Back Into It - M20

Matty P (Matt) · #1 13-09-2009, 12:18 AM

Haven't been doing much imaging as of late. Some good weather conditions allowed me to roll the roof off the Observatory and capture some images last night. I managed to get an hour and half worth of exposures on the Triffid.

Just a quick processing job on this but I'm quite happy with how it has turned out. Decided on using ICNR this time around. I found it extremely difficult to match seperate dark frames to the lights and have been getting poor calibration results. I was very happy with the results I got with ICNR darks this time through.

C8 F/6.3, EQ6 EQMOD, Canon 450D, IDAS LPS Filter, 18 x 5 minute subs at ISO 800, ICNR Dark and Flats. Stacked with DSS and processed with PS CS4.

Thanks for looking.

renormalised (Carl) · #2 13-09-2009, 12:32 AM

Nice shot there, Matt

multiweb (Marc) · #3 13-09-2009, 12:32 AM

Very smooth - lovely colors & great processing. Looks like you've never stopped

Octane (Humayun) · #4 13-09-2009, 12:50 AM

Marty,

My favourite ice cream nebula! Looks great.

Were you using a library of darks or fresh dark frames after imaging?

Refer to my constant ranting re: how useless dark frame libraries are for DSLRs.

Regards,
Humayun

Matty P (Matt) · #5 13-09-2009, 01:28 AM

Thanks for the comments guys. Feels good to churning out images again.

Humayun, I was using fresh darks which I would aquire after the lights run. The problem was that it is impossible to properly match Lights to the Darks, when the temp here in Canberra drops quite dramatically at night. Using ICNR eliminates this totally.

Can't wait to get a cooled CCD.

leinad (Dan) · #6 13-09-2009, 01:45 AM

Real nice Matty!
Why wait, you can create a peltier cooled box to house the camera and bring temps down .

Check out http://ghonis2.ho8.com/rebelmod450d16.html

jjjnettie (Jeanette) · #7 13-09-2009, 06:26 AM

That's real nice Matty.

strongmanmike (Michael) · #8 13-09-2009, 06:35 AM

Woah Matty!!! That's great!

Lovely processing, very natural looking, you have controlled the noise very well without resorting to forcing a plastic look, top notch

The colours are excellent, you have preserved the green tinges in the reflection neb even, top notch again

very nice

Mike

David Fitz-Henr · #9 13-09-2009, 07:53 AM

Hello Matt,
I agree with Mike - very natural looking colours. Also, the edges of the nebula look really good - quite smooth and not too harsh/contrasty. Great image !

iceman (Mike) · #10 13-09-2009, 07:54 AM

Very nice Matty, you've come a loooong way!

Are you heading to IISAC again?

h0ughy (David) · #11 13-09-2009, 08:35 AM

wow, i am impressed, lovely colours and processing. nice focus as well. I am so jealous

AlexN · #12 13-09-2009, 08:58 AM

Fantastic view Matty... Thanks for sharing!

Matty P (Matt) · #13 13-09-2009, 03:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by leinad

Real nice Matty!
Why wait, you can create a peltier cooled box to house the camera and bring temps down .

Check out http://ghonis2.ho8.com/rebelmod450d16.html

Thanks Leinad. Looks like a great way to cool your DSLR. I still think it'll be easier to buy a cooled CCD instead.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jjjnettie

That's real nice Matty.

Thanks Jeanette.

Quote:

Originally Posted by strongmanmike

Woah Matty!!! That's great!

Lovely processing, very natural looking, you have controlled the noise very well without resorting to forcing a plastic look, top notch

The colours are excellent, you have preserved the green tinges in the reflection neb even, top notch again

very nice

Mike

Thanks Mike. Glad that you liked it. I found the data really easy to process and the noise was very easy to manage. Wish I got a few more hours worth of subs though.

Quote:

Originally Posted by David Fitz-Henr

Hello Matt,
I agree with Mike - very natural looking colours. Also, the edges of the nebula look really good - quite smooth and not too harsh/contrasty. Great image !

Thanks David. Like I said above the data was very good. It made processing so much easier.

Quote:

Originally Posted by iceman

Very nice Matty, you've come a loooong way!

Are you heading to IISAC again?

Thanks Mike. Unfortunately I won't be attending IISAC this year. It's such a shame as I was really looking forward to it again this year. Will definitely be there next year with bells on.

Quote:

Originally Posted by h0ughy

wow, i am impressed, lovely colours and processing. nice focus as well. I am so jealous

Cheers Dave. Thanks for the comment.

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlexN

Fantastic view Matty... Thanks for sharing!

Thanks Alex. How's the new scope of yours going?

Hagar (Doug) · #14 13-09-2009, 04:06 PM

Nice image Matt. Great to be back outside and able to see some stars again. It's been a while here also 5 months with only a few hours here and there.

Keep at it looking good.

AlexN · #15 13-09-2009, 05:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matty P

Thanks Alex. How's the new scope of yours going?

Awesome mate.. I've been really enjoying the change to such a short focal length.. it opens up a lot of different opportunities.. Theres plenty of pics from the past few nights around on the forums.. Its been a real buzz.. In the past 2 nights I've captured something like 13 hours worth of data on two different targets...