Antares and Crux - Next step

[midnight (Darrin)]

Hi All,

Well after the great information and advice I couldn't wait until the weekend to give this another go. Light pollution is still a problem but I am not worried about that at the moment - technique is my aim for now. I plan to head to my dark site (about 30 min away) and hope to really push the equipment as my tracking has really improved since overhauling the Meade. I have also had a run on a new G11 with Gemini 2 and it is in a different class on its own so if the technique is heading in the right direction, I will be getting one very shortly.

So here goes.

Image 1 = Antares and into Ophiuchus. Framing is poor. Canon 40D 12x3min @ ISO800 (I get a wash out beyond that due to LP). EF50mm F1.4 lense at F4.0. No guiding at all. I spent 1.5hrs drift aligning. + 12x3 min Darks. Very windy last night and still relatively warm (~15 deg up to midnight)
Image 2 = Crux. Exactly same setup as above.

My Photoshop skills are limited but I have learnt how to adjust levels and curves for now. Stacked in DSS.

My aim is to try at least 5min or higher and go for around 20 subs minimum.

I would much love to hear your suggestions and recommendations. Thanks for looking!

Cheers,
Darrin...

[A23649 (Nathan)]

they are truly fantastic

[scagman (John)]

They look really good.
Where they taken using the G11?

[jjjnettie (Jeanette)]

Lot's of lovely detail!
Yes, what is next?

[midnight (Darrin)]

Originally Posted by A23649

they are truly fantastic

Thanks Nathan. Glad you like it.

Originally Posted by scagman

They look really good.
Where they taken using the G11?

John, thanks mate and no. They were taken using my old Meade LXD55 (which comes with the 8"SN). I have already bought the components for the hypertune and Star Optics were selling new LXD75 motors for $90 so I basically overhauled the mount. I then had the pleasure to play with a G11 last week and I am sold. I will be getting one - it's in a whole new class mechanically. The LXD55 is not a deep sky mount and highly subject to nearby vibration. It did have PEC on and this made a difference. Hence widefield for now.

Originally Posted by jjjnettie

Lot's of lovely detail!
Yes, what is next?

Thanks jjj! Well next is a nice dark sky to get that deeper colour and a G11. I am really enjoying it now my mount is playing ball (for now until it bites me back )

[Octane (Humayun)]

Darrin,

You should be very proud -- that is excellent work.

Composition wise, hrm, Antares region could be better.

But, technically, you haven't clipped the histogram in the shadows, and, only the brightest stars are only /just/ clipping the highlights.

I had a quick play in Photoshop, and, there is a wealth of detail that you can bring out yet with subtle iterations of curves. Your colour balance is pretty much bang on, too.

You've also started to bring out the beautiful red shroud of nebulosity around Tau Scorpii, and, you've caught the two emission nebulae in the band of dark in the bottom right -- the Cat's Paw nebula, and the other one which looks like a bed bug.

I'm also really pleased to read that you took many dark frames (I'd try and push for about four more) and, kudos to you for spending your time drift aligning -- it shows in the final results.

These should be posted in the Deep Space forum proper. Not here.

Excellent work, mate. You will go far in this pursuit.

H

[midnight (Darrin)]

Thanks Humayun for your kind words!

Framing was definitely dodgy - I spent so long drift aligning and then I just wanted to start snapping away - patience Grasshoper!!

Ok. So tonight out again and still as and much cooler than last night. This time I tried to frame a little better after seeing Jeanette's beauty of the same region. Looks like we were both snapping in the same area last night!

Canon 40D
17 Light Frames RAW format
24 Dark Frames RAW format
210 seconds ea frame.
ISO800
EF50mm F1.4 stopped to F4.
No guiding again - the scope was "parked" last night which is nice feature in the Autostar 497.
40D Powered from AC (no battery - much less heat on the body)
Meade LXD55 mount (Autostar 497)

Raws Stacked in DSS using median combine for Darks and Median Kappa Sigma for Lights (based on std deviation).

PS ver 4 used for Stretching (Curves and Levels) and this time some saturation was added and also I had a go at trying the reduce noise with stength 6 and preserve detail at 50% which appeared to do a nice job.

The result to me seemed more noticeable. I seem to have more colour to work with and therefore not overstretch very small levels. My PS skills still need a lot of work but I can see where this is going. My problem is trying to balance the levels and curves without damaging the data.

I have cropped this image as the LP in the bottom right was really getting attacked by the curves adjustment - the light pollution to me is noise and hence I am not too worried at the moment.

Anyway, here it is.

Thanks for everyone's help - this has been great while the weather (and mount) have been favourable. A large bush fire out near my dark site today I could see coming back from work (we've had quite a few lately mainly control burns whilst it is still warm and dry). Rain all next week though.

Cheers,
Darrin...

[scagman (John)]

That looks really good, well done

[dannat (Daniel)]

Really good work darrin, you are bringing out the dk lane & star colour

[midnight (Darrin)]

Originally Posted by dannat

Really good work darrin, you are bringing out the dk lane & star colour

Thanks Daniel. Will need to work on sky glow issues.

Originally Posted by scagman

That looks really good, well done

Thanks John. It has taken a bit of work to get here.

The rains have arrived so now it's a wait for a good opportunity and improve my PS skills.