Nothing special - just another Tarantula

[Stevec35]

I managed to get this last night using my newly purchased 3nm Hydrogen Alpha filter. Colour will hopefully follow if it stays clear for long enough.

Cheers

Steve

http://members.pcug.org.au/~stevec/ngc2070_STL6303_RC.htm

[TrevorW]

I wouldn't complain about that one

how long per exposures did you need with the 3nm I found using the QHY8 with a 7nm on the HH I needed around 15-20 min exposures before you could see any shape

[Stevec35]

Thanks Trevor - I used 20 minutes per sub-exposure and it seemed to work out okay.

Cheers

Steve

[multiweb]

Great image scale. Really well done. :thumbsup:

[OzRob]

Nice details in that, well done. It is a little sharp for my eyes though.

[gregbradley]

Wow, that's a great shot Steve. That's showing a LOT of detail there.

Nice one. What brand 3nm Ha did you get? I've considered getting one at various times.

Greg.

[jenchris]

Can't see no spiders... fail.....
It's quite spooky though - I love the texture - and the detail is amazing.

What does unbinned mean?

[ballaratdragons]

Although your image is quite stunning, I find the Tarantula quite overwhelming and messy when imaged in HA.

It loses it's 'Tarantula' effect and becomes more like a thousand Tarantulas cobwebs :P

Still, it is a nice piece of work :thumbsup:
Colour will make it :)

[Octane]

Steve,

That is incredible. I love it.

H

[Stevec35]

Thanks Humayan


Thanks Ken. It's a matter of opinion I guess about Ha. I like both colour and Ha images of it.

Thanks Jen. Unbinned means that you aren't grouping the pixels together ie each pixel in the image is one CCD pixel.

Thanks Greg. It's an Astrodon. Ridiculously overpriced of course but I thought I deserved a Christmas present.

Point taken Rob. The stars do look slightly harsh. I'll fix this up next iteration
Thanks

[jenchris]

What would you bin the thing for? Shrinking it to fit to a website limit or something?

[Stevec35]

Basically the main benefit of binning is to increase the signal to noise ratio and hence the exposure length necessary because if you bin 2x2, for example, you are compressing 4 pixels into one. Of course this reduces the resolution but this generally doesn't matter because you usually only use binning when taking RGB images. The resolution in a LRGB image is in the luminance which is usually always 1x1.

Cheers

Steve

[jenchris]

Right, I'll digest that a bit - I think I get it.

[strongmanmike]

Nah nothin special mate you're right, just a finely detailed meaty full bodied hairy spider is all, looks very cool. That 3nm really blocks the stars, there are hardly any stars left in the central cluster!

You have done this every year since getting that 12" beast of yours huh? (maybe even twice one year?) but it always looks good :thumbsup:

Mike

[Garyh]

Yes, beaut hairy spider there. Very nice Ha imaging :thumbsup:

[Stevec35]

Thanks Gary



Thanks Mike. Actually the last time I did the Tarantula was two years ago but it's always good fun going back to it.

[jase]

Uber quantity of detail Steve. Found the framing rather tight and scene a little overwhelming. Could be read both ways. Would prefer a little more space to make the target a focal point. Not sure if you've tried a mosaic, but it maybe a better option at the FL you're operating at. Looking forward to seeing more.

[richardo]

Hi Steve,
nice in your face view of the Tarantula!

Like what the 3nM Ha filter can bring to extreme contrast.
At times I find the 12nM Ha filters I use/ have used while nice with their band pass during moonlit nights, seem to lack that extra zing & zip with contrast to the HII areas.

It looks I think the 3nM choice is a good one for enhancing the later compilation with L & RGB data if only to bring out better, the finer filaments and structure.

Look forward to the finished HALrgb image.

Rich

[Stevec35]

Thanks Rich. I'm not sure yet that the improvement with the 3nm filter is worth the extra price but I think it's the zippiest Tarantula I've ever taken. I tried to get some RGB the other night but things went horribly wrong so it's going to be a while I think.



Thanks Jase. Good point there as the Tarantula always looks better in a wider field context but of course the main purpose of this shot was to test out the new filter. I have done a few mosaics but only 2 pane ones. Given the limited imaging possibilities offered by the weather lately, doing mosaics hasn't been a high priority.

[iceman]

Nice one Steve, loads of detail.
The smaller version does loo a bit oversharpened, but the larger version looks just right to me!

[Hagar]

Nothing special, you have to be joking. Loads of the fine nebula strands in this image.

Very nice.

[Martin Pugh]

Tremendous detail Steve, very 3D.

I have a 3nm OIII filter, and the only thing it records here at my light polluted site is background noise!

cheers
Martin

[Stevec35]

Thanks Martin. I would guess that a 3nm OIII would be pretty tough on many objects. I have a 5nm and that's bad enough.



Thanks Doug. Perhaps an unfortunate choice of words. I actually meant the title of the post to refer to the large number of Tarantulas that get posted.



Thanks Mike. I softened the larger version but forgot to do the same to the smaller. I will attend to that.