NGC 7239 the Helix.

[tilbrook@rbe.ne (Justin Tilbrook)]

Hi,

Thought it was time to try my hand at some planetary nebula, imaged the helix and the dumb bell.
The helix obviously requires a lot of data,I did one hour thirty five minutes, probably needs twice that. Still I'm happy with my first attempt.

Telescope 8” f/4 astrograph on a HEQ Pro 5 mount, orion mini guider.
Unmodded Canon 1100D at ISO 800.
19 x 300 sec subs ISO 800,
24 dark frames, 16 flat frames and 11 bias.
Stacked in DSS and post process in Phototshop.
Cheers,

Justin.

[apaulo (Paul)]

Not Bad Justin

Not bad at all

Regards Paul.

[tilbrook@rbe.ne (Justin Tilbrook)]

Thanks Paul,

Still amazes me how different DSO's require a different approach with processing.

Cheers,

Justin.

[Lester]

Very nice Justin. You are turning out some good views with your set-up. All the best.

[peter_4059 (Peter)]

Looking good Justin. You've got some nice colour there.

[h0ughy (David)]

Great shot and love the processing

[jjjnettie (Jeanette)]

Sweet.

[Ross G]

A beautiful photo Justin.

Well done.

Ross.

[tilbrook@rbe.ne (Justin Tilbrook)]

Hi,

Thanks for the comments.

I'm going to try some of these planetary nebula with a 2 x barlow, don't know whether it will help but worth a go.

Cheers,

Justin.

[naskies (Dave)]

Nice Looks like you've been on a bit of a roll lately!

[E_ri_k (Erik)]

Beautiful. My first helix was nowhere near that good. Awesome shot!

[Paul Haese]

Hi Justin, nice attempt at this very difficult object.

I would like to suggest that you do subs around 10-15 minutes on this object. While it is quite large it is also reasonably dim, longer subs will present you with better signal.

[swannies1983 (Dan)]

Nice colours

Is it just me, but is there a large bluish (faint) ring around the Helix?

[tilbrook@rbe.ne (Justin Tilbrook)]

Thanks Dave, Erik, Paul and Dan.

Originally Posted by Paul Haese

Hi Justin, nice attempt at this very difficult object.

I would like to suggest that you do subs around 10-15 minutes on this object. While it is quite large it is also reasonably dim, longer subs will present you with better signal.

Hi Paul,

One thing that concerns me a bit about that length exposure is star burnout, seems to be a problem with DSLR's.
Any suggestions on overcoming this?

Cheers,

Justin.

[Paul Haese]

Justin you can take a series of shorter subs to mask in and control the star colour. That will control star burnout.

[astronobob (Bob)]

Thats a Mighty Fine Result Justin Can see hints of them fainter outer shells too, , Cool ! And some great inner detail, extra cool !
Are you using a CC with the image scope Justin ? The stars look very pleasing from your astrograph !

[Cosmic (Daniel)]

For a first attempt, that's mighty fine for such a hard target.

[tilbrook@rbe.ne (Justin Tilbrook)]

Thanks Bob and Daniel.

Cheers,

Justin.