Another go at Helix

[sadia]

Inspired by some of the recent helix posts I spent this weekend on helix. Mike needed only 2hrs to show the outer shell where my 7+hrs is still not enough!

I tried to keep the stretch to minimum to avoid too much noise but I guess heavy jpg compression isn't helping much!

TEC160 (last image before flattener i hope)
Astrodon 3nm ha
Exp: 1x 60min; 13x 30min
CCD: Sbig STL
Guiding: MMOAG wtih STL remote guide head

[jase]

Nice work Sad. But seriously I can't compute 13x30min subs on an F/8 scope with a STL using a 3nm Ha filter. You sure you're stretching the data correctly? The faint arm should be much stronger in appearance given you should be getting a reasonable S/N. If all else fails, sum the data. That will get it to pop. Would recommend working the data set over a few times to see what works as I'm sure you could improve on this. Keep at it.

[gregbradley]

Wonderful detail there Sad. Awesome scope as well;)

I like it.

From what I read about others use of 3nm Ha it takes a lot of exposure time.

You could try some subs at 2x2 to pick up the outer halo if that was something you wanted to capture. It looks great as is. I like the fine spikes radiating inwards in the eye.

Greg.

[Moon]

You really need to update your sig!:P

You have taken some awesome shots with the TEC.
How did you combine the 60 and 30 min subs? As Jase said, a sum will do the trick (better than mean or median I'm guessing) Or you could normalize by multiplying the 30 subs x 2 with pixel math.
James

[Ross G]

Hi Sadia,

Your photo looks good.

I like the smooth tones.

Thanks.

Ross.

[Hagar]

Nice one Sadia, I am surprised you haven't captured more detail with these exposures. Maybe worth giving it another stretch and push the boundaries a bit harder.

[sadia]

Thanks for the feedback guys. I will be heading for a repro coming weekend and will try few different things to compare the result. On a separate note what sort of RGB ratio and exposure time would work best for this object if i want to do a R: SII; G: Ha B:OIII combination?

[sadia]

i will try that James. I was doing normal mean and i think because I only have 1x 60min sub thrown into the rest its not adding much value. Will have to update the signature too :)