M42 Orion Nebula LRGB

[CoolhandJo]

Hi all,

Took this the other night as follows:

SWED80 and DSI III PRO LRGB 30:15:15:15 2 min, 1 min, 30sec subs

Guided on LX200 10" with dsi iii pro.

Baader UV/IR, Hutech LPS -2

Cropped to remove bright star halo on left.

PS curves, masking for core, levels

I am happy with it (being the first time I have used multiple merges exposure times on an image).

Great to have had some clear weather!

Comments welcome and thanks for veiwing

[multiweb]

Awesome Paul! Text-book shot! :thumbsup:

[TheDecepticon]

I agree! Pretty good, for sure!:eyepop:

[CoolhandJo]

Thanks Marc / Deception. I used a bur mask for the core in three stages. I will use this technique again for sure. Also, I took Bassnut (Fred's) advice n 2 x resample prior to processing and then resampling back down after processing. I think it definately helps to smooth out the image.

[Ric]

Yep that's a lovely image Paul.

Fine work indeed.

[TrevorW]

I concur nice image Dr P

[Tilt]

Nicely done, excellent processing. I have had the pleasure of tinkering around with a DSI III lately, and they are a surprisingly good camera. Have you had thoughts on having your DSI III modified for cooling?

Michael

[CoolhandJo]

Thanks Micahel. Yes, I am happy with the DSI III Pro. I don't think I will cool it anytime soon because I am not sure if the trouble would be worth it. I have seen some side by side comparisons with cooled and uncooled and there is a difference, but I'm not sure if the difference is enough for me to worry about (post processing the noise out is what I do sometimes).

The camera itself has lowish noise anyway. For the price (Under $1000 OS, or about $1200 Aus) the following specs are impressive in my mind:

Dark current is low at 0.02e/sec (10°C).
Read noise is low (12e/sec).
Full well capacity is 27000e.
Peak QE of about 65% near 500nm.
6.4 Micron Pixel size
10.2 x 8.3mm Chip size
16-bit A/D conversion
Chip size is 1360 x 1024 pixels
High Snsitvty Mono Sony Exview HAD™ CCD Sensor
Sensor Model ICX285AL
1.4 MP

[Tilt]

I cannot disagree there, very handy specs for $1200 AUD. I'm not entirely sure of how much the cooling mod will reduce the CCD temp by, is it around 10 - 15 degrees C, or possibly more?

[CoolhandJo]

At least 15 deg c less for sure from what I have seen on the net (sorry cant find links now).
I use a fan attached to the heat sink. I get 2 to 3 deg less just by running it on top (battery operated from Bintel). I use it on very hot nights.

[scopemankit]

beautiful image1