Ngc6726/6727/6729 in Corona

[EddieT]

Hi again,
Bert down at MRO was really kind to let me have a go on his new 16" RCOS a couple of weeks ago. The seeing wasn't great and there was lots of thin cloud passing through, but the awesome power of this scope, coupled with the massive 3kx3k Apogee Alta U9000 was a great thing to experience.

I only just managed some twilight flats which turned out to be barely adequate, but without a lot of time to redo them, I used what I had and tried to bring as much as possible out of the image.

This really is a great piece of sky.

http://astroshed.com/mro/6726.html

Comments welcome.

[prokyon]

This is breathtaking! A Great pic, thanx for sharing.

cheers

werner

[jjjnettie]

Eddie, that is awe inspiring :eyepop:

[jase]

Lovely work Eddie. Indeed, its a great area of the night sky.

I look forward to using this scope too. It's soon to come online as part of the LightBuckets (http://www.lightbuckets.com) network. :D

[Ric]

Wonderful image Eddie, it must be quite an experience to get to play with a 16" RCOS.

Cheers

[Peter Ward]

Great image Eddie. :thumbsup::thumbsup:

[sjastro]

Very nice Eddie.

Steven

[strongmanmike]

Awesome image Eddie :thumbsup: perhaps the only (slightly) better amateur version of this region (because it is wider field) is Martin Pugh's amazing 4 panel mozaic that should have taken out the DM's last year IMO rather than his Lambda Cen shot. This image would have Peter Ward shaking in his boots for sure :whistle: look out Semi Pro David Malin Awards...Eddie T makes his charge :lol:.

Mike

[Bassnut]

Very smooth and awesome detail Eddie. Wouldnt you be tempted to do this in HaRGB?.

[Bassnut]

Indeed, or the new 16" RCOS at GRAS (http://www.global-rent-a-scope.com/) in Morrook :D:D

[AlexN]

Tasty image mate! Looks fantastic!

[EddieT]

Many thanks Prokyon and Jeanette!

[EddieT]

Thanks Jase. I think you'll like using this scope, I know I did! I must also thank Steve Cullen of Lightbuckets.

[EddieT]

Hi Ric, yes indeed I appreciate it immensely. There's no other way I can invisage that I would get to you use a rig like this! Other than the generosity of others :)

All the best

[EddieT]

Thanks Peter, Steven and Fred.....

No, I'm not tempted to do HaRGB at all on this....I'm going through an RGB phase at the moment :)

[EddieT]

Actually Fred no, this scope isn't about to become a GRAS scope. It is however to become a Lightbuckets scope from MRO.....

But this post wasn't intended to sing the praises of any organisation. It was to show an astronomical image. Let's please keep it that way.

[EddieT]

Thanks Alex!

[EddieT]

Well thanks Mike! But oh, the contest...I haven't really been thinking that much about it. You and your competitive streak!

You know I don't do anything with any competition in mind. It's all about astronomy and seeing what's up there !

Even so, I probably will submit it :)

All the best to you!

[Bassnut]

Of course not, its a different one :shrug:

[Peter Ward]

Nice try Mike :)

But I don't think that is what CWAS is all about.

I've won recognition with very modest gear. (eg DSLR, 80mm refractor)

I'm suspecting I suck at using heavy artillery.

I also suspect the trick is to think outside the box. Get the compositional elements right.

A great picture of a boring object is not the best formula.

In Eddie's case....I don't think he needs any hints! :)

[marc4darkskies]

Absolutely gorgeous image Eddie - well done!! :thumbsup::thumbsup: On my target list - if these clouds ever go away.

Cheers,
Marcus

[alan meehan]

Eddie
Such a smooth shot even the the mrs liked it .
thanks.

[strongmanmike]

Awww com'on, who you tryin to kid? :innocent:

[strongmanmike]

Oh gag gag.... :innocent: :rofl:

[EddieT]

Thanks Marcus! It's a great target. I had it framed with the FSQ last week, got it all just right, then the clouds rolled in and never left. They're still there! So... good luck with yours! I know what it's like.

You joining the Duckadang crew this year?

[EddieT]

C'mon Mike! Remember the old passion. Before the days of contests....When we used to take pictures because we loved astronomy?....

Re-live the dream ! Do yourself a favour and don't enter this year, you'll thank me later. hahaha :)

[EddieT]

Thanks Alan. That's the toughest crowd right there! :)

Heading to Duckadang this year? Be good to catch up with you guys again. It's been a full-on year for me and astrofest will be a great unwind....I'm looking forward to it.

[Alchemy]

delightful shot eddie, im glad youve come out of the woodwork at just this time (pre CWAS) give mike and others a bit of a scare, i hope you submit this image to the Malins, there are others here who like the rent-a -scope setup so it should be a great category to be in.

now if you could just present it on your webpage at 1920x1280:whistle:


clive.

[astroron]

Beautiful shot Eddie:)Lots of detail and a pleasure to view:thumbsup:

[bluescope]

Very nice detail in the dark areas of nebulosity and the transitions are very smooth. The streams of blue around the stars are great too !

:thumbsup:

[AlexN]

Look forward to meeting you at Astrofest Eddie.

[multiweb]

Wow. This is really nice!:eyepop: Colors and contrast are great. So much stuff around to look at. Top work. :thumbsup:

[gregbradley]

Oh my, that is gorgeous.

Was there any problem with ghost images from the U9000?

Greg.

[EddieT]

Many thanks Clive! I've got a few to submit this year, after submitting one for each of the last two years. I have a full long weekend of processing and printing ahead of me. It's going to be long and arduous!

As for 1920x1280...Well that's difficult dimensions for a square sensor...It would require a strategic crop of about 1/3 of the image in one dimension....With the ever-present desire for largest possible chip size and field coverage, I'd find it difficult to delete so much good image real estate!

How about some black borders instead :)

[EddieT]

Hi Greg,

That's a good question...I wasn't aware of any issues with ghosting and the U9000 and I noticed nothing during processing. But there were some odd artifacts in the first hour or so of imaging on the first night. It looked like out-of-focus star reflections and existed in every image regardless of filter. They formed what looked like an asterism, however I could see no star pattern in the image that matched it. They disappeared after an hour and weren't there at all on the following night. It could have been dew spots that formed early and dissipated later, I'm not sure...But they were easily removed when combined with clean images...

[EddieT]

Thanks Ron, Steve, Alex and Marc!

[Jen]

:eyepop: very beautiful pic Eddie :thumbsup: nice work i love this area lots to look at :) I have a copy of one of Martin Pughs pics here waiting to be put in a frame :thumbsup:

[EddieT]

Thanks Jen. Martin's picture truly is a great one of the wider nebula! Should look great in a frame!

[telemarker]

That is one hell of an image. :thumbsup:
Beautifully processed as well.

Cheers

[gregbradley]

Hi Eddie,

RBI (residual bulk image or ghost images) are an issue with the U9000 camera and any 09000 chiped camera. The 09000 chip seems more prone to it than others. I have read several complaints about it.
Apogee instituted an RBI fix which is an LED that flushes the chip
(saturates it then removes it) before your exposure. The ocst of this is a slight increase in noise. The camera has to be sent to Apogee for this to be fitted. New they come with it. FLI have had this feature for quite some time and pioneered it.

If you took a shot of the moon and then tried to take darks or continue imaging it would be very noticeable.

The pattern you mention could be RBI but it could be cosmic rays or even radiation from the CCD window radioactive breakdown (FLI camera, not sure about Apogee). These new chips are very sensitive and they often have squiggly little white spots in the darks that appear to be a bit random. They average out though when making your master dark.

I hope the new STX has this feature as a 09000 chipped camera without that feature would be somewhat of a liability judging by the complaints I have read.

I haven't seen any sign of it with the 16803 chip which whilst a tad less sensitive than the 09000 seems to be the enduring popular choice.

Greg.

[atalas]

Excellent Eddie !

[Tamtarn]

Another gem Eddie. Have to agree with you sure is a great part of the sky which you've captured beautifully

[EddieT]

Thanks for the info Greg.

I don't think they were cosmic ray hits. There was a dozen of them, allperfectly circular and fuzzy, and they lasted over an hour at the exact same location. I was glad they went away!

When I was familiarising myself with the system, I notice a "flush sensor" option in the Maxim DL driver, so maybe this camera already has the add-on.

[EddieT]

Many thanks Keith, Louie, David (and Barb)!

[Tom Davis]

Wonderful image!!

Tom

[EddieT]

Many thanks Tom!

I was just looking at your dusty surprise image. You truly are the Dustmaster! Well done there!