M16 from Astrofest - F10 (2x barlow, 450D, MPCC on 8 inch Newt)

[RobF]

Its been bugging me I still have images to stack and check out from AF, but now I'm finding things I forgot I snapped! I do recall at the time thinking the time spent trying to image with a heavy barlow hanging out of the newt had been wasted, however median stacking often hides a multitude of sins....:)

I haven't imaged with a barlow much at all - its only a GSO ED barlow - surprised at how much I had to fight the green and blue down (almost like having a light pollution filter in). Flats with barlow in not taken, so all things considered pretty happy with this in the end.

10 x 5 mins ISO 800
Canon 450D, MPCC, 2" 2x barlow on 8 inch Newt (Heq5Pro)

[AlexN]

Nice one Rob!

Bit of extra focal length never goes astray!

Another thing you could consider as a better option to a barlow would be using a Canon 1.4x tele-extender.. You'll end up with 1400mm as opposed to 2000mm with the 2x barlow, however it will better illuminate your sensor and snap straight onto the camera, and straight onto the T-ring.. The optical quality would be far superior to the 2x barlow too.. although, I guess its just one more thing to add to the ever growing "Things to buy" list.. :)

Great work mate..

[RobF]

Hmmm - interesting Alex. Most of what I know about DSLRs comes from bunging mine on the scope, so I wasn't aware of these beasts. Looks like a handy piece of kit alright.

[dpastern]

Rob - I really like this shot of M16 - sure, it's a bit noisy, but there's not a lot of data there, especially for M16, but it just is NICE. I like the colours and it's pretty well focused too.

Alex - that's a great idea with the TC, why didn't I think of that? Well, you're a smarter lad than me.

Dave

[RobF]

Thanks Dave :)
Definitely a personal best M16 for me anyway.
Damn - why do dark sky sites have to be so good.....:lol:

Shoud have mentioned also - 15 frames originally taken, but 1/3 thrown away as just too poor in the tracking dept.

[strongmanmike]

Yeh Rob, I have to agree with Dave, it just looks good :thumbsup: must be the colours?

Nice job

Mike

[jjjnettie]

It has an ethereal feel to it.
Lovely!

[dpastern]

You're welcome Rob. This isn't the usual colours for M16 (at least from what I've seen so far), is it just because there's less exposure/data, guys? Or just the PP manipulation of the data? I really like the colours in your shot, they suit M16 imho, at least to my eyes.

Dave

[dpastern]

Actually, you're right! Now that I look at it again, it does sort of look like a wraith with its hands outstretched. I swear I ain't smoking any of that funny weed :P

Dave

[RobF]

Wow man - I promise I wasn't smoking anything during processing. The 450D is unmodded, so it does often bring out the oxygen (blues) in emission nebs. I'm pretty sure the blue greens this time around are from the ED barlow used.

There's a decent whack of noise reduction used too - was a bit disappointed how much of that there was, but as you've said Dave, 50 mins ISO 800 is hardly a marathon.

[RobF]

Thanks Mike - hints of colour from your narrowband masterpiece perhaps? Not intentional - just luck :lol:




Thanks JJJ! As I said, pleasant surprise to dig this one out.

[dpastern]

that's right, consumder DSLRs are stronger in O3, but weaker in HA, I forgot that! I really do think it works well for this image. If I get my imaging setup going well, this is another object on my hit list.

Dave

[RobF]

Yeah - it'd be great to be able to flip between modded and "unmod". I'll just have to save my pennies for a mod job or a CCD one day. I'd love the H sensitivity, but I also like the extra colour - I'm happy to keep my 450D as I bought it for quite a while.

[dpastern]

You probably could do it with filters at a guess. Would be interesting.

Dave

[AlexN]

You can get your camera modded with the Hutech UV/IR filter, then buy the Hutech EOS clip filter which returns the camera's sensitivity back to standard... The only downside (which could be seen as an up side) is that you can not use the EOS clip filter with EF-S series lenses.. which forces you to go out and buy a slew of EF/EF-L lenses :D Everyone loves L glass! :D

It would indeed be interesting to take 10 exposures with the modded camera, then 10 exposures with the clip filter in place, so you get the really strong reds in half your subs, and the really vibrant blues in the other half...