NGC 1808 galaxy, Orion & Eta in one night.

[alpal]

It was the 29th of Jan. 2014.
I tried for NGC 1808 - it seems I only proved it was there.
The seeing was also bad after a hot day - 5 arc seconds.
I couldn't bring out the faint outer arms of this galaxy.
I think it needs mega data from my light polluted location.
It is 40 million light years away and magnitude 10.5.

While waiting for Eta to rise above the trees I took a quick M42 Orion.
I got the trapezium in nicely with some 30 seconds frames.

By the time Eta rose it was late - 2.30am & the seeing went to under 3.5 arc seconds.
I am happy with the detail in that picture.
Larger versions & more details on my flickr photos.
All taken with an 8" f6 Newt that I collimated well & a QHY9 mono.

Any comments welcome.

cheers
Allan

[kinetic (Steve)]

Oh boy, look at that M42.
You know, I never get tired of looking at that beautiful thing!
The processing is superb, great trap detail and a very subtle, dusty
look to her overall.

Lovely job Allan,

Steve

[alpal]

Originally Posted by kinetic

Oh boy, look at that M42.
You know, I never get tired of looking at that beautiful thing!
The processing is superb, great trap detail and a very subtle, dusty
look to her overall.

Lovely job Allan,

Steve

Thanks Steve,
Actually that was a very quick process & not much data -only about 1 hour.
The 3 humps in RGB were balanced so I don't know how others get all their strange colours?
I'm thinking of combining it with some previous data.
I must get around to doing a longer project on Orion -
maybe a mosaic to get the Running Man in too?
My FOV is a bit small for Orion with an 8" f6 Newt.

cheers
Allan

[allan gould]

Allan
Know what you mean about NGC1808 in that at least you proved that it is there! Often I've been mislead by another image only to be disappointed in my initial attempts as its either too small or really faint with extensions. For the really faint you just need lots o' data.
Liked M42 and Eta as no matter how many times they are imaged they always are worth looking at, yours are sharp and well processed.
Allan

[Stevec35 (Steve)]

Nice little group of images Allan, particularly M42. NGC1808 is definitely a target worth pursuing as it's a very detailed galaxy.

Cheers

Steve

[alpal]

Originally Posted by Stevec35

Nice little group of images Allan, particularly M42. NGC1808 is definitely a target worth pursuing as it's a very detailed galaxy.

Cheers

Steve

Thanks Steve,
Actually NGC 1808 is such a small galaxy that it only takes
up about 5% of the frame on my 8" f6 Newt.
NGC 1792 is close by but I don't think I can frame both in the same FOV.
It may still be worth it at a dark site?

cheers
Allan

[alpal]

Originally Posted by allan gould

Allan
Know what you mean about NGC1808 in that at least you proved that it is there! Often I've been mislead by another image only to be disappointed in my initial attempts as its either too small or really faint with extensions. For the really faint you just need lots o' data.
Liked M42 and Eta as no matter how many times they are imaged they always are worth looking at, yours are sharp and well processed.
Allan

Thanks Allan,
I actually thought Eta Carinae was better.
I am very pleased with the detail & small stars I get with my Newt.
It is a high quality custom built one & was worth the money.

Example:
here is the result of 30 second RGB frames - 1 each - binned 1x1 of the Trapezium.
They were used to layer it in for the Orion pic.
Even with only 3 arc second seeing it clearly shows the main 4 stars & maybe a 5th.
I'd love to do a lot of 10 second frames & stack them to see what I could get of this area.
If the seeing is better one night I'll try it.
Image is shown full scale.

cheers
Allan

[astronobob (Bob)]

Great going for one night Allan, all looking rather neat actually & an interesting rendition of Orion there, good show

[alpal]

Originally Posted by astronobob

Great going for one night Allan, all looking rather neat actually & an interesting rendition of Orion there, good show

Thanks Bob,
I spent ages re-processing Orion.
This one has more of the RGB in it compared to Ha.
I also made a 3 x drizzle version of the 60 second RGB frames
& layered it in very carefully.
I also copied & pasted the shorter frame stars in & boosted their colour.
I left some of the noise in it.
A large 1920 x 1455 version is on flickr.
see here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/2471943...n/photostream/

cheers
Allan

[barx1963 (Malcolm)]

Allan
I have seen a lot of M42 images on this forum and I have to say I really like yours! To see the Trapezium and those subtle colours is a real treat

Thank you

Malcolm

[alpal]

Originally Posted by barx1963

Allan
I have seen a lot of M42 images on this forum and I have to say I really like yours!
To see the Trapezium and those subtle colours is a real treat

Thank you

Malcolm

Thanks Malcolm.
It was a dilemma whether to allow the brightness of the Trapezium
to shine out or show it's detail.
Hopefully this new version really draws the eye in.

I also re-processed Eta Carinae to let more of the RGB through
instead of being over powered by Ha luminance.
A large 3 MByte version is on flickr.
I post a small version here.

cheers
Allan

[DavidNg (David)]

Great images Allan, what a productive that night was. Well done.

Regards

[alpal]

Originally Posted by DavidNg

Great images Allan, what a productive that night was. Well done.

Regards

Thanks David,
It's been good to have some clear nights for a change.

cheers
Allan

[Shiraz (Ray)]

wonderful collection for a single night Allan. regards Ray

[RickS (Rick)]

Yes, a great collection Allan!

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

Hey that latest M42 is looking nice and sharp and has a lovely smokey look, I like it, just watch the Trap blend though, it is looking like a bit of a view through an obvious hole in the neb, just needs more careful blending

The Keyhole looks good too

Mike

[gregbradley]

That M42 is divine. Nice work. I like Eta as well. NGC1808 looking promising but galaxies really need the focal length and time.

Greg.

[alpal]

Originally Posted by gregbradley

That M42 is divine. Nice work. I like Eta as well. NGC1808 looking promising but galaxies really need the focal length and time.
Greg.

Thanks Greg,
I almost need a 3 x Barlow to do that galaxy but I wouldn't know how to set it up.
As for time - I think it would need 10 hours.
Eta & Orion came out ok with only an hours data each - they are so bright.

Originally Posted by strongmanmike

Hey that latest M42 is looking nice and sharp and has a lovely smokey look, I like it, just watch the Trap blend though, it is looking like a bit of a view through an obvious hole in the neb, just needs more careful blending

The Keyhole looks good too

Mike

Thanks Mike,
I tried blending it for hours -
if I re-introduced the white "smokeyness" it obscured the Trap area.
If I got rid of the smokeyness the area underneath became very dark & featureless.
I decided that - although it looks fake it draws the eye in
& allows you to see the detail.
It's different to what other people do & makes my pic unique.
M42 is imaged so many times that I wanted to be different.

I love that keyhole nebula.
There is so much going on in a small area.
I wonder what a Flea3 camera could do with it stacking 1000 short frames?

As for that NGC 1808 - I wonder if you could bring out the faint arms
in the same amount of time with your mini-Hubble in 98 minutes?
Maybe I could have with a dark site?

Originally Posted by RickS

Yes, a great collection Allan!

Thanks Rick - it shows you don't need a lot of time on bright targets
to come up with something reasonable.

Originally Posted by Shiraz

wonderful collection for a single night Allan. regards Ray

Thanks Ray.

[alpal]

As per what Mike was saying -
I did a closeup of the Trapezium & surrounding area with different processing.
I lost the smokiness of the glow but it shows more detail.
Larger version on flickr.

[alpal]

I couldn't help myself.
I had to change the processing of the entire picture of Orion.
Larger size on flickr.