First light with FLI ML8300 - IC59 in Ha

[Paramount]

Hi
I got my new ML8300 a couple of weeks ago but as usual the purchase of new astronomical equipment seemed to coincide with a sudden and prolongued increase in cloudy weather (I'm thinking of calling this "Haynes Law"). Anyway, I managed to get out on Sunday night and do 4 hours of data on IC59 in 30 minute sub frames before thin cloud interupted the session just after I did a meridian flip.
It was taken with my FSQ106ED at f5 on a Paramount ME with autoguiding done by a Lodestar and OAG using dithering with a 5nm Ha filter.
I was also committing the terrible sin of trying out new software as well as I have upgraded my Maxim DL to version 5 and Photoshop to CS5. I have to admit, that although Maxim DL v5 is a better program and more up to date, I don't care much for the user interface and found the old one much easier to use. That being said everything went without a hitch.
I shot all the dark frames the previous week indoors with the camera cooled to -35c which it had no problem doing (less than 5 minutes to cool)
All the dark frames and light frames were shot with RBI annihilator set to 2 seconds/2 flushes. The flats and corresponding darks had no RBI tool used.
The processing was fairly simple as it only involved levels and curves ( several iterations of 'S' shaped contrast curves)and some selective contrast adjustments, no sharpening, gradient removal or noise reduction was used.
The ML8300 that I purchased from FLI has no cover slip which slightly increases the sensitivity and also helps reduce reflections further
This is the first time I have imaged this nebula properly and it is dim, I may add some RGB to it later as it doesn't respond very well to OIII and SII as far as I am aware.
There is a full size high resolution version at the following link
http://www.pbase.com/image/138236043/original
Thanks for looking
Best wishes
Gordon

[desler]

8 x 30 minutes, that really must be very faint. Nicely done Gordon.

Darren

[gregbradley]

Nice shot Gordon.

Congrats on the ML8300. I have been using one for 2 years now and its an excellent camera. The Microline body is a great platform for any chip.

You've got some little diffraction spikes on the brighter stars. That must come from the microlenses?

The 8300 chip has small wells. You can see this on the brighter stars looking a bit fat from oversaturated wells.

I get best results using shorter exposures so the wells don't fill up. 25,500 electrons is the well capacity compared to 85,000 to 100,000 for a 16803 and about 60,000 for a 11002 chip. So that's the only thing to be aware of with this chip, especially with a faster scope (slower scopes don't show that). With shorter subs you won't get that effect on the brighter stars which in my case I felt spoilt several images of mine. You notice it more when you also image with a 16803 chip which is perfect in all regards.

Greg.

[TrevorW]

Nice image Gordon

[multiweb (Marc)]

Very detailed shot. The rig shows a lot of potential.

[Alchemy (Clive)]

You are using a very nice list of equipment, as Marc said lots of potential with everything. I just got myself an 8300 chipped camera so I too am looking forward to what it can do.

[John Hothersall]

That is a fantastic result of a faint nebula, new CCD working well.

John.

[Ross G]

Great shot Gordon.
A very sensitive camera.


Ross.