It was nice to get some clear skies this weekend even though I wasn't able to get away from the light pollution at home. Here's a close up of NGC 6334, the Cat's Paw Nebula, at 2700mm focal length.
Scope: Ceravolo 300 Astrograph at f/9 (2700mm FL)
Mount: AP900
Camera: U16M
Filters: Astrodon 5nm Ha
Guiding: Lodestar/MMOAG
Exposures: 16 x 600s
Processing: PixInsight
I also collected three hours of LRGB but that will require a lot more work. It's always a struggle to get decent colour from data collected at home (inner Brisbane suburb).
Gee high quality image. Only possible improvement is it appears to be slightly black clipped? That scope is really top notch and your mount and camera match it.
Gee high quality image. Only possible improvement is it appears to be slightly black clipped? That scope is really top notch and your mount and camera match it.
That setup should produces some great shots.
Greg.
Thanks, Greg. I may have gone a little overboard with the contrast. I'll have a bit more of a play with it. According to the histogram the FITS image is not clipped, but only just. The conversion to JPG and 8-bit data may have truncated the low end.
Quote:
Originally Posted by DavidTrap
Gotta be happy with that Rick!
My only suggestion would be something like HDRMT to rein in the bright areas - just needs some more definition IMHO.
DT
Thanks, David. I did use HDRMT but in an effort to avoid the flat look which often results I blended 1/3 of the HDRMT version back into the original. Maybe that wasn't quite enough?
I appreciate the comments, guys! I always end up with an improved image as a result of the feedback.
Superb image Rick. There is so much to look at in the frame, the tones, structures, shape and detail across the field is just stunning. Excellent technique and set up in order to operate so flawlessly at 2700mm fl.
Superb image Rick. There is so much to look at in the frame, the tones, structures, shape and detail across the field is just stunning. Excellent technique and set up in order to operate so flawlessly at 2700mm fl.
Thanks a lot, Dennis! That guide graph certainly bounces around a lot more at 2700mm. Most of the credit must go to the AP900 which is running at 5Kg over "max" weight and still performing wonderfully.
Quote:
Originally Posted by marc4darkskies
Whoa! Very striking image Rick - good one! Just ease off on the contrast a tad and I'll bet you see some faint neb in the black areas.
Thanks, Marcus. I'll see if I can pull out a little more.
Quote:
Originally Posted by strongmanmike
Great contrasty look Rick, it looks like it was done with a red sensitive emulsion plate on the AAT
Thanks, Mike!
Quote:
Originally Posted by multiweb
Superb stuff Rick. Stratospheric!
And thanks very much, Marc!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Stevec35
Very impressive image Rick! Excellent composition. I would agree with others though that the dark areas look a little too dark.
Thanks, Steve. I will definitely experiment some more.
Rick, Marc pointed out to me that the histogram in PS is often cached. If you look at the histogram it has a little number up top right. That shows you how far back it is showing. You can update it to show the current image and when you do that it invariably shows the black point moved up. Click the little warning triangle for the refreshed histogram.
So the image could still be black clipped and not show it in the histogram.
Rick, Marc pointed out to me that the histogram in PS is often cached. If you look at the histogram it has a little number up top right. That shows you how far back it is showing. You can update it to show the current image and when you do that it invariably shows the black point moved up. Click the little warning triangle for the refreshed histogram.
So the image could still be black clipped and not show it in the histogram.
Greg.
Thanks, Greg. That's definitely something to keep in mind. I was using the histogram process in PixInsight but only on the FITS image. It's quite possible the low end got truncated during the final conversion to JPG, so I will check that with PS.
Watching your exploits with the new scope with interest Rick. Was a pretty good weekend end for an astro-fix in the end.
Top work on the Cat's Paw! You've come a long way since the one-shot-colour image of this posted a few years ago (which wasn't shabby at all mind you) - onwards and upwards to new heights
Watching your exploits with the new scope with interest Rick. Was a pretty good weekend end for an astro-fix in the end.
Top work on the Cat's Paw! You've come a long way since the one-shot-colour image of this posted a few years ago (which wasn't shabby at all mind you) - onwards and upwards to new heights
Thanks very much, Rob. I have certainly come a long way since my first attempts at imaging in 2011 but there's still a lot further to go
That's fantastic, Rick! And only 2.5 hours worth of data! My only minor suggestion might be reigning in the noise in the fainter nebulosity, or add a tad more data?
I've been mosaicing the Cat's Paw with my RC8/STF-8300 for a while... I'm up to 31 hours in Ha and it has about the same (maybe a bit less?) SnR as your effort Not surprising though - I think your set up catches photons at 12 times the flux rate as mine
I'm glad you've got this combo working well - can't wait to see the LRGB images. Have you thought about pointing it at the one target for 120 hours?
Not surprising though - I think your set up catches photons at 12 times the flux rate as mine 
