Quote:
Originally Posted by Ryderscope
In this case I feel that the extended nebulosity in Ha is better presented without any stars to distract the eye.
|
Nice work Rodney!
Your comment regarding the starless image hits the nail precisely on the head... the joy and beauty of a starless image does exactly this - revealing subtle details often masked by the presence of foreground stars.
That's not in any way stating that all astro imaging should be presented starless, however it is a technique that when done well, can extend our perception of the shape and form within certain subjects.
Having spent the best part of a year chasing and finally eliminating tilt from my APS-H format camera, I felt your pain when you started on that same journey. However, the stars in your image look very good now!
For those interested in resolving tilted camera sensors, Diego at Sidereal Trading helped me out enormously with rectifying this recently. He cleverly built a test bench with a laser located at its' base, and a transparent panel sitting exactly parallel above.
The camera is then placed on the panel with its' shutter open. The reflected laser beam clearly shows any misalignment, which is then easily corrected by shims or a tilt plate in a matter of minutes - during daylight hours!
The process is similar to collimating the primary mirror on a Newtonian 'scope. Accurate, fast and eliminates the need to waste precious clear skies at night time!