Horsehead (B33) & Flame (NGC 2024) using 2 cameras

[RB]

Here's my latest effort (taken last month) of the Horsehead and Flame nebulae in the Orion belt region.

I wanted to try something a little different this time to maximize my exposure time so I used two cameras, the 20Da and a standard 20D.
This allowed me to image through one while the other was taking darks and then swap them over and do the same again at 5 frame intervals.
I was thus able to take as many dark frames as light frames for each camera in that space of time.

In the end a total of 20 x 9 min subs were combined (3 hours) at ISO 400, 10 from each camera.
Using the two cameras gave a nice colour balance in the end I think.

The scope used was the TOA 130 guided by PHD using an ST80 and Orion Starshoot autoguider on an EM400 mount.
Stacking was done in Deep Sky Stacker and processed in PS CS3.

Medium size image (900K): http://www.astro-image.org/page/ds/hh.htm

Large size image (1.4MB): http://www.astro-image.org/page/ds/hhlarge.htm

Hope you enjoy.

:)

[bluescope]

Looks really nice Andrew ... very smooth across the whole fov and lovely detail in the horse head itself in fact throughout the whole image ... well worth the effort. Focus and guiding are spot on.

:thumbsup:

p.s. How do you make that little popup that stops saving the image.

[iceman]

Oh wow! That is stunning!
Brilliant!

What a novel idea, using 2 cameras. Was this taken at home, RB?

[AlexN]

Nice Andrew! Real nice!

I would have thought that stacking the images from the two different cameras would have been detrimental to the overall image, as it would have sorted out the median or average of the pixels, and the shots from the 20Da would have been quite a bit brighter (I imagine) than the standard 20D due to the different filter... I would have thought that the 20Da shots would have contained a lot more nebulosity than the 20D shots, and hence, when stacked, the nebulous extension would have been half way between the two... That being said, I could be (and it seems I am) very wrong, as your image has turned out great!

Nice work buddy.
Alex.

[Quark]

Excellent effort Andrew,

Must agree with you regarding the colour balance achieved by combining data from modded and unmodded cameras. I have a book of David Malins images "The Invisible Universe" and the colours in your image are an excellent match for Davids image, well done and congratulations on thinking outside the square with this effort.

Regards
Trevor

[jase]

Magnificent image RB. Lovely colour balance and detail on this composite. Will be certain to come back to view this a few times to enjoy the scene. Well done.

[atalas]

Andrew,very nice work dude ! your best yet I think....hopefully will see more deep shots from you.

[Bassnut]

Excellent Andrew, top detail, just a litttttle more selective noise reduction.........

[strongmanmike]

Maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa aaaaaate!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :eyepop:

Nice work....and don't listen to Fred he doesn't like noise in images cause he plays so much of it in his band :lol:

Nothing wrong with this image at all, that TOA on a EM400 is a killer! Now if you get a cooled CCD astrocamera.....?....Maaaaaaaaaaaaa aaaaaaaaaaaaaate :scared:

Mike
just kidding Fred :P...ok, maybe could have a little less noise I guess? :whistle:

[leon]

Very nice Andrew, magazine stuff, love the high res version, well done indeed.

Leon

[multiweb]

:bowdown: Terrific! :thumbsup::thumbsup:

[Robbie]

:poke::poke:That is amazing!!!!! the only thing wrong with it is that I didnt take the shot

[h0ughy]

no dont like it:D - its got nice colour balance:thumbsup:, well layered, nicely processed and i am green with envy:whistle::P. there is noise:scared:, but thats the nature of the DSLR :P;) unless you have several hours on it:shrug:(wonder how it would be to get upwards of 5 and see what the different would be though 3 hours is awesome), might need to do that in the future:whistle:? I am gobsmacked that you havent used the doorstop:) that you have but continiue to use the guide scope:whistle: for this work!

[peeb61]

Beautiful work Andrew!!

Paul

[spacezebra]

Stunning image Andrew, absolutely stunning!

Cheers Petra d.

[Garyh]

Love it Andrew! I don`t know how it worked with the 2 cameras but it sure did!
Colors just look right on the dollar!
:thumbsup:

[Screwdriverone]

Hey Andrew,

I must say....that picture redefines the word WOW!

Absolutely BRILLIANT!

The most astoundingly clear, detailed and vivid astro image I have ever seen.

Run out of superlatives I have! :eyepop:

Fantastic.

Cheers

Chris

[marc4darkskies]

Very, very nice shot Andrew!!! :thumbsup::thumbsup: Well done!!

Cheers, Marcus

[ENVY]

Andrew

Can't wait for your next post of nebulea's

because to beat this one. Can it be done?

stunning,terrific,amazing


cheers

peter

[Tamtarn]

Wonderful image Andrew. Everything has come together perfectly on this one :thumbsup:

Have to agree with Louie this must be your best. Can't wait to see what you come up with next

D & B

[tornado33]

Worked very well, great image.
Scott

[Deeno]

Bravo!!!!:party2:
More:2thumbs: More:2thumbs:

[seeker372011]

v well done Andrew.
You should be pleased with that result

[kinetic]

Andrew,

Speechless!!:eyepop:

Steve

[strongmanmike]

Like Jase said he would do I too just had another look at this Andrew and yeh it's a great image, one of the best wider field Hoursheads posted on here, and better than most of the cooled CCD images too, nice work!!!

Mike

[Dennis]

Hi Andrew

What a masterpiece! This cosmic vista is just so pleasing to look at; it has everything and you have done a superb job in capturing, processing and presenting this data so masterfully. Excellent work!

Cheers

Dennis

[spearo]

beautiful
well done!
frank

[richardo]

Andrew,
man that is brilliant!!
Such a fov that brings in all the intricate treasures associated with this area of sky.
Sounds like a bit of fritzing around, but the proof is in the pudding, just keeping doing what you did.

Top shelf!
Enjoyed it immensely:thumbsup:

All the best
Rich

[mexhunter]

Hello RB:
That photography is seen very well, congratulations!
Many greetings
Cesar

[Lester]

Outstanding image Andrew.

[gregbradley]

That's a beautiful image Andrew. Well done you must be rapt.

Greg.

[Paul Haese]

Lovely image, colours look really nice, better than my recent attempt. Must go back and take a look at the data again I think.

I like the composition and Altinik's radiance is reduced nicely. How did you go about doing that Andrew?

[CoolhandJo]

To be honest, I havn't seen detail like that of the flame yet! The dust clouds on the left are amazing. Congratulations!

[RB]

Cheers Steve. :thumbsup:

I found a piece of java script code which I include in the page HTML:
I'll finish replying to all the posts and then include the code in a separate post for you.
:)

Thanks Mike, yes this was from home, it's just so much easier to work from here rather than travel, I'm very lucky in that respect.
Although the light pollution is getting noticeably worse.



Thank you so much Alex, much appreciated mate.
Yes I had concerns too whether it would work.
And I suppose I have lost some response from the 20Da (see later, my previous attempt), but it worked out well in the end.



Trevor cheers mate, yes I had a look at David Marlins images too and I was surprised at the similar colour rendition. :thumbsup:



Jase thank you for your compliments, glad you liked the image, it's because of your detailed advice on here that has helped not only me but a lot of us who admire your work.



Louie thanks, glad you liked it too, you're standard of work is something to aim for.
I feel it's my best too and I hope to be able to produce more images over the coming months.



Cheers Fred, thanks so much.
I had a hard time with the image and tried as best I could not to make it too plastic looking with NR.
Still learning in that respect.
Thanks for the suggestion and glad you liked it mate.
:thumbsup:

[RB]

Thanks Mike, you guys are inspirational and your work amazing.
Your advice is always welcome.
I'd love a CCD but at the moment just have to make do.
I feel I still haven't reached the limits with the DSLR, and I do love my setup.
One day I'll be contacting you for advice on a CCD setup. :D


Cheers Leon, thanks mate.


You're too kind Marc !


:lol: Cheers Robbie.


Thanks mate and thanks for your advice on the image.
Yes unfortunately it's the nature of the DSLR.
LOL @ the doorstop.....one day I'll get to use it. :P


Paul much appreciated mate, thank you.



Thank you so much Petra, very glad you enjoyed the image.



Gary thank you so much, you are a true inspiration mate.

:thumbsup:

[RB]

Chris, Marcus, Peter, Dave & Barb, Scott, Deeno, Narayan, Steve, Dennis and Frank, thank you so much for your kind comments, very much appreciated and I'm so glad you enjoyed.

:)

[RB]

Thank you Rich, always enjoy your work.
Yes it was a lot of mucking around with this and I probably wouldn't do it with all the shots but I wanted to see how it would go on the this region.
Cheers.








Thank you so much Cesar, Lester and Greg, very glad you liked it.


Thank you so much Paul, I was very happy with the result.
I have been spending a lot of time reading and trying different techniques that are available on the net, some great resources available, it's a steep learning curve as everyone knows.

The effect around Altinik was partly due I think to the Astronomiks CLS filter I used and the reductions I did in PP using selective layering.

Have a look at my previous attempt from a few years ago and you can see the difference in processing.

Horsehead (2006) (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=17252&d=1158834957)



Cheers Paul, thank you.
Here I also used selective sharpening and layering to bring out detail as well.

:)

[RB]

Steve here is the text of the java script to insert into your HTML.
I know it disables the right click function, but haven't got a clue if it's written efficiently. Someone with more knowledge can advise on a better code.

[gmbfilter]

Great shot Andrew,
Very clever technique....what next?

[Inmykombi]

Well done Andrew,
One could spend a lot of time examining the entire image.
Loads of detail and very nice colour. Nice pinpoint stars as well which shows up some very tiny ones all over the place.

As Deeno says.....MORE MORE.

Geoffro.

[GTB_an_Owl]

i didn't know you could get that sort of result out of your setup Deeno !

:clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:

oh SORRY - it's one of yours RB :whistle:


geoff


PS i do like it :thumbsup:

[acropolite]

Awesome work RB, with all those kids, all those chooks and an extended family, you still find time to produce images like that, makes me tired just thinking about it.

I'm convinced you must wear your underwear on the outside...:camera:

[RB]

Geoff, Geoffro and Geoff-Owl, thanks fellas, glad you enjoyed.

Phil, LOL, you make me laugh, cheers mate !

:thumbsup:

[ausastronomer]

Hi Andrew,

That image IMO is the equal of any widefield image I have ever seen taken of this region of sky, incorporating B33 and NGC 2024, using essentially only a modded "Digital SLR". While Fred commented that it's "a little noisy", remember it's "a non cooled camera", nearly 5 years out of production. Excellent effort mate !!.

Cheers,
John B

[Rick Petrie]

Nice RB,astounding result. Brilliant color and detail.:thumbsup:
As good, if not better than any I have seen from you. Keep 'em coming mate.
Cheers Rick:)

[Kal]

Very nice Andrew, a great part of the night sky that you have certainly done justice too! :thumbsup:

[sally1jack]

Very nice RB :thumbsup:

[Lyinxz]

awsome!!!! nice work Andrew!!

[bones]

RB
Absolutely amazing mate. Excellent result. Keep up the great work.

On a lighter note sure beats the naked eye version of the horse head we've been observing of late at the Pony Club nights.

Tony

[RB]

Rick, Andrew, Phil, Ash and Tony, many thanks guys !

I'm really rapped at the result too.
I can't stress enough how helpful it is to take lots of darks and flats with heaps of exposure to the final result of an image.

I'm hoping to try again soon on another target.

:)

[Octane]

Andrew,

Just one word for this one: stunning.

I thought there was a slight colour cast in the image, but, I can't see it anymore. Looks awesome.

The rest of my equipment arrives this week. ;)

Regards,
Humayun

[RB]

Thanks H,

I haven't adjusted anything on this image since first posting it so maybe it was just the monitor you first saw it on.

:)

[KISA]

Awesome Andrew. Excellent work.

[madwayne]

Gee whizz RB you have raised the bar yet again :thumbsup:. Excellent image, as always mate, but as others have quite rightly pointed out this is light years ahead of the rest.

If you want to do a double barrel approach in the future I might be able to help with a modded 20D :whistle:.

Keep em coming and all the best.

Wayne

[venus]

Takes talent to image like that. Amazing job Andrew.

[RB]

Many thanks KISA. :thumbsup:



Cheers Wayne, I'm really enjoying imaging now with the longer subs and what's made a big difference is taking heaps of darks and flats.
The EL panel I built for my flats has really paid off.
A modded 20D would be very nice, I'm actually tempted to get the 20Da modded.


Thank you so much Lydia, you're too kind.

:)