Here's the first pic I processed from Saturday night. It cleared out around 2:00am and we got very good seeing and transparency until sunrise. I did 50min on Orion, about an hour on M78 and 30min or so on NGC104 prior. Humayun spent a bit of time to teach me how to drift align so my guiding was pretty good that night. Although more data would have been nice the session was a bit of a shotgun imaging in sucker holes until midnight when the clouds thinned out.
This is 50min on M42 at prime focus with the QHY8 at prime focus on my 5" newt in 10x5min. First time I've had a clear run since August so I was pretty happy. Getting back on the bike now
thats a beauty Marc, you gotta be happy with that!
is that the reflections of a colimation centre marker i see there?
seriously mate, i would be delighted with that, nice one
Thanks Duncan. Yes MPCC reflections. I could have rejected them but I didn't bother (read: got too lazy) as they don't distract from the main pic. I go them much smaller from what they were though.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hagar
Nice one Marc. Good to see you're back on the bike.
Thanks Doug. Yes. I'm happy to be out there imaging again.
Quote:
Originally Posted by strongmanmike
Well that's pretty dam good for such a "quicky" mate
Interestingly, your FOV with the 5" Newt and QHY8 is pretty much identical to mine with the FLI PL11002 and Starfire
I hope to do this field next clear night/s
Mike
Thanks mate. Same FOV? How cool is that! Let's swap then
Ok with ya?
Quote:
Originally Posted by DavidU
Marc, awesome for short subs and a 5".
I hate you
Beautiful !
Thanks Steven. Glad you've noticed. Yeah I didn't do anything but for a bit of saturation boost on the colors. So that's pretty much the natural colours. Not my best M42 as far as integration time goes but certainly my best to date in term of details quality . I'm hoping to build up on this one and add more weather allowing.
love the colours on that one marc, and the dust looks dusty! maybe some selective highlights/shadows colour boosting and masking it in will give you a real punch in the main areas look forward to your added data version
That's really nice Marc.
I know we should all be gathering more data for our images, but honestly, when you only have a limited amount of time, all you want to do is capture as many different objects as you can.
love the colours on that one marc, and the dust looks dusty! maybe some selective highlights/shadows colour boosting and masking it in will give you a real punch in the main areas look forward to your added data version
Thanks Brendan. I kept the levels up so the light looks natural in the overall picture. But you can load the pic in PS and use the shadow/highlight tool. The core's details there although I doubt you'll see the trapezium clearly. It's still very bright.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jjjnettie
That's really nice Marc.
I know we should all be gathering more data for our images, but honestly, when you only have a limited amount of time, all you want to do is capture as many different objects as you can.
Thanks jjj. Yeah two and a half hours before sunrise was really short. I know I shouldn't have but I tried to fit in a bit of variety in that time slot. I can't help it.
I know the feeling of sort time. my shot of Orion was taken while the gradient of the sun was fast closing in on m42 to the point i was taking my 15 sec shots while it was light
2 x 10 min
9 x 2 min
9 x 1 min
9 x 30 sec
9 x 15 sec
= aproximately 1 hr before dawn first sub was 03:36
I know the feeling of sort time. my shot of Orion was taken while the gradient of the sun was fast closing in on m42 to the point i was taking my 15 sec shots while it was light
.
Wow! That's a terrific shot Brendan. I can't remember seeing that one being posted. You've holding up on us? What scope and camera did you use on that pearler?
Quote:
Originally Posted by jase
Lovely image Marc. It certainly does have a natural feel about it with the pastel like colours on display. Well done.
that pic was taken with my sw 10" dob mounted on the EQ6 guided with my 15 dollar guide scope and a Modified 40d MPCC, no darks no flats no bias. just 2.7 degrees and iso 200! theres a few other shots there as well, just to show you what kind of photos i like taking
so my guiding was pretty good that night. 
Although more data would have been nice the session was a bit of a shotgun imaging in sucker holes until midnight when the clouds thinned out.
