Had tonnes of bad weather here lately, and I took all my gear out of the observatory lest the dome/shutters come off again when what was left of Debbie started heading down the coast with predicted bad winds (that never eventuated). Back up and running again now, albeit the recent "clear" nights have been with a full moon and frequented by thin clouds.
This is only 2.3hrs of data captured over two nights. Had to discard most of my Ha data because I foolishly had settling disabled so most of my Ha data got ruined by dithering that was triggering every 3 subs.
Hadn't really planned on calling it a day on this one, given the little amount of data, was only playing around with the data, so I did no decon on it before bringing it into Photoshop where I found I was reasonably happy with it, so I just applied some smart sharpening, which I don't normally use.
Have to say I'm pretty happy with the result given so little data. Oh, and zero calibration frames were used here because my sensor has started freezing up at the -20c I shot all my bias/darks at, and I had to start shooting at -10c.
As always, constructive criticism is welcome!
Full res and hardware / capture details available on Astrobin.
Cheers Dunk :-) I had been running at -20c for a while without issue (I always go as cold as I can consistently get) but apparently that's pushing it too hard with this camera in this humidity. if the camera was properly sealed and argon (or something) purged I'd be able to do it, but no go for now. Sadly that means re-doing hours of calibration frames, especially since I plan on doing lower gain broadband subs.
Wow Lee, that's one smooth image. The smoothness and detail is such that I'd have happily believed it was from a 10 or 12" scope if that's what Astrobin had said.
You've done well seeing stars through recent weather too BTW.
Cheers Dunk :-) I had been running at -20c for a while without issue (I always go as cold as I can consistently get) but apparently that's pushing it too hard with this camera in this humidity. if the camera was properly sealed and argon (or something) purged I'd be able to do it, but no go for now. Sadly that means re-doing hours of calibration frames, especially since I plan on doing lower gain broadband subs.
In my experiments, I've not seen a significant deviation in the darks going deeper from -10C but each camera may be different.
Lee that's a fantastic Image. Hi Res is .... I don't really see any downside regarding the paucity of data you mentioned.
Best
JA
Thanks JA :-) Carina's a pretty bright area, combined with the low noise and my dark skies it's easy to do a decent job of it, I just expected to need a couple more hours. Now the processing is the hard part...
Quote:
Originally Posted by Flugel88
Lovely deep colours
Thanks Michael :-)
Quote:
Originally Posted by RobF
Wow Lee, that's one smooth image. The smoothness and detail is such that I'd have happily believed it was from a 10 or 12" scope if that's what Astrobin had said.
You've done well seeing stars through recent weather too BTW.
Thanks Rob :-) Yeah, the Esprit is a cracker. Only down side is that it does so well it occasionally has me contemplating a bigger scope...
Quote:
Originally Posted by multiweb
+1 The high-res is superb. Very detailed. Nicely processed too.
Thanks very much Marc :-)
Quote:
Originally Posted by RickS
Great detail, Lee
Thanks Rick!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Placidus
Excellent result, especially for the time available. Very nicely processed.
All our favourite tiny details are there, in a very wide field.
Thanks Mike! I thought of you guys as I was processing this one; I tend to go with a more orange palette but this one's closer to what you guys typically do, a more natural SHO.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Octane
Les,
That is simply outstanding.
Beautiful processing, and, your choice in composition lends itself to an air of mystery.
A refreshing take on an old favourite.
Well done.
H
Thanks very much H, appreciate the kind words! :-)
Quote:
Originally Posted by DJScotty
Very nice Lee, given the issues you are encountering and limited data.
Impressive. The Esprit looks like a quality piece(s) of glass!
Thanks Scott! The Esprit definitely has nice glass that's for sure.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Camelopardalis
In my experiments, I've not seen a significant deviation in the darks going deeper from -10C but each camera may be different.
Cheers Dunk. I haven't actually measured the dark signal at -10C so it may well be insignificant, lower is always better though it's just a matter of how much. Of course it's not better when your sensor freezes up and leaves nice patterns all over your images...
Cheers Dunk. I haven't actually measured the dark signal at -10C so it may well be insignificant, lower is always better though it's just a matter of how much. Of course it's not better when your sensor freezes up and leaves nice patterns all over your images...
Thanks very much, H! :-) To be honest I wasn't convinced this wouldn't be one of those images where you leave it for a couple of days and come back and think to yourself "How did I think that looked good?!" Thankfully I'm still happy with it a few days later.
but -20 
