Merope Repro!

[gregbradley]

There was a small amount of clear sky over the last 2 nights.

I managed to get a bit over an hour. Beggars can't be chosers at the moment.

Merope - part of the Pleiades.

CDK17, Proline 16803.

LRGB 30 20 20 10

http://upload.pbase.com/image/130653562

Greg.

[multiweb]

Nice! Good signal for such short time. Showing a lot of promise. :thumbsup:

[Peter Ward]

Focus looks a tad soft? (the diffraction spikes look decidedly broarder at the edges)

Still, not bad at all.

[jase]

Close up and personal Greg! Impressive image. Though I'm not sure why you're not chasing smaller angular size targets with the focal length you're operating at. Would suggest the use an high pass filter, but at a radius of between 40 to 60 pixels. This will highlight the large structure. Of course, use a mask to keep the stars from popping (become completely saturated). Keep them coming.

Cheers

[gregbradley]

I wouldn't normally post such a quick shot but starved of opportunities lately.



Yes I noticed stars in the top left were out of focus. The MMAOG has 4 grub screws and last time I swapped the camera over to another scope and put it back in it didn't seat 100%. Just fixed it now in the daylight. There's something to be said for setting something up and leaving it alone!



Its only slightly cropped. Other targets are galaxies but I need a few days of clear weather to do them justice so something brighter was what I was after.

I can try that sharpening although it is really badly lacking in exposure time (about 4 hours total exposure and most of it thrown out - clouds) so it may just make it noisy. I'll give it a go.

Greg.

[Alchemy]

Useful test of the optics, no flaring or optical defects, this scope certainly has the potential to capture some spectacular detail.
As you say beggars cant be choosers.

[marc4darkskies]

Nice image Greg! I sure envy that scope of yours too!! I agree with Jase about some highpassing. I typically use an iterative approach with this filter. Depending on your image scale of course, start with a small radius, then work towards the larger radius for a more uniform approach that highlights the different scales of structure in your image. Easy to overdo though so be gentle when blending.

Cheers, Marcus

[Hagar]

Very nice Greg, I forgot about your focal length and went looking for the rest of this image. Must be great on some of the smaller galaxies.

Well done.

[gregbradley]

Thanks Clive. Yes it is an excellent scope, especially once you know its strengths and weaknesses so you can exploit the strengths.




Thanks Marc. I tried the high pass but as I thought it starts making it noisy as there is so little exposure time. I did however take another approach which achieved the same thing, perhaps better and no noise. So thanks for that tip and I am now happy with the result even if it is a quicky.

I had an excellent opportunity to get more data last night. 4 hours of clear sky practically no cloud. I spent the whole time fighting with the autoguiding. I switched to the TEC/NJP and got it all ready to go. I was ready to hit the start imaging button when the cloud came over - aaagghhhh! How many times has that happened to us in this hobby eh?

Greg.

[gregbradley]

Hehe. It is slightly cropped as well but not a lot -perhaps 20% cropped off.

I also want to get my FLI ML8300 into action soon. Needs a trip to see Fred for a fix. That will make a smallish galaxy fill the frame. I am looking forward to that.

Greg.

[strongmanmike]

Wow what a close up vista Greg. Overall it is quite a pleasing image with no reflection issues which is good :thumbsup:...but it's just looking a tad fuzzy to me and the smoothing is a little obvious as well. Still, another wonderful demonstration of the potential in this beast of yours :eyepop: and a great target.

Mike

[gregbradley]

Thanks Mike. I know its not the greatest image but been suffering from imaging withdrawal symptoms.

I had the opportunity to catch more last night when it was unexpectedly clear until 1am but then I had unexpected autoguiding problems. Oh well, its a complex activity and lots of things to control. It's all part of it.

Greg.