NGC 7283 Helix Planetary Nebula

[Startrek (Martin)]

This my second time imaging the Helix Nebula , first time was with my old Canon 600D a couple of years ago which resulted in a noise fest rather than a nebula
This time I had considerably more success using the 2600MC

NexDome Obs
8” f5 GSO newt
EQ6-R pro mount
ZWOASI2600MC set in Ascom to Highest Dynamic Range Gain 0 , cooled to -10C
Optolong L Extreme filter
62 x 4 minute dithered guided subs
Tracking and Goto EQMOD and Ascom Stellarium
Captured with APT
PHD2 Multistar guiding ( best guiding to date on this mount 0.62 to 0.65 arc sec error total , Dec 0.35 Ra 49 at lowest error )
Stacked in DSS
Processed in Startools V1.7 OSC Bi Color Narrowband

Used the Compose module to load my data set into a Bi colour channel preset
In colour module used the Matrix with HO , HOO and OH presets to produce some alternative Bi colour versions

The stretched image did have an unusually high noise floor around the object but Startools helped clean up the image with various modules and some binning

Comments welcome
Thanks

[PKay (Peter)]

Hi M

I can see a lot of smudgy stuff around the neb, don't know what that is.

The first (red) version is the better one.

NGC300 is well placed, and also NGC55 for a change (after midnight).

[Startrek (Martin)]

Originally Posted by PKay

Hi M

I can see a lot of smudgy stuff around the neb, don't know what that is.

The first (red) version is the better one.

NGC300 is well placed, and also NGC55 for a change (after midnight).

Peter,
A little bit of smeared noise grain, I stretched it a little to far to expose more detail ( always pushing for more detail )
Try the Helix , it’s placed well now , not an easy target
I was going to start NGC300 last night but heavy dew settling and guiding was terrible,so shut down and closed up
Martin

[AdamJL]

Excellent work, Martin. I’ve tried this nebula a few times recently with everything from 3 to 10min subs and it’s a mess from Sydney. These are great images. Dark skies really help!! Great results for you

[Startrek (Martin)]

Originally Posted by AdamJL

Excellent work, Martin. I’ve tried this nebula a few times recently with everything from 3 to 10min subs and it’s a mess from Sydney. These are great images. Dark skies really help!! Great results for you

Adam
Thanks mate , yes it is a challenging object even under Bortle 3/4 skies
In Sydney my subs are 3 mins max with the L Extreme on Nebula and for clusters and galaxies with no filter subs are 90sec max ( just need hours and hours of good data on these objects with the latest OSC cameras.
Thanks again

Cheers
Martin

[Mavspace (Paul)]

Awesome image Martin ! The first ones my pick
Massive difference in the imagining train
I was out last night getting some data of Helix with the GSO-550. Now the processing begins ...

[Startrek (Martin)]

Originally Posted by Mavspace

Awesome image Martin ! The first ones my pick
Massive difference in the imagining train
I was out last night getting some data of Helix with the GSO-550. Now the processing begins ...

Paul,
Thanks very much
Yeh my 8” f5 GSO has a focal length of 1000mm and I think the 550 being a 6” f4 is only 600mm. Big difference
Cheers
Martin