Tarantula Nebula NGC 2070.

[alpal]

I took 22 frames at 2.5 minutes each at ISO 1600.
I ended up cropping the pic right down & just processing the nebula.
It's a little over processed - still work in progress.

Larger version here with higher detail:
http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii119/alpal2002/Tarantula18thJan2012_cropped_3_b_c_ d.jpg

Taken with:
8" Newt. Canon EOS 1000D - unmodded, Astronomic CLS-CCD filter,
Baader MPCC, Lodestar with TS9 OAG, EQ6 mount,
from a faily dark suburban park in the East of Melbourne.

As this is my first thread -
here are a few other pics I've taken before I had the OAG & coma corrector:

The Eagle Nebula:
http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii119/alpal2002/EagleNebula.jpg

The Trifid:
http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii119/alpal2002/Trifid_11thSept_medium.jpg

Lagoon:
http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii119/alpal2002/Lagoon10thSept_medium.jpg

Omega Centauri:
http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii119/alpal2002/OmegaCentauri_largedarks.jpg

Southern Pinwheel processed by Anna:
http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii119/alpal2002/SouthernPinwheel-Annasversion.jpg

Eta Carinae
http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii119/alpal2002/EtaCarinareprocessedlarge.jpg

Orion - one of my first beginner pics:
http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii119/alpal2002/OrionfromMtBawBawmediumsize.jpg

Southern Cross from Mt Baw Baw with just a camera:
http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii119/alpal2002/SouthernCrossabovetreesatBawBawmedi umsize.jpg

My telescope - 8" Newt:
http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii119/alpal2002/IMG_2604_large.jpg

[LightningNZ]

Prolific! Your Tarantula needs be repro'd I think. It looks like it's had one of the weirder photoshop effects applied to it, but I'm going to assume it's just been unsharp-masked too hard.

The Eta Carina shot is great and the Southern Pinwheel shot is very nice too, though perhaps the black looks a little clipped to me. Otherwise great processing there.

Most of the other shots are quite good but have colour gradients that need removing.

The Southern Cross shot made me go "wow!".

You've pretty much got my "dream" setup there. Great going.

Best wishes,
Cam

[alpal]

Hi Cam,
I said it was over processed - I attach a less processed version.
I over sharpened the detail in the first with HDR toning.
I am still learning processing.

The Southern Cross was just 2 x 5 minute shots with the camera
on the EQ 6 mount using a cheap kit lens!
I think I need to do more of them.
The advantage was that Mt Baw Baw is 5,000 feet in altitude & is a dark site.

[Ross G]

Hi,

Your second Tarantula looks good.

Nice colours and composition.

You have the equipment and enthusiasm and you have some very nice photos there.

Keep it up and good luck.

Ross.

[atalas]

Great effort!keep at It .

[alpal]

Hi Ross - thanks -
I'm looking for that bit of encouragement.
I find it quite a chore to set my whole system up.
That's what making me think twice before buying a real astro camera.

[alpal]

Thanks Louie,
Your videos on your website were the greatest help to me
out of anything on the interent.
Processing is more than half the battle & I learnt some great tricks from you.

By the way - if you or anyone else wants to have a go at my stack of the Tarantula -
here is a link for the stack:

http://www.sendspace.com/file/q8lidg

cheers
Alpal

[atalas]

Alpal,your very welcome and I'm glad they were of help.

[alpal]

Thanks Louie,
I added another 21 frames of data last night making it 43 frames.
I re-stacked it & processed it tonight & got out a bit more detail.
The stack was in 2 x drizzle to give me a bit more photo area.

A link to my photo is here:
http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii119/alpal2002/Tarantula23rdJan2012_2xdrizzle.jpg


A link to the new 2 x drizzle stack is here for anyone who wants a go at processing.
http://www.sendspace.com/file/uix20d

I would be interested to see what others can get out of the data.

A small version is posted.

[Meru]

Hi Alpal,

I live in SE Melbourne and this one's been a bit of a difficult one for me to capture with my own 8". The details are very nice, good work!

[alpal]

Thanks Meru,
Please show us what you came up with.

I took many other subframes of the Tarantula in December but they
were a bit out of focus so I didn't use them till today.
I added them to my recent frames to have 3 hours 47 minutes of integration in total.
I restacked today with 91 frames at 2.5 minutes each & re-processed
just to see what I could get.
The extra frames allowed me to get some detail outside the nebula
which was lost in the noise before.
I think this version is far more interesting even though it got a bit
cut off in the bottom left corner from stacking.

see link:

http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii119/alpal2002/Tarantula91frames26thJan_final_b.jp g

[alpal]

I've been having a great time studying Ken Crawford's videos
& I came up with yet another version - not so processed & looking more natural.
It looks even better in full tiff version but here is a jpg small version-

see link:
http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii119/alpal2002/Tarantula91frames27thJan2012_final. jpg

[alpal]

Another go at a larger frame.
I took another stack of 91 frames - this time with RGB calibration ticked.
I had to try & get rid of overlaps with the larger frame from the stacking.
It can still be seen.

A larger version is here:
http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii119/alpal2002/Tarantual91framesRGBbackgroundcal_D SS_cropped.jpg

[Rigel003]

It's getting better each time.

[LightningNZ]

That last image is really nice. You sure know how to get the most out of your data Alpal. I tried working with the data you posted on CloudyNights and couldn't quite get the same level of colour or detail out of your data as you.

Cheers,
Cam

[alpal]

Thanks Cam,
It is very diffcult to process this target given my data.
Here is a link to 91 frames with RGB background calibration
switched on in Deep Sky Stacker - a new stack:

http://www.sendspace.com/file/1y8tb7

The extra frames taken in early December make it easier to process
even though they were slighly out of focus.
The camera was at various different angles so I had to use masks
to try & get rid of the sub frame lines.
The red is now no longer clipped in the stack.
I also used advanced techniques to selectively brighten & sharpen areas .

The Ken Crawfords tutorials have been a help to me:
http://www.imagingdeepsky.com/Tutorials/Tutorials.html

I can see why it can take weeks to process some photos!

I'll have to buy a better camera soon & I wouldn't mind if someone
posted some real LRGB data from a mono camera for me to try.
I want to make sure I can process the data before buying a mono camera.

cheers
Alpal

[Meru]

Hi Alpal,

Sorry about the late reply. I would love to show but it really is nothing special, and well, just embarassed. Yours is far better :P it was just a sample pic through my 80ED, I intend on using my 8" in a few weeks time and then i'll post what I get :)

[alpal]

Thanks Meru,
The Tarantula is harder than I thought.
The center is nice & bright but the rest is way down in the noise.
I will redo this next year.
Also - I find guiding is a little more tricky when close to the pole.