This is my first process of M8 so far, I really do need to go back and drizzle it to round off the stars a lot more. Seeing was quite reasonable on Sunday so I've got squarish stars. I am never quite sure whether I am hitting the limit of what my EQ6 can achieve, I know I can get round stars at 1800s without too much effort (when the gremlins aren't around) but I have a feeling in doing so, it is at the expense of FWMH. Looking forward to the new mount arriving soon At that point I'll be able to better differentiate between seeing and mount tracking.
16x900 (4 hours). Not any serious amount of data but it is a very bright object. I am going to have to do a 10x60s to tone down the very bright core which is just a bit saturated.
Hoping for a clear Friday night so I can grab some OIII and SII. Eventually I'd like to toy with doing a HaOIISIILRGB of the area over the next full moon (weather dependant).
Wasn't too careful as I am planning on drizzling this for the final result, half a dozen of the brighter stars have been mangled, didn't realise that they weren't in the star mask until I'd near finished processing
Well, im out at the observatory so only looking at this on my Samsung phone, so this may be hiding some of the issues you have mentioned..but it looks quite spectacular and 4hrs on M8 is a lot of exposure.
Bet you are looking forward to getting that cool new mount!?
Well, im out at the observatory so only looking at this on my Samsung phone, so this may be hiding some of the issues you have mentioned..but it looks quite spectacular and 4hrs on M8 is a lot of exposure.
Bet you are looking forward to getting that cool new mount!?
Mike
Thanks Mike, M8 is pretty bright and really doesn't need to be deep. Not much of the field that doesn't have nebulosity.
Quote:
Originally Posted by gregbradley
That looks very impressive. I don't know what the focal length is but undersampled squarish stars can be made round with drizzle integration.
Greg.
It is running at 669.5mm so relatively short. Planning on drizzling when it collect more data and work towards a colour rendition.
Quote:
Originally Posted by multiweb
M8 season already? Little flat to my taste but I like the details you've got. Nice one.
If it is above the horizon it is fair game You are right, I did flatten it a bit heavily, may have to try to preserve that for the final.
Quote:
Originally Posted by RickS
Great detail, Colin!
Thanks Rick, just need a better star mask and then figure out how to get nice white stars (no magenta!)
Very cool. Some nice data there Colin! 4 hours is plenty of data for M8 even for Ha. I'll go out on a limb though and suggest you may be flattening the dynamic range a bit too much.
Very cool. Some nice data there Colin! 4 hours is plenty of data for M8 even for Ha. I'll go out on a limb though and suggest you may be flattening the dynamic range a bit too much.
Cheers, Marcus
I do agree, there is a fair bit of fainter nebulosity in the background that I have no idea how to not basically clip (make black) while keeping the brighter stuff considerably brighter.
I do agree, there is a fair bit of fainter nebulosity in the background that I have no idea how to not basically clip (make black) while keeping the brighter stuff considerably brighter.
Looks like you are using HDRMT for dynamic range compression, Colin? I often blend back some of the original image to prevent the result ending up too flat (take a clone of the original image and use PixelMath with an expression like "0.65*orig+0.35*new").
I did use that blending technique with the IntensityTransformation function as that tends to be quite harsh. I have thought about doing it with HDRMT but just haven't tried it yet (only thought about it this morning).
looking good Colin, lots of details, as others have said just a bit flat. looking forward to a coloured version! (Melbourne weather dependant of course!)
Nice clean image with lots of detail - great work Colin
If my eyes do not deceiving me, it looks like perhaps you have not applied flats to this image? Applying flats would help with stretching later on and could bring up the fainter bits even more.
Uploaded a new version (drizzled and a lot more contrasty, no where near as flat) on Astrobin (high res). I am a lot happier with this one.
Quote:
Originally Posted by rustigsmed
looking good Colin, lots of details, as others have said just a bit flat. looking forward to a coloured version! (Melbourne weather dependant of course!)
Russ
Totally agree, it was quite flat. It wasn't until I compared my latest attempt with the original that I could see just how flat it was!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Slawomir
Nice clean image with lots of detail - great work Colin
If my eyes do not deceiving me, it looks like perhaps you have not applied flats to this image? Applying flats would help with stretching later on and could bring up the fainter bits even more.
Please let us know when you new mount arrives.
Thanks I did use flats though, not that I really need to for the most part. An astrograph with a large corrected field and a small sensor, I only have 4-5% vignetting at worst.
You along with everyone else will know when the mount arrives Looking forward to having a near dead silent slewing session around my lounge room while it rains outside for a week or two
Quote:
Originally Posted by Meru
Love it! Sky Rover is awesome (as your skills also Colin )
Thanks Meru, it is a lovely scope I think I just have some tilt to deal with
At that point I'll be able to better differentiate between seeing and mount tracking.
and 4hrs on M8 is a lot of exposure. 
Little flat to my taste but I like the details you've got. Nice one. 
You are right, I did flatten it a bit heavily, may have to try to preserve that for the final.
(as your skills also Colin 
)
Looking forward to having a near dead silent slewing session around my lounge room while it rains outside for a week or two 
