A late Eta Carina

[Meru (Michael)]

I had the opportunity to borrow my friend's 120ED again 2 weeks ago when it was almost 100% moon. So decided to have a crack at doing a proper, true HOS and settled on Eta.

General setup
Mount: NEQ6
Imaging Train: Skywatcher Gold Series 120ED - CCDT67 - OAG - FW (Baader 2" NB set) - QHY9M
Effective Focal Length: 600mm
Guiding: Lodestar used with a TSOAG9, 1sec guiding
Image processing: Captured in Maxim 5, Dark subtracted and Stacking in DSS, Editing in Photoshop CS6
H:O:S -> 4:5:6*600sec subs -> R:B:G

I've attached two pics, one normal and one with slightly less stars. I personally prefer the one with less stars (Second one). More subs would have yielded slightly less noise and the CCDT67 did cause some issues at the edges but overall very pleased Any feedback good or bad on either of the two would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for viewing!

[tilbrook@rbe.ne (Justin Tilbrook)]

Hi Meru,

I like the colours you have used, but I prefer the first image with more stars.
Both very good though.

Cheers,

Justin.

[multiweb (Marc)]

Very nice. Love the colors. #1 is my fav.

[Meru (Michael)]

Thanks guys yea it was a bit of an experiment to get the colours right but in the end it turned out well. I think I'm beginning to lean towards the first one myself actually. Appreciate the feedback!

[Larryp (Laurie)]

More stars for me, too, Meru. Nice image

[IanP]

1st, that makes it Four-to-Nil

[Meru (Michael)]

Looks like we have a clear winner! More stars it is then

[LightningNZ (Cam)]

The first shot is really cool, the 2nd looks as though it has something slightly wrong with it. The lack of sharp stars anywhere except the centre is a bit disturbing somehow. lol.

Cheers,
Cam

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

Hey Meru, missed this one, wow awesome colour dude

Yes, stars for me too

Mike

[Ross G]

Great looking photos Meru.

Love the colours and composition.


Ross.

[Meru (Michael)]

Thanks for the response guys! Even I was surprised with the colours, I was expecting something more bland. Really showed me that as good as post-processing is, nothing beats having good data to play with in the first place

Haha Cam yea reducing the stars made it look a bit odd, I think it works well if you remove all the stars but then it ends up looking soft! By the way how's the night skies in Canberra? Usually clear or cloudy?

[Star Catcher (Ted Dobosz)]

Hi Meru

Nice, I like it. Very electric colour and the stars get my vote also!

Ted