Helix 10 hours 40 mins CDK17

[gregbradley]

Here is one I took a while ago and just finished the processing.

Taken over a couple of months. I took the Ha and O111 early on and then a few nights of LRGB.

The aim was to bring out the outer nebulosity not often seen and the spiky O111 centre.

A very faint but spectacular object worth the effort.

Planewave CDK17 at F4.45, Proline 16803, Paramount ME. Taken from my home observatory in Kurrajong NSW.

http://www.pbase.com/gregbradley/image/137982739/large regular

http://www.pbase.com/gregbradley/image/137982739 large

Greg.

[jjjnettie]

What a jaw dropper!
Spectacular work. So 3d.
It's got everything going for it.

[CoolhandJo]

Not much nebulosity left to capture! Nice work

[jjjnettie]

:lol: I'd label this target "Nailed..... Next object please."

[Mick]

That is one very special image. :thumbsup:

[dj gravelrash]

sensational

[Stevec35]

Hi Greg

Very deep overall image with a nice 3D appearance there that you don't often see in Helix shots. The central part is particularly pleasing. A top shot to be sure.

Cheers

Steve

[leon]

Excellent Greg, and one of the most beautiful objects in the sky, i reckon, well done mate.

Leon

[TrevorW]

Nice Greg

[DavidU]

Pretty much perfect ! Lovely.

[atalas]

Terrific detail in the eye Greg! well done.

[gregbradley]

Cheers JJJ. The reducer on the CDK makes all the difference with these faint objects.



I imagine 100 hours would pick up a bit extra around the very very faint perimeter but not worth the effort or the clear skies it would cost!



Thanks JJJ.



Thanks Mick!



Cheers Dino.



Thanks Steve. The deep Ha and O111 give the detail, all binned 2x2 which seems to suit my scope and camera.



Thanks Leon. I think so too, it definitely has nice colours and a wild shape to it.



Thanks Trev.



Thanks David.



Thanks very much Louie.

Greg.

[desler]

Stunning Greg. Simple as that!

Darren

[Alchemy]

Pretty hard to fault, I like the starburst effect, I have seen it once or twice before, from memory it's to do with the O 111 data.
There has been a marked difference with the helix shots of late, a hint of that second shell used to be all that was displayed now it's full on with the third just showing..... Where to next ?

[gregbradley]

Thank Darren.



The trend is definitely trying to go deeper and deeper.

Greg.

[RickS]

An amazing image, Greg!

[John Hothersall]

The Ha is very deep and the O3 is starting to show those elusive rays through the ring, I think this is a splendid result. Interesting you binned the NB but it does not seem to have affected the final result.

John.

[h0ughy]

wow thaTS deep

[Lester]

That beast of a scope is really performing, outstanding view. Thanks Greg. All the best.

[telemarker]

Meh, seen better. NOT.:P
That image is a belter! :thumbsup: What are you going to do with it?

Regards
Keith

[gregbradley]

Cheers Rick.



Yes binning works nicely with this setup. I guess it means the 9 micron pixels are a tad small for my seeing. With 17 megapixels there are tons of pixels for the resolution even binned.



Cheers Dave.



Yes it is working well with that setup. It takes a while to see what
a particular setup is best at and the best way to configure it.



I like that expression -a belter. I'm going to use that! I guess I should print it up.

Greg.

[Ross G]

Hi Greg,

That is one beautiful photo.....the best I have seen!

Thank you.

Ross.

[gregbradley]

Thanks very much Ross. I've imaged this object a few times and learn a bit more about each time. I threw out about 5 hours of Ha at 1x1 binning taken about 6 months ago as it was no good. Its taken a bit to understand the scope and what works best with it.

Greg.

[strongmanmike]

He he...naaahhh do some more, do some more!!! you know you want to ;)

Certainly showing some extensions there Greg :thumbsup: and you have done a reasonable job of showing the Ha and some of the OIII structure as well, this is a hard combination to achieve, so not bad - cool.

Mike

[rogerg]

Looks spectacular :thumbsup:

[Jen]

:eyepop: wow Greg thats just stunning :thumbsup: as usual i love your work keep em coming cheers ;)

[RobF]

What a mammoth effort. Certainly show mega extension of the outer halos.
Do you automated the rig at all Greg?

[gregbradley]

Cheers Mike. You've been quiet on the imaging for a while. Are you planning some new images soon?



Thanks Roger.



Thanks a million Jen!



Thanks Rob. No not automated but its next to my house. I have an ethernet cable I intend to run to the observatory so I can run everything from inside the house once everything is turned on. But when its all setup it just requires me to roll the roof back, turn everything on, frame the target, program the exposures, focus and start. I then check it from time to time as you never know - the autoguider stopped, clouds came over, who knows!!.

I imagine to get averything automated still requires someone able to physically service the setup from time to time. These setups are quite complex and its amazing how often something needs to be sorted even though it all worked the night before!

Greg.

[Paul Haese]

Lovely work Greg, although I would have liked to see more RGB in the image. That aside the detail is fantastic.

[marc4darkskies]

Top shot Greg - very deep and very striking!

Cheers, Marcus

[gregbradley]

Thanks Paul. You mean in the core area?



Cheers Marcus. Good to hear from you. Been flat out with the new job?

Greg.

[LucasB]

Another beautiful image Greg. Love the detail in this pic. I really enojoy pictures of old faves which have been improved dramatically with depth and quality that is rarely seen. :thumbsup::thumbsup:
Lucas

[Paul Haese]

Hi Greg, I mean just overall with the RGB. The stars seem a little under saturated to me. The use of the OIII is great for that spoking detail, but it and the Ha dominate the scene. Perhaps maybe blend the RGB over the top of the current image? Something like this I just experiment until I find the balance that seems right. Like I said though the detail is fantastic and that is the main thing really. The RGB is just icing on the cake. My opinion only though. :)

[gregbradley]

Thanks very much Lucas. I am glad you enjoyed it.

Greg.

[cventer]

Lovely Greg. Not much more to add than whats already been said. Very different take on this wonderfull object. Not what I expected to see when I clicked the link. Looks like something from Hubble. Awesome!

[multiweb]

:eyepop: Excellent shot. The Ha is really deep but you did a terrific job in the processing. The Oiii streaks still radiate from the center. Nice blend.. One for the cool wall. :thumbsup:

[gregbradley]

Thanks for the nice compliment.



Thanks Marc. I took a few days to process it. I find leaving it and coming back to it you find aspects of it to improve on. Its a good approach to leave an image at least overnight and see if you still like it the next day.
Greg.

[marco]

This is an excellent image of the Helix Greg, very deep. For these objects large aperture and long exposures make really a big difference in the final result! Well done

Marco

[gregbradley]

Cheers Marco! Yes I agree, for some objects the CDK17 is ideal. The right tool for the right job.

Greg.

[Bassnut]

Well, thats pretty extradinary Greg, the extention is amazing. I was tempted to compare with other classic images of the Helix, and you seem to have gone deeper than all of them. Your processing is a bit brutal though, I think there is some clipping or over compression and it appears to be a tiny bit soft. Thats being picky though, all in all I think its one of the best amature Helix pics Ive seen.

[gregbradley]

Thanks very much Fred.

As far as soft goes I think I am limited by my local seeing. I believe the CDK can go sharper. Its interesting to see Martin's images to see what this scope can do in a totally dark and excellent seeing site. So there is an extra to be gained in another location. There are a lot of subs and it is HaO111LRGB so its a lot of stuff combined and I suppose a bit compression etc may come through from all the stuff and layers in it. I certainly have pushed it as far as I can before noise starts to show up.

Greg.

[multiweb]

You've got to get this scope outback where it's dark and dry. At the moment it's like driving around the corner in a Ferrari to go and get the morning croissants. (not that Peter Ward wouldn't enjoy it) ;)

[gregbradley]

I do plan to take it to my dark site in Dec when I can be there for a while and my site has a track history of multiple clear nights in a row (9 out of 10). Seeing there is quite good. Not as good as the Sierras though. At 770 metres altitude it is reasonably high for Australia. It'll be interesting to see how it goes.

From what I have read in the past the outback isn't so good for astronomy as it has a thermal inversion in many places. I haven't seen it for myself so I'd have to take other's accounts on this.

Although my home location is not bad at all. Its quite dark really and does have good seeing sometimes. Just not as often as my dark site and not quite as dark (my dark site is in the light pollution map shown as completely dark or close to it). Its just my dark site is that next step up. Like the next scope upgrade seems to be hehehehe. Also when the seeing is bad at home its really bad. I haven't seen seeing at my dark site so bad its not worth imaging - never. I have at my home site!

You know your dark site is really dark when stars start to look "fiery".
They do at my dark site. They are bright at my home but not "fiery".

Greg.