Repro - M16 in Ha, TSA-120

[Rigel003]

http://www.pbase.com/rigel003/image/136813965/original (http://beta.pbase.com/rigel003/image/136813965/original)

Taken earlier this week from my suburban backyard. This is the first time I've used a flattener with this setup and I suddenly discovered that I couldn't bring it to focus with the camera angle adjuster on. This view is the full frame.

Takahashi TSA-120 with Tak flattener @ f/7.3
FLI Microline 8300 CCD camera, -30degrees C
Baader 7nm Ha filter
9 x 15 mins

Initial processing in CCDstack and some levels, curves and a bit of selective sharpening (maybe too much) in Photoshop.

[multiweb]

Little over cooked to my liking but some great details nonetheless. :thumbsup:

[Hagar]

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=77927

Hi graeme, this is one I did a while back of M 16 using almost the same equipment list as you have. I tend to agree with Marc's comments and feel you have lost quite a bit of the detail, particularly in the pillars area.
Great scope, I love mine it is a treat to use.

[Rigel003]

Thanks Marc and Doug. I tend to agree. I have seen yours, Doug, and it's fantastic - very smooth and detailed. This has quite a bit of background noise and the stars are a bit blobby for my liking. I was trying to bring out a lot of the background faint stuff in the wider field. I have a lot to learn with processing, especially with CCDstack. I'll try it again.

[multiweb]

Have you tried the shadows/highlights filter in PS? If not try that first then also look into doing two separate DDPs in CCD Stack. One for the core and one for the outer nebs then mask and blend back in PS.

[jase]

Good advice provided by Doug and Marc. Midtones are difficult to distinguish from the highlights. Hope to see the repro as the data set shows promise of an excellent image within. A little more time spent on the processing will yield a stunning result.

[gregbradley]

Your Tak is showing some great sharpness there. It seems the 8300 and your Tak is a good match.

You've got a bit of coma going on there. Round stars in the centre but elongated in different directions in the corners.

Are you using a flattener? The 8300 chip is not that big but it seems to be testing the TSA's corrected circle near the corners.

Processing wise I agree with the other comments.

A very promising image.

Greg.

[Rigel003]

http://www.pbase.com/rigel003/image/136843699/original

Here's a repro with a little work in Shadow/Highlights and some mild background smoothing. A considerable increase in contrast and the bright area has much more tonal variety now. Thanks for the advice, Marc and others.

Stars shapes are still not great. Greg, I did use a flattener and as far as I could see on the original subs, the corners had pretty tight stars. Maybe it's a registration issue.