M42, M43 and NGC 1977 - Mark II

[Octane]

Waa waa.

I headed over to John Glossop's place for the weekend out at Cootamundra. Cheers, John, as per always.

This is another paltry image which is far from my best effort. Almost makes me want to quit imaging with a DSLR during summer time. Heat is horrible for noise.

I've also ended up with some horizontal banding which I've never seen before. Incidentally, this was the first time I've used Nebulosity for capture only (straight to the Compact Flash card) and processed in IRIS as per usual. I also used Nebulosity to dither for the first time. I'm not sure if this is the cause of the banding. I hope it's not. This is the first time I've used the software since purchasing it.

I think my camera may have lost focus slightly during the night as well as I don't think I tightened the focus lock tight enough (it was fairly loose this afternoon when I was disassembling my gear).

Anyway, I managed to get 2 hours [5 minute sub-exposures] (4 minutes [24x10 second] and 2 minutes [24x5 second] for the core) right before the Moon's annoying light started to bathe the Cootamundra night sky.

The seeing out at JohnG's place was so good on Saturday night/Sunday morning. Absolutely incredible.

Read and view here (http://members.optusnet.com.au/mrozycka/Cootamundra/Cootamundra_20100109_M42_M43_NGC_19 77.html).

Comments, criticisms, etc., as always, most welcome. Hit me.

H

[TrevorW]

Not bad H some nice tight stars in the core and colours look good

whats the cause of the large halo though on the brightest star

high temp does plays havoc on uncooled DSLR's I'm just hanging in there until I can afford a COOLED CCD although a dark site helps

[Hagar]

Looks pretty good to me H.
I see the horizontal banding near the bottom of the image and can offer no sugestion what would have caused this. Had you been using USB to transfer the image I might have thought it could have been a USB delay problem.
Noise is a big problem with DSLR's and hot weather. Need to get yourself something cooled.

Nice image.

[multiweb]

10/10 H! Can't fault that pic. Top stuff. :thumbsup:

[Octane]

Trevor,

Cheers.

Not sure what's the cause of the halo other than perhaps severe stretching? I could have masked it out, but, meh. I'm not too fussed with this effort. Pity Orion doesn't present itself as a winter object!



Doug,

Thanks, mate.

Yeah, the banding is visible in shadow regions. I can't see any through midtones or highlights.

I do have my eyes on an ST8300M, but, will have to wait a while. Got some other products to buy and holidays to go on! Mind emailing me at octane2 AT optusnet DOT com DOT au -- would like to have a chat re: Snake Valley.



Thanks for looking and commenting, guys.

H

[Garyh]

Looks very nice Humayun! Very similar to what I did Saturday night, even the framing looks very close. I too have noticed banding in my M42 with the 40D similar to yours? I can`t see why it would be the warmth as the cmos was around 12c when doing it`s run, Maybe interference on the usb line?
But you have done a lovely job, nice and smooth and colors all appeal to me..nice work :thumbsup:

[AlexN]

Very snazzy image H.. That scope definitely produces razor sharp star images doesn't it... Love the colours....

(Get yourself a cooled CCD already.. :P :D )

[DavidU]

Nice one H. Lot's of wispy detail and great core processing.:)

[Jeffkop]

Didnt waste your time doing the trip Humayun. Even considering what you think its short comings may be, its a damn great picture. Im sure a man of your talents, given enough time could cure it of the banding. Im not sure it is caused by USB else you would have seen evidence of it in other photos not necessarily astro. It is way down in the noise levels though, perhaps in a terrestrial shot the S/N ratio sorts it.
Anyway, wont hypothesize any longer.
Choice photo.

[danielsun]

Very nice work there H.:thumbsup:
I may be wrong, but I think I read or heard somewhere that the banding may be caused by not using mirror lockup. :shrug: Did you use mirror lockup for this image?
Though still a beautiful image.:thumbsup:

Cheers Daniel.

[CoolhandJo]

Very nice detail and colours

[troypiggo]

Top work. Loving the brown dust coming out.

I've had banding similar to that when using AC adapter and mains power for the DSLR, never if I use batteries. Suspecting it's some sort of interference there.

[Tom Davis]

Great image!! You handled the dynamic range of the core wonderfully!!

Tom

[richardo]

Hi Humayan, I feel your pain as this time of year is a pain with dust, heat haze and crap. You guys over on the east part of Aus have a better go of it than I do here though.... I live in a hot, hot, hot, dusty desert, with a bit of salt haze thrown in for good measure :( LoL..

This image has turned out very nicely so don't sell yourself too short.
Always nice to get a good image of M42 for the year. Nice framing, good vibrant colours and the core is well defined.

All the best for now
Rich

[strongmanmike]

Lovely shot Humi, nice and gentle, very pleasing on the eye :thumbsup:

PS. Don't dissmiss an FLI camera they are very well made, have better cooling, better electronics and as for the self guide..?..on your setup it is really unecessary :)

MIke

[Octane]

Marc,

Glad you enjoyed it. Cheers.



Gary,

It was really quite warm at Cootamundra that night and that's the only thing I can think of which has induced and/or exacerbated the noise to such levels that it caused it to band.

It couldn't have been the USB line as the images were being stored to card. It has me boggled.

Glad you enjoyed it. Thanks.



Alex,

Thank you. I feel that my focus was lost throughout the night. Nothing a motorised Moonlite can't fix. I'd go the Feathertouch, but, I think it might be pushing the budget. And, I think when it comes to automated focusing, there shouldn't be really any huge noticeable difference between the two.

A cooled CCD is on the cards now. Just need funding.



David,

Thank you. I'm really happy with the core, as well. I really, really enjoy post processing and I find creating masks a lot of fun, as, I can fine tune everything to my heart's content.



Jeff,

Thank you for the very kind words. After having a tinker on the reduced JPG, I think I may have come up with a way of removing the banding, but, I'm really not too fussed about it now. This object can be imaged again, and, again, and I won't tire of it. I'd like to leave it until next season now, so I can monitor my progress. Hopefully, by that stage, I'll have moved on to a CCD.

I don't think it's the USB line noise issue as these images were being saved directly to the card via Nebulosity.



Daniel,

Thank you, kind sir.

That's an interesting theory re: mirror lockup. Unfortunately, with the DIG!C III and IV line of processors, mirror lockup is not possible using the USB cable. A purpose built long exposure cable may be able to induce it, though.



Paul,

Glad you enjoyed it!



Troy,

Thanks, matey.

That's so odd, your experience goes against what I've read, but, that is something I'm willing to try. I can easily pick up another battery. I do recall in the old days of using the 350D, that using batteries was horrible for amp glow. As soon as you started using an AC power supply, it lessened the noise effects dramatically.



Tom,

Woohoo, a master imager compliments me on the core. Score 1, me!



Rich,

I'm so sorry you have to up with such terrible conditions. That would drive one insane! I bet your winters are tres uber awesome, though?

Thank you for the compliments and I'm glad you enjoyed the image.



Mike,

Thank you, gentle giant. Much like you enjoy the grain in your images, I like the soft overall look to the image. I certainly wouldn't blur any noise out as it ends up leaving blotchy patches, if not done correctly.

Mike, I often dribble over FLI's products. I'll have a look at their web site and dribble some more.



Thank you everyone for looking and commenting. Most appreciated.

H

[Lester]

Very nice image Humayun, you have done well, without a cooled camera. I like the colour.

[spearo]

Well done H !
banding isnt too obvious to detract from a great image, excellent tracking and the focus looks fine to me, colors look great.

Looking at M42 and M43 combined, which looks like a giant bird to me, and their link to the Running Man...I cant help but think of Avatar...
Am I nuts?:P

Look forward to more shots and hopefully some from my site someday!
cheers
frank

[JohnG]

Came out well H

A couple of pictures, getting ready to image on the night of your shot. :)

Cheers

[Octane]

Lester,

Thanks, mate. I'm thinking that it could have done with a little bit more saturation. Hrm, never to mind. I'm forgetting this one now and will embark on other projects.



Frank,

Thank you, sir!

The mount was performing reasonably well that night, although I had PHD set to 100 for aggresiveness and was taking 1 second guide exposures. I know it isn't ideal, but, the seeing was conducive for it.

Of course, I won't tell anyone about the completely flat line in RA that I had. I called John over as I couldn't believe that the mount could guide like that. Alas, guiding on hot pixels will do that. :shame:

Are you down next Friday/Saturday?



John,

Thanks, mate. And, thanks for the images of the setup. Something to show the boys at work.



Once again, thank you everyone for looking and commenting.

H

[gregbradley]

That's a great shot.

Did the banding show up in your flats as that could 've gotten rid of it.

I believe there is a Noel Carboni action that removes banding. You could try that if its a regular problem.

Greg.