NGC3324 Gabriela Mistral Nebula

[cometcatcher (Kevin)]

Hi all. In the last few weeks I have a new telescope and new camera which is really working out well together. The Skywatcher BD ED100 was on special for $899 at Astro Pete's, cheaper than the ED80! How could I resist?

I also needed an upgrade to my Pentax K-x, so I got a used K-5 based on very good ISO mark for low noise / high ISO. It's also GPS capable of tracking stars with the moving sensor for short f/L portable shots without a polarie or similar.

With a focal reducer, the combination of scope and camera has been churning out some really pretty pictures. And that's what I'm in this for, pretty pictures!

I also find it easier to process colours in C Y M. After all, this is an unmodified camera which is red deficient, green is banned in OSC astrophotography and blue is full of CA! That leaves cyan, yellow and magenta. The colours are strong, but I like them that way, they have a tricolour look about them. So what do you think? Do ya like it or hate it?

NGC3324 Gabriela Mistral Nebula and surrounds, SW ED100 at F7.2, Baader Semi-Apo filter, 103 x 1 minute subs unguided, HEQ5 Pro, Pentax K-5.

Bigger at Astrobin. http://astrob.in/105158/0/

[Rod771 (Rod)]

Nice result Kevin

Colours look ok to me.

[zardos123 (Brad)]

Shot looks good, i think you will love the k5, i have recently bought a k3..great camera but i think the k5 has the edge for astro. So i will be keeping mine and using as an astro platform i may think about getting the ir filter removed. keep up the good work
regards brad

[cometcatcher (Kevin)]

Thanks Rod and Brad. I already love the K-5. It's just cool to use. The K-x is retired to daylight use.

It's funny how Pentax went backwards with noise in the K-3, and that's their present flagship.

[zardos123 (Brad)]

K3 needs different technique, not as much latitude, when i first started using it i thought the k5 was miles ahead,now i have learnt to use it its better for daylight by a fair margin but k5 has the edge in low light high iso but not by a lot just enough to notice

[cometcatcher (Kevin)]

Whichever camera you astro or full spectrum mod, it will lead by quite a margin. That internal filter chews a lot of light. A full spectrum K-5 would be one serious camera, but I read that Pentax are harder to modify so I'm not touching mine.

[jsmoraes (Jorge)]

With medium resolution in astrobin it is very well. In full resolution we can see some black border around some stars. Normally this can be caused by excessive sharp filter or contrast.

The color shows a nice image, I liked. And despite of 1 minute, for not guiding capture it is very well. The field is ok, too.

[cometcatcher (Kevin)]

Thanks Jorge. Yeah the dark rings could have been handled better. There is some CA in the optical path which somehow was removed during processing, but caused dark rings in the process.