Thor's Helmet.

[tilbrook@rbe.ne]

Hi,
Here’s my image of Thor’s Helmet from last night, I’ve always wanted to have a go at this. It probably requires more data but I’m happy with the result.
Telescope 8” f/4 astrograph on a HEQ Pro 5 mount, orion mini guider.
Unmodded Canon 1100D at ISO 1600 and 800.
5 x 300 sec subs ISO 1600
8 x 360 sec subs ISO 800.
9 dark frames, 9 flat frames and 9 bias.
Stacked in DSS and post process in Phototshop.
Cheers,
Justin.

[RobF]

Great shot Justin. Holds up better in the wide view to my eye, but you've succeeded in getting lots of detail.

[jwoody]

I really like that Justin, a great image
Cheers

[allan gould]

Its a hard image to obtain but you have done very well. I prefer the wide angle image myself.

[tilbrook@rbe.ne]

Thanks Rob Jeremy and Allan.

Yes cropped a little too much on the second image.

Cheers,

Justin.

[avandonk]

Looks really good in the wide field Justin. The MPPC seems to be really working for your scope. That is a very dim object.

Bert

[Ross G]

Nice photo Justin.

You have captured some very nice detail.


Ross.

[tilbrook@rbe.ne]

Yes thanks to you Bert!:thumbsup:

Cheers,

Justin.

[multiweb]

Very nice. The filament structure is well defined. :thumbsup:

[Paul Haese]

I like the wide field, just the right size for the field. More subs would have for a deeper image.

[gregbradley]

I am surprised you got this much detail with a little over 1 hour exposure time. The power of 8 inch F4 eh?

Usual total exposure time for this one would be more like 6 hours.

Did you use minimum filter on the cropped image?

DSLR images often suffer from white stars with no colour. You have some colour but not enough. Did you try selecting out the stars and increasing saturation?

If that's a no go then I'd suggest shorter exposure times and more of them to keep the stars from blowing out to white.

Nice result overall and good teal green colour for the neb.

Greg.

[tilbrook@rbe.ne]

Thanks guys,



Hi Greg,

I'm surprised too, but we are blessed with dark skies here in Penwortham despite all the farmers doing burn off's at the moment.

Yes used the minimum filter on the widefield and the cropped image.
I use saturation on the stars, but don't like going past 50% when there are bright blue stars in the field it seems to turn them purple.

Thanks for the tips.

Justin.

[gregbradley]

The minimum filter is quite a destructive filter. Deconvolution is the better tool. Both really need to be used carefully as they will both introduce artifacts. I find less is more with those 2 tools.

Greg.

[Bassnut]

I've tried this, it dim and hard to image. That's a top effort with a DSLR

[Lester]

Very nice view Justin.

[strongmanmike]

Yes, an excellent effort for a DSLR, not a lot of exposure either so a great result, testament to the little 8" astrograph you have there :thumbsup:

Mike

[tilbrook@rbe.ne]

Thanks Mike,

It may sound strange, but my best weapon for astrophotogrphy is my ignorance. Don't really know what the scope and camera are capable of, so I just keep imaging .

Cheers,

Justin.

[Peter.M]

Beautiful image, and amazingly noise free for a dslr.

I take my hat off to you sir.

[LucasB]

The wider field shot is my favourite. Going beautifully, keep 'em coming:thumbsup:
Lucas

[tilbrook@rbe.ne]

Thanks to everyone for the comments.
It's nice now Iv'e settled into a routine when imaging, gives me more time to think of the other aspects required for a final image.

Cheers,

Justin.

[astronobob]

Thats one fine result Justin & a very worthy target for that field ! Inspiring for my F/4 1st light :thumbsup:

[tilbrook@rbe.ne]

Hi Bob,

Thanks for that.
Keep us informed with your F/4. it's always good to compare notes or images in this case.

Cheers,

Justin.

[peter_4059]

Great result Justin. What scope are you using?

[tilbrook@rbe.ne]

Hi Peter,

Standard 8" f/4 BINTEL astrograph, quite happy with it just have a few issues with the primary mirror cell collimation screws.

Cheers,

Justin.