Faint fuzzies Part II

kinetic (Steve) · #1 23-01-2009, 06:45 AM

Hi,

Along ith a successful capture of Comet Lulin this morning
I also imaged M83 and M104.

This time, very clear air...lots of steady frames in the stacks.

I was very suprised how easily this was to process and bring out,
having spent years struggling to squeeze every last bit of info from
modded webcams on these objects

regards,

Steve B.

theodog (Jeff) · #2 23-01-2009, 07:02 AM

Nice images Steve.

Looks like you have the sysyem hummin'.

Looks like you'll need to examine the dreaded flat-field to get rid of the dust-mote.

Top potential -well done.

Tilt (Michael) · #3 23-01-2009, 07:54 AM

Awesome dust lane in M104, well done!

Michael

Dennis · #4 23-01-2009, 07:59 AM

Hi Steve

I am astonished with the quality of these M83 and M104 images for sub frames of a paltry 5 seconds! Well done, these galaxies look gorgeous!

Cheers

Dennis

kinetic (Steve) · #5 23-01-2009, 08:21 AM

Thanks guys, I was just as suprised, Dennis....

5 secs is about all I can get away with when I'm near the celestial
equator and the PE is the most noticeable...The homemade GEM
mount has it's good nights and bad nights.
I tried a few 10sec and 15 sec tests and out pop the lanes including
structure on the live view of M83.
BUT the live histo is tweaked to the max...the RAW fIT does not save
this setting.
The results came after much hand sorting of images and a severe
stretch of the stack.

I think a lot has to do with the pristine mirror on the 12...it's only about
6 months old and I think I won the lottery with this mirror because I've
heard you get good and bad with GSOs.
Also put it down to the outright sensitivity and dynamic range of the
mono CCD in the DSI II.

Certainly a breath of fresh air compared to my previous best M104s and
M83s with webcams and a homemade 8" F7...

I think I even picked up the tiny face on spiral down the right corner
in the M104 shot.

My webcam attempts:
See here: M104 and M83
http://mywebsite.bigpond.com/astrost...4_14apr_05.jpg
http://mywebsite.bigpond.com/astrost...2005_final.jpg

peeb61 (Paul) · #6 23-01-2009, 08:26 AM

Way to go Steve,
Very well done...early bird gets the worm eh?

Paul

Hagar (Doug) · #7 23-01-2009, 08:30 AM

Good shots Steve, Looks like all those hours are really starting to pay off. Amazing the detail you are catching with such short exposures. Imagine what you will get with active guiding and some longer exposures.

Good stuff.
Cheers Mate.

kinetic (Steve) · #8 23-01-2009, 08:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hagar

Good shots Steve, Looks like all those hours are really starting to pay off. Amazing the detail you are catching with such short exposures. Imagine what you will get with active guiding and some longer exposures.

Good stuff.
Cheers Mate.

Thanks Doug, due in no small part to you and Peter, re the camera.

kinetic (Steve) · #9 23-01-2009, 07:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by peeb61

Way to go Steve,
Very well done...early bird gets the worm eh?

Paul

Thanks Paul....B#ggered today though, it was an all-nighter.
Had a camp this arvo to recover...out again tonight, hopefully!

Steve

Ric · #10 23-01-2009, 09:57 PM

Great stuff Steve, That's a great capture with 5 second subs.

Fine work indeed.

peter_4059 (Peter) · #11 23-01-2009, 10:04 PM

Looking good Steve. The DSI II sure is a sensitive camera. Wait until you get autoguiding working with 2 min subs.

Peter