Eta Carinae and Omega Centauri - single 60s exposures

[iceman]

These two images were taken on the Saturday night at the Mudgee Star Party.

They are single, uncropped 60s exposures taken in large jpeg while framing the object before starting an imaging run. Unfortunately when I started the imaging run and started taking 10 minute exposures, the guiding went funky and the exposures were terrible so I ended up giving up and getting some sleep in preparation for the drive home.

Modded 40D, ED80, WO 0.8x reducer, ISO1600. No flats, no darks, single 60s jpeg exposure.

It's a shame they didn't work out - I was looking forward to getting more data on these.

[Garyh]

I love the framing and color of Eta shot Mike.. Pitty that you couldn`t get more exposures.
cheers Gary

[Hagar]

Both these came up nicely for just single exposures. Astrophotography can be frustrating at times. Sometimes it's better to go to bed and try again another day.

[Paul Haese]

The Omega looks great but the Eta colouring is not to my liking and looks a little black clipped. Given these are singles though they are good enough to be pleased with despite that fact. That said though I am guessing you are finding this more interesting than planetary imaging at present just like I am. Seeing can be so fleeting that one needs another distraction to take up the frustration. Well that is at least as I see it. Once the control issues are taken care of DSO is great because you just sit and watch TV or talk to friends while things are going on. You don't need to sit there constantly.

Keep it coming.

[Tilt]

Nice framing, a shame the guiding decided to pack it in. Imaging is a good test of patience, In the past I've been a whisker away from selling everything. :lol:

[Dennis]

Those are pretty tasty images for 60 sec uncalibrated exposures. And wow - the 40D mod really boosts the colours in Eta Carina. It’s also nice to see Omega Centauri in a wider stellar setting for a change.

Cheers

Dennis

[Terry B]

I think it's pretty good. I did a similar thing in the past and took a single 5 min exposure with an unmodded 40D.
The image is here
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=31602
The comparison is interesting. My image isn't as red but it is an unmodded camera. The exposure is 5 times longer but both images have saturated stars. Eta will saturate with a 5 second exposure.
It's only the S/N that suffers with the short exposures of bright objects like eta Car.

[iceman]

Thanks for your comments - there's been many times where I've just wanted to throw it all in, but when you capture an image you're proud of, it can reignite the enthusiasm.



I agree it looks black clipped, but that's just because it was a 60-sec exposure in jpeg. There simply weren't enough exposures or a long enough exposure to lift the background levels any higher. I didn't adjust the black point at all.


I don't really enjoy one more than the other at the moment, it's just been a matter of convenience that I've done deep space imaging in the last month or so. When I go to a dark sky site (pony club or mudgee star party), I don't take my planetary scope because it's just too big and I don't want to sit at the scope all night - I want to set up a run and then go and chat with people.
Also, when I'm at a dark sky site, that's the place to do deep space imaging (for me). I can do planetary imaging at home where light pollution doesn't matter.
I can't see myself doing any imaging for the next couple of months unless I can make it to a Pony Club meet, I'm just going to be too tired and in need of sleep!


Interestingly, on the first night (and with my previous Orion Nebula image), the white balance was set on "Custom", where it's fairly balanced for daytime images. It did though, to make the images very blue.
On the second night, I set the white balance to Auto, and Eta Carinae came out much redder than it would have it was still set to custom. I didn't modify the colour temperature during RAW processing so that's how it came out of the camera.

[multiweb]

Two real tidy and sharp shots. It's good to be back into it isn't it? I go through phases of no interest at times but I always have a ball with my ED80 too. :thumbsup: