Ngc1365

Paul Haese · #1 20-10-2009, 12:00 AM

Another project to be started is NGC1365. I had the guiding working a lot better and the stars are just a bit out of round. I made some changes to the guiding parameters and this had a positive impact. I had it drifting too far before.

This image is only 3.83 hours of data. I intend to do something like 12 hours on this object to get it looking smoother than it is now.

Image Here

I welcome peoples thought on the processing or anything they might like to say.

renormalised (Carl) · #2 20-10-2009, 12:13 AM

Nice shot there, Paul.

multiweb (Marc) · #3 20-10-2009, 12:18 AM

Wow, that's beautiful. The blue star forming regions really pop-up. Superb shot.

Paul Haese · #4 20-10-2009, 10:16 AM

Thanks guys, I really like the central detail too.

allan gould · #5 20-10-2009, 03:03 PM

Nice one Paul. Go are certainly getting the best of your equipment

DavidU (Dave) · #6 20-10-2009, 03:06 PM

Yep, very tidy shot Paul. Great detail !!!!!!

Hagar (Doug) · #7 20-10-2009, 09:24 PM

Nice one Paul, Looks a little purple but that may well be just my monitor. The detail in the Galaxy is magnificent. Your stars still look a little colour free.
Bloody LRGB imaging, hard isn't it.

Paul Haese · #8 20-10-2009, 09:51 PM

Doug I just checked myself and the colour is a little purple on my screen too. I never did a colour saturation mask on the stars as the stars while good in the center require a flattener at the edges of the field and there is some flexure that needs attending too also. I am reliably told that a reducer for the GSO RC should be ready this month. I would prefer a flattener though and so I have decided to refit the Tak flattener so how on the front of the QSI. This is a challenge I want to conquer this year and get 7-15 hours on the object with good guiding and NO flaming flexure.

Yes LRGB can be challenging, but interesting and harder than DSLR. I just see it as another step in my photographic interests. Taking film images years ago was hard, but this is somewhat harder again.

AlexN · #9 20-10-2009, 10:06 PM

That looks very nice to me Paul...

Tell me, was the guiding problem a result of you having the min motion set too high for the resolution of the imaging setup vs the guide setup?

That was what killed me for so long using a small refractor with a 400mm focal length to guide my C11 @ 2800mm.. once I sorted that out, guiding hummed along nicely..

Looking forward to seeing this shot with another 7 hours or so of data.. just remember, for LRGB imaging, L is the most important factor.. your RGB subs can be shot lower to the horizon, or on nights of poor seeing etc.. just make sure you capture heaps of luminance at high altitude during good seeing and your image will have good detail!

Im really liking the direction you're headed with the GSO RC and the KAF8300.. Its shaping up to be a real winning combo!

Paul Haese · #10 20-10-2009, 10:19 PM

Alex, yeah I had the min motion set for 1.15 and I have subsequently set this back to 0.25 and I put the aggression back to 80. The guiding looked really good then. Just flexure and a curved field playing havoc now.

The Luminence looks good already on this and the colours are quite grainly. I really need another 30 or 40 minutes on each fo the colours and then like you said a heap of subs on the luminence.

It might also mean that I will do a big project on NGC 253 too. I suspect that image was spoiled by several pixels of movement which blurred the possible sharpness of the image.

Yes looking forward to many years capturing data with this camera.

strongmanmike (Michael) · #11 20-10-2009, 10:26 PM

This is a pretty good image Paul, you clearly have the material to work with, once you have all your teething problems sorted you will be producing corkers for sure

Out of interest (I think I may have asked this already?) if you get perfect polar alignment have you tried going unguided? That EM400 should be capable of some pretty schmick tracking without guiding? Look at what my NJP can do for example:

http://upload.pbase.com/strongmanmik...31590/original

This unguided sub was taken in average seeing under solid light pollution from inner Canberra and if I recall, a moon in the sky too, hence the dust donuts? There is a tiny bit of elongation (more noticable in some stars than others though) most probably due to filter tilt mostly but man, at a pinch I would take this any day.

here is 4min unguided and magnified 200X:

http://www.pbase.com/strongmanmike20...88817/original

When turned on, and in good seeing the autoguiding corrections average only 0.1 pix or less at 2.3"/pix or +/- 0.23". I only ever piggyback guide too and this nearly always translates into round stars, so I am bewildered as to why you are having so much trouble with the EM400

I feel for ya man, very fustrating

Actually I have never had this NJP permanently setup on a rock solid permanent pier but should I do so one day and go for really acurate polar alignment it will be very much fun to turn off autoguiding particularly on on nights of poorer seeing

Have you ever got pefect polar alignment after some serious drift alignmnet and checked your native tracking quality? It may be worth trying.

Mike

AlexN · #12 20-10-2009, 10:29 PM

Glad to hear that the min motion was the problem and that you have that nailed down...

I really look forward to the big projects you intend to tackle with this rig.. the resolution should be quite stunning when you get nights of great seeing.. 5.4um pixels and a 1630mm focal length is what? .7" per pixel?

Should be VERY sharp!

dpastern (Dave Pastern) · #13 20-10-2009, 10:56 PM

Very good shot Paul, looks a bit Purplish to me as well.

Dave

Paul Haese · #14 20-10-2009, 11:16 PM

First up I have changed the image and got rid of the purple look. Looks better to my eye.

Mike, I have done some unguided but only with the TSA on board. Those images showed no elongated stars. I would need to do a really big work out on PA to do unguided on the RC. Everything has to be well balanced though or else stars are pulling all over the place. Like you I love the mount, nothing wrong with that, it is the idiot driving it that is the problem really.

Not talking about you, talking about me.

That is interesting about your min motion setting. I am going to set this now and see how it runs next time. The seeing has been good at the observatory for the last 3 weeks or so. Interestingly I had the min motion some time ago set at 0.15 pixels and the guiding was good. See what I mean about the idiot driving it theme? Now I know why I had it set like that and I have reset it. With guiding images at 2.5 seconds this seemed fine. Thanks for the reminder Mike.

Alex it should be 0.68 I think which means I can sharpen heaps by virtue of oversampling. Only down side is the stars will be a little larger than I really want.

Always learning. Hope you like the colour now.

Octane (Humayun) · #15 21-10-2009, 06:51 PM

Paul,

There's something about this image which keeps sucking me in to look more and more.

As others have said, the star-forming regions look really beautiful.

I think there may be some more outer detail that could be coaxed out of this, yet!

I still notice a purple cast to the image, but, I don't think that's a huge issue right now. Beautiful image.

Regards,
Humayun

jase (Jason) · #16 21-10-2009, 07:55 PM

Nice one Paul. Thoroughly enjoyed the rich details and colour, but can't help imagine that the data could be stretched further. Perhaps at a lost to colour saturation however. Top work, well done.

spearo (Frank) · #17 21-10-2009, 08:02 PM

beautiful shot Paul
well done!
frank

spearo (Frank) · #18 21-10-2009, 08:03 PM

And if you get too frustrated with EM400
PM me !!!

frank

Moon (James) · #19 21-10-2009, 09:09 PM

Paul
Have you given up on the integrated guider port? Have you had a chance to try it with the Tak flattener installed?

Paul Haese · #20 22-10-2009, 03:29 PM

thanks guys.

Moon - not given up on the OAG yet, just waiting on a part from QSI which is a spacer to allow guiding. Then I will be using it. I am now using the flattener on the QSI. I have posted a new image with all new data is you would like to take a look.

Click here

Jase, I know what you are saying but I started stretching and the noise just came rushing out. The new image above looks better but still needs more data to keep the noise down.

Humayun, I think I have the colour right this time.

Once again all for the comments.