[ballaratdragons (Ken)]

Well folks,

I am hopefully getting a proper 1.25" IR/UV filter next week! So this is probably the last image I will ever take of Carina without a filter.

So I spent tonight getting the best Carina/Keyhole Nebula I could without the filter so I can do a good comparison test after getting the filter.

I also believe this is one of the best Carinas I have ever captured with the trusty but humble Modified Toucam. I pushed it harder than I ever have before, and with the bright moon too!

ED80, Focal Reducer, Modded Toucan 840k Pro II, 25 x 240 second images captured in 'Desire', guided with Standard Toucam in Guidedog with a 100mm short tube Achro, stacked in Registax 3, processed in PhotoShop CS.

Processing involved: Slight noise removal with PS Actions, Brightness up +4, Contrast up + 2, Blackeyes removed in 'Loreal', Gaussian Blur 0.2 pixels. Final image enlarged by 20%.

I hope it reproduces in here as good as it looks on my monitor before reducing quality for posting.

EDIT: I forgot to mention - Temp 1 degree, Seeing 7/10, Transparency 8/10, thin hazy cloud, very windy, lots of moonshine.