Dumbell Neb from Astrofest (450D on 8 inch Newt)

[RobF]

Hi all. Managed to scrounge a bit more time to play with data collected at Astrofest. I just can't get over high satisfying it is to be able to draw detail and colour out of these pics (compared to my usual efforts from surburbia with a filter). Don't get me wrong - still happy I can see anything from my back yard :lol:

7 x 5 mins ISO 800, fully calibrated
Canon 450D + Baader MPCC, 8 inch newt
Prime focus field, and approx 50% crop

Thanks for lookin'

[jjjnettie]

Gee whizz Rob, you certainly made the best of your time at Astrofest.
Lovely image, as usual.

[batema]

Hello Rob,

Great image. Lovely colours. I am procrastinating and trying to avoid marking so I intend to have a go at processing mine from astrofest sometime this weekend. I don't know how you will process all your shots before next years fest. Lovely work.

Mark

[RobF]

Thanks JJJ - I think I underestimated how much time it would take to sift through 3 nights worth of data and start and do some decent processing.



Thanks Mark. Hope there isn't too much marking left. I've got a nasty oral exam to survive this weekend, but after that hoping to have some hobby time again!

[RB]

Goodonya Rob, wow for a 35 min shot you've captured nice colour and detail.

Now you need to start going longer to really increase the SNR.

Well done mate.

:thumbsup:

[AlexN]

lookin great Rob! I agree with Andrew.. time to start doing 15~20 x 5~10 minute shots.. more exposure is always the key to better images... These days I'm aiming at a minimum of 2.5hrs a shot.. targets I really want to do well I'm aiming for between 7 and 15 hours exposure spread over a few nights..

You're going really well!

ps - Yep, dark skies makes life HEAPS easier when it comes to processing.. I found my shots from 10 chain hill required about 25 minutes processing to get them looking good, images from home with equal exposure time taken at least an hour.. This is where narrowband comes into its own!

[RobF]

Thanks Andrew. I've just about finished surveying the messier objects, sorting tracking and learning the basics over the last 12 months. I thought I might start playing with collecting some data on signal to noise ratios and sorting out optimal sub lengths for city and dark sky soon. Agreed you can't beat long exposures - your Veil shot is evidence of that!



Yeah, I guess I've tended to be a bit "hit and run" with a lot of my imaging Alex. I haven't been in a hurry to go too long, because I constantly feel like I'm learning new tricks for data collection and processing. I suspect my HEQ5 could use some tweaking too before I go over 10 mins - interesting the comments you've made about yours and how well it behaves.

My other issue is 'wanting to have a go at everything" when you get out to a pristine site - I think I get paralysed for choice and end up trying to as many objects as possible! Agreed going longer is essential - I'm just not sure about the whole thing of the benefit relating to the square root of exposure time. Hmmm - maybe I'll need a big dob to keep me amused while the imaging rig is running.......:lol:

Will be watching with interest your forays into narrowband. Sounds like a cunning plan.

[Octane]

Rob,

That is a wonderful rendition of the Dumbell.

Kudos to you. :)

Regards,
Humayun

[RobF]

Thanks for checking it out and your kind words Humayun!

Rob

[peter_4059]

Great dumbell Rob. The details and colour have come up well.

Peter

[AlexN]

I think I'm just very lucky with my HEQ5.. Although, remember, you're imaging at 1000mm focal length.. im imaging at less than half of that.. for a guide error to show up in my images, the guide star needs to drift 3 full pixels in the guider due to the difference in Arcsec/pixel resolution of the two.. a 3 pixel guide error would be fairly extreme.... My focal length is what I think allows me to image to 30minute subs without problems... I was considering trying 45min exposures this weekend at barambah just to see if it will do it..

Even staying at 5 minute exposures, you're images would benefit a lot just by doubling or tripling your total exposures.. Ie. instead of 7 x 300sec images, go for 14 to say, 30x 5 min... it will result in a smoother overall image.. and from dark skies, i find more exposures generally makes colour balance easier to sort out in processing...

More data is the key to imaging (or at least, as far as I've figured thus far) Judging by my early attempts of M8, one that is 10x30sec (5 minutes total) and one that is 8x300sec (40 minutes total), then comparing it to my recent M8 image, 18x20minute shots + 24x5min shots (8 hours total)

I do understand though... I've been organising a target list for barambah for the past 3 weeks.. It started out with 12 targets I planned to image over the course of the 3 nights... Slowly but surely, I've narrowed this list down to just 4 targets... I have also made this list so Im essentially imaging target 1 untill it goes too low to image, by which time, target two is just getting high enough to image, by the time target 2 hits the meridian, target 3 will be high enough to start imaging, and by the time target 3 gets too low, target 4 will be high enough to image untill dawn. I intend to run this schedule for the 3 nights straight... and should get 7hrs per target... Hopefully this will quench my thirst for colour imaging for a while, as when I get home, it will be straight back into the narrowband imaging.

[RobF]

Thanks Peter!



All the best for Barambah Alex. Wish I was there, but looking forward to just chilling with the family this weekend. I'll expect you and the others to suck down a beer while the Floyd is playing at some time though in my place though.....:lol:

[AlexN]

:) Rob, We'll all have a toast in your honor. I will arange it so that it happens when the first star comes out at dusk.. Next time, you can join in said toast! And yes... Pink floyd will likely be playing later in the night, however at that point I think led zepplin, acdc or black sabbath will be playing! Perhaps "Back in black" would be fitting for a dark sky weekend... :)

[rogerg]

Very nice colour balance and sharpness :thumbsup:

[Satchmo]

Had a look at your site and blown away by your results with an 8" on an Eq5 which I would have thought would be overloaded.

Are your shots generally taken in completely windless conditions?

Are you using the stock focusser?

[Hagar]

Nice Dumbell Rob. Pretty little tacker isn't it.

[RobF]

I'm not sure I've ever had an dusk honorary toast - cool!
I'm pretty partial to ACDC too - hope this cloud isn't causing issues up there.



Thanks Roger - The dumbell was one of the first ojects I ever "shot" with my 450D and amazed and happy to see a faint dumbell. This latest effort much better I feel, as you'd expect though.




Many thanks Mark :)
I find the 8" rig is fine - its a Heq5 though which is quite a bit beefier than the EQ5, and often cops more flack than it deserves I think. I haven't had a lot of spare cash to throw at imaging, so I've tried to stick to buying essentials (cameras, laptop, etc). This current rig seems to pack quite a bit of imaging punch for relatively nice price tag. I expect the fact the Newt is 8" over say an ED80 and the speed of imaging at F5 is a huge help too. Note also my guidescope is a cheap and light refractor (we're not talking ED80!....)

Yes, its rare I'm out in any wind, which is never a good mix with a Newt and extended dew cover!

Focuser is standard SW Crayford, which is very smooth but prone to a bit of movement as you lock it down. I don't find that a huge problem as long as your careful and patient. Liveview + Newt diffraction spikes and now a Bhatinov mask life savers though. I thought if I was going to change focusers I need to buy a decent one, which would be getting up near the cost of the OTA - saved my bucks for the Orion QHY8 clone for guiding instead.

Thanks again for the kind words - I'm looking foward to finishing off the Messer pics.



Thanks Doug. Dumbell is certainly one nice planetary to be viewing or shooting.

[multiweb]

Looked at this for quite a long time and it is a real good shot. :thumbsup: Sometime it's hard to comment because you don't know the DSO or never tried to image it, so you can't relate, then you try and you think. S**t! That's not easy :)

[RobF]

Thanks Marc - glad you enjoyed. I suspect with this hobby, as in most, its can be easy to obsess on having every gizmo known to mankind. Danger is ending up "with all the gear, but no idea". I'm having a ball to date learning how to collect half decent data, the effect of ISO, exposure time, dark sites, etc, etc and not least the processing maze. Keeps me off the streets anyhow....;)