

Michael

[leon]

Glad you think it is amusing, :rolleyes: struggling all night with computers, bugs and sattelites, and then nearly killing myself, all in the quest of obtaining some astro pic's. :lol: :lol:

Just kidding Michael, :thumbsup: I still smile to myself, and my dear wife thinks it's the best yarn she has heard at 2am for ages. :shrug:

Many thanks for your comments mate. ;)

Leon :thumbsup:

[Inmykombi]

It was worth the effort if you ask me.

Very nice pinpoint star images and nice colour in the Nebula.

Well done. Keep 'em coming OK....

[leon]

Thanks Geoff, appreciate your comments, and I will keep at it regardless of the perils of imaging. :whistle:

Leon :thumbsup:

[RobF]

Beautiful pic - will be tough to beat the pain though! Will keep your adventures in mind next time I think I'm having a bad night.....

[leon]

Thanks Rob, yea mate you do that, things could have been worse though.

Leon

[Jen]

:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:
:lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:
Aww Leon that was so funny to read that because i could so relate to your evening hahaha;):doh:thanks for sharing that story with us :lol::thumbsup:

[leon]

It is funny when one looks back on that eventful night, Jen, and it is now all in the past so I can get back to some serious imaging. ;)

Leon :thumbsup:

[Jen]

:lol::lol::lol: LMAO
im so glad this thread has been revived how did i miss this one :rofl::rofl::rofl: yep im cackling my head off here after reading that :lol:

LOL Leon good on ya mate :thumbsup::thumbsup: your a legend :P

OOpps i just realised i have seen this thread before but forgot about it hahahahha :)