DSLR image of NGC1097 *with* jets 50+ hours

[rmuhlack (Richard)]

This image comprises more than 50 hours of DSLR image data of NGC1097, captured over 12 nights from my home observatory in South Australia.

I have been able to reveal three of the four optical jets (possibly a first for a DSLR image of this target...?), however when compared with the best imagers here on IIS my processing skills are really still at the "intermediate" stage, so I am curious to see if those more experienced can reveal more. The stacked linear FITS file is available from the Astrobin Public Data Pool here: http://www.astrobin.com/rawdata/publicdatapools/21/ (Note: requires an Astrobin account to access)

Telescope: Vixen VC200L with f6.4 reducer
Camera: DIY modded Canon 1000D with regulated peltier cooling @ 10C
Guiding: Lacerta OAG with QHY5L-II
Mount: Skywatcher NEQ6
Exposure details: 305 x 10mins @ ISO1600
Pre-processing: Pixinsight 1.8, calibration with master dark (50 frames) superbias (200 frames) and flats collected after each imaging session (50 frames per day). ImageIntegration: Average Combination, Noise evaluation, k-sigma/biweight scale estimator, Linear Fit clipping rejection

Hi res here: http://www.astrobin.com/full/123464/0/?real=&mod=

[cometcatcher (Kevin)]

Trucking smell! Or something that rhymes with it.

Awesome!

[RickS (Rick)]

Well done, Richard! That's an amazing achievement for a DSLR. The 4th jet is substantially fainter than the others. It was only just over the noise level for me with a cooled CCD and 20 minute exposures but I was at f/9 so maybe it's not impossible for your setup...

Cheers,
Rick.

[Shiraz (Ray)]

wow, what a bottler of an image - top effort to see the jets.

[gregbradley]

A remarkable achievement. Wonderful!

Greg.

[Regulus (Trevor)]

A wonderful photograph Richard. Congratulations on such a great result.
Time well spent I think
Trev

[elfinke (Trev)]

Just astonishing. Thank you for sharing.

[tilbrook@rbe.ne (Justin Tilbrook)]

Truly remarkable Richard!:thumbs up:

You are really showing the way on long exposure modded DSLR imaging.

Cheers,

Justin.

[RB (Andrew)]

Richard that is stunning !
Mammoth effort with a DSLR.
(Your signature says it all) !

[Stevec35 (Steve)]

Amazing image! If anyone has any doubt that you don't need a high quality CCD camera for top shelf pictures they only need to look at this.

Cheers

Steve

[andyc (Andy)]

Wow! Beautiful, impressive - a benchmark for top-drawer DSLR imaging

[rustigsmed (Russell)]

simply stunning!

[Placidus (Mike and Trish)]

Deliciously deep. Mega-data rules!

[rmuhlack (Richard)]

Thanks everyone for the lovely comments

I'm certainly seeing the benefits of a permanent setup with automation (via SGPro) that is facilitating these ultra long integration times. The regulated cooling mod is also delivering the goods in terms of reduced DSLR thermal noise and the ability to consistently match the dark master, resulting in smoother calibrated frames with better SNR.

Goes to show that *deep* space imaging is possible even with relatively humble equipment.

[Ross G]

A great looking photo Richard.

Ross.

[alpal]

Nice pic Richard,
imagine what you could do in the same time with a mono CCD?

cheers
Allan

[multiweb (Marc)]

Serious effort Richard. Top shot.

[marco (Marco Lorenzi)]

Heat off Richard for:
1) the 50hours of exposure
2) the use of a simple DSLR for such faint objects
3) The perfect guiding
4) The excellent processing

..have I missed something?

Clear skies
Marco