Eta Carinae - First image in 3 months

[Matty P (Matt)]

The sky cleared up yesterday so I decided to set the scope up on the pier in the Observatory.

I got the mount polar aligned and spent a bit of time observing around Orion before deciding to image Eta Carinae. I decided Eta over a faint object because of the close proximity of the Moon to the Crab Nebula which I wanted to image.

Anyway a couple of details.

Celestron 8" SCT on EQ6 Pro. Canon 450D. Guided with PHD. 5 x 5 minute subs at ISO 800. Calibrated with Flats, ICNR Darks and Bias.

Not too happy with it but it was great getting back out there.

[Quark (Trevor)]

Geez Matty, them Canon 450D's sure are a great all round camera.

This would just about be my most favorite region of the sky, so many great targets nearby and I think this image is a pretty fair effort.

Keep up the good work Matty.

Regards
Trevor

[multiweb (Marc)]

That's awesome Matt. Love the colors. Focus, tracking... text book shot. Well done.

[dugnsuz (Doug)]

Very nice shot Matt.
looks like it's going to be another good Eta season!
Doug

[Omaroo (Chris Malikoff)]

Good on you Matty. Well done with the new digs and this first photo. It turned out very well. Well aligned and the tracking looks spot on. Exposures and colour are well controlled too. Overall a very pleasing shot of Eta - one to be proud of!

[Matty P (Matt)]

Thanks guys.

The 450D is a real performer. It has been awhile since my last DSO image so it is great to be back.

Can't wait for the new moon and clear skies to tackle some fainter objects.

[Hagar (Doug)]

Nice image Matt. The 450D certainly highlights the nice blue of the OIII. Keep an eye on the background colour. It allows you to pull the most out of the image and allows you to swing the colour a bit more towards the Ha red colour.
I think the whole country is suffering an imaging drought at the moment.

Well done.

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

Ah yes..Eta is back!

Nice job Matt

Mike

[AlexN]

Good to see you back at the controls of the EQ6 Matt!

You say you're not too happy with it.. May I ask WHY? Looks great to me!!

Well done mate.. Alex.

[Jen]

nice work Matty

[Bassnut (Fred)]

Nice work Matt, but you should be shot for the posted res/presentation, sheesh, you need to get a site .

[Matty P (Matt)]

Thanks for the comments.

Alex, I don't know what it is with this image but I am not overly happy with it. I was expecting more from the final image however the focus and tracking were spot on.

Fred, I have a website. I just haven't been around to upload and update it recently.

[Bassnut (Fred)]

OOps, and a very nice site it is (same as mine)

Will be very interesting when its automatically converted to googlesites, Google sites appears quite comprehensive, makes you wonder why ppl bother with (paid for) there own