Peeping through the Keyhole:

[BruceG (Bruce)]

Here is a test image from my friends RC8,riding on an EQ6 mount on a new pier in his backyard. Imaged at 1600 ISO, 30 x 120 seconds with 9 or so dark frames for calibration.
His PA wasn't quite right, but since this shot was taken we have done some drifting and it should be pretty close now.
camera was a 450D sans filter and imaged through the soup in Sydney's west (his house backs on to the M7 Motorway and all those nasty orange lights).
Not a bad result considering we did not shoot with any LP filters.

I think he has the makings of a very nice setup.
High res version here

[multiweb (Marc)]

That's a really nice field. Focus is spot on and the stars are really nice too. You just have to make sure your histogram is not clipped during your processing. You have some really nice data here so it's worth a repro.

[RickS (Rick)]

Very promising, Bruce.

[jenchris (Jennifer)]

took a few myself the other night.
Meade 8" on an NEQ6pro about 48mins F10
Just shows how murky the sky is even though it looks clear

[raymo]

Can I join in the fun? unable to do any imaging, so recooked this heavy
crop. First pic was an RC8, then 8" SCT, and mine an 8" Newt.
30 x 30 secs @ ISO 3200. Sharpening slightly overdone.
Your friend looks like he'll be turning out some good stuff Bruce.
raymo

[BruceG (Bruce)]

Thanks Marc, I will give it another crack when I get some time in front of my desktop PC. I guess I took the deep sky a little too far to black.
Thanks Rick, much appreciated. Jennifer - yeah there's some murk visible there on the Gold Coast - maybe backing off on the yellow / green colour balance might help. I have been using StarTools to process after calibration and find the colour correction tools really good.
Hey Raymo, you're always welcome to join the Carina Club! Your 1100D sure has a fantastic colour pallet and at 3200 ISO it is amazingly quiet. I hope you get your hand controller soon so we can again be entertained with your lovely Margaret River captures.

[raymo]

Thanks Bruce, it was taken last winter at an ambient of around 6-7 degrees, that's why it has low noise. Oops! hijacking.
raymo

[MelD (Melvyn)]

Hi Folks,
At this point I should chime into the conversation to thank Bruce for his help and support in setting up my new rig and helping me learn to use it. With this image he has shown me what it is capable of, so the ball is now in my court. I have just received a Feathertouch focuser for the RC8. This will allow me to start using my EOS 60Da on this scope so I should be able to improve things a bit more. Here's hoping.
Again very many thanks, Bruce.
Mel Davis

[vlazg (George)]

Can i join in?
Same data just different processing in PSCS6

[chuckywiz (Ben)]

good to see how the same nebula can be processed soo many different ways. Makes you wonder whos to says whos is right and wrong guess they are all right if you are happy with it.

Ben

[PeterSEllis (Peter)]

That RC8 shot of the keyhole is very nice indeed, I could live with that.

Cheers
Peter

[BruceG (Bruce)]

Well this has turned out to be a real Carina-thon! It doesn't really matter how you slice or dice it, the Eta Carina area is a really nice part of our Milky Way.

Thanks Peter, I'm pleased with the result. When you consider it was shot only 100 metres or so from an M7 metering exit with all those flood lights. I guess it has held up well because it is a bright object.