The Horsehead and Flame Nebula from IISAC2008!

[iceman]

Well I’m back from IISAC2008, a little tired, a little sunburnt, a little disappointed (with the weather) but a lot relieved. Another year down, but planning for IISAC2009 has begun already!

We had pretty ordinary weather.. it couldn’t have been much worse, though if it was raining during the day that would be classified as worse. We had mostly hot days but mostly cloudy nights. On Thursday night, we had reasonably clear skies just after sunset - enough to get drift alignment completed, and then it clouded over for a few hours. It cleared again at midnight for a total of 2 hours - enough time for me to grab some data on the Horsehead and Flame Nebula in the Orion Constellation - just next to the bright star Alnitak (Zeta Orionis), which is one of the stars in Orion’s belt.

I was lucky enough to borrow Chris Wakeman’s modded 350D, which captures much more data in the h-alpha wavelengths than my standard Canon 350D - perfect for a target like the horsehead region which has abundant h-alpha emission.

I captured 42 minutes worth of data - 5 minutes and 7 minutes at ISO800, and 3 x 10 minutes at ISO400, all with ICNR on to subtract the darks. The modded 350D was at prime focus of the ED80 (with Williams Optics 0.8x reducer/flattener) on the EQ6, which was guided using PHD software, an 80mm guide scope and the DMK21AU04.

I wanted to capture much more data, but the clouds came back at 2am so I pulled the tarp over all the gear and went to bed in the tent. I took the flats when I woke up at 6:30am, and started processing later that day.

Anyway too much rambling, here’s the image:

The Horsehead and Flame Nebula (http://www.mikesalway.com.au/2008/11/03/the-horsehead-and-flame-nebula-from-iisac2008)

Click on the image in the gallery to see the less-compressed 1200px wide version.

I’m very happy with the image - the dark skies and the modded camera made a real difference and this image is a huge improvement to my previous attempt of this object from about 10-11 months ago.

Thanks for looking.

[h0ughy]

nice one Mike

[sheeny]

Wow!

Given the weather, I'm impressed!

42 minutes of data... that's a high percentage of the available imaging time I would suggest!

Al.

[Omaroo]

Very nice Mike. Good flare control on Alnitak! :)

[RB]

A lovely capture Mike especially for 42 min on this object.
The darker skies of Lostock certainly help even though the weather was all over the shop.

Glad you got at least this image.
Well done.
Time to get your camera modded me thix.

:)

[winensky]

Very nice use of those 42 minutes. You can just feel the difference in a dark sky image.

[Deeno]

Smoooth Mike!

[Tilt]

Great image Mike considering the on again, off again cloud cover.

I really must mod my 350D.

Michael

[Octane]

Mike,

Inspirational.

Judging by what you captured, and your processing, imagine what you would have got if you had got, say, two hours on this.

Love it.

Regards,
Humayun

[Matty P]

That has come out very nicely Mike. I wish I hadn't of packed up all of my gear on the Thursday night.

A lesson learnt for next time. ;)

Well done. :thumbsup:

[Hagar]

Came up well Mike. Better than the original I saw. Nice work on the lense flare. (sook, sook again)

[spearo]

Well done Mike,

nice contrast in the image looks good.
I felt for you guys over the weekends watching those clouds...
glad you had some clear patches.

Is Altinak far from Zeta Orionis?
;)
just kidding!
well done
frank

[iceman]

Thanks guys,
I'm certainly happy to have come away with at least 1 image for the weekend. I've got a few star trails as well but this is all for through the telescope.


Thanks Al - given that I used ICNR, it's almost that whole 2 hours used up. The other 20 minutes were framing, focusing and test exposures :)


Thanks RB - I'd love to get my camera modded but I need it for terrestrial shots. I'd more likely get a modded 20da as my astro camera. But funds aren't available :(
I'm grateful to Chris (33South) for loaning me his for the night!


Thanks Matty - a lesson learned there but it was your first star party so you weren't to know :) Don't worry, I've done it myself many times - gone to bed only to find it clears 1/2 an hour later.


Thanks Frank, Altinak, Alnitak.. they're right next door to each other ;)

[Garyh]

Nice work Mike! Done nicely with only with 42 min worth! I am glad you got some clear patches of sky!
cheers Gary

[Ric]

A fine capture Mike in the short time you had. As Humayun said imagine if you had a few hours captured.

Cheers

[AlexN]

Very smooth image Mike, A beautiful image of a beautiful area of sky!

Well done.

[Craig_L]

Really nice Mike, nice dark sky as well.

[Lester]

Very nice image Mike.

[peeb61]

Mike.....I'm turning green!
Very nice indeed...

Paul

[alan meehan]

mike very well done a lovely shot..

[astro_south]

Really nice Mike!

[bluescope]

Looks good in the larger version Mike ... very good for only 42 minutes.

:thumbsup:

[Prickly]

Hi Mike,

Thats certainly one to be pleased with, especially considering the conditions. Those ED80s never cease to amaze me.

Well done,

David

[atalas]

Hi Mike

Well,your full of surprises ! nice work dude.

[iceman]

Thanks to everyone for your comments. Much appreciated.

Thanks Louie, nice to see you again. Your gallery is looking very nice indeed. I met Zane up at IISAC2008 for the first time, a lovely guy.

[Alchemy]

hope its not another 11 months before you do some more deep sky imaging :D.

nice image.

[jase]

Mike, Good to see some of your work again. I don't think this image would be as half as spectacular if you didn't have access to the modded 350D. This has really brought the image to another level. Processing looks good, though there appears to be more data hidden that could be extracted. Nothing like playing with the data over and over to see how far you can take it. Perhaps overlay a heavily stretched layer and mask it to manage any noise that maybe introduced in the process. Look forward to seeing more.