Last one for a while folks, the weather has turned. I suppose though I should be thankful, we had three or four decent nights up until last night.
Anyway, following on from the Helix and NGC253, I tried Lee's suggestion of NGC1365, and while it is dim, and difficult, I am reasonably happy so far. This is 9 shots, each 600 seconds, so 1.5 hours worth, using the same gear as the other shots.
I plan on re-visiting this if and when the weather clears and getting a few more hours in.
Interestingly, I trialed the FocusMax software on this shot (and a quick NGC253 shot while waiting for this one to clear an obstruction). Both are as good as I have ever produced focusing manually.
Ohh Gary! What have you done? I had just almost decided that the SBIG ST8 was the way to go, with my CFW8A. And now with these recent one shot colour posts of yours, you’ve got me also considering the ST4000XCM. I’m in a dither!
Thanks again team. I must try it with the dob visually, but it was dim to image, so I didn't expect to see much.
Dennis, I hate to help the dithering, but I too was a purist that thought mono was the only way. In some situations it probaly is, but man, before I plonked down serious cash, I would try an OSC camera first. Come over and we can do this. Yes, the ST4000 will be a ripper, but there are plenty of ST2000XCM's appearing as owners bail in preperation of the ST4000XCM. Grab one of these.
If you factor in the requirement to shoot 3 or 4 shots in each of the channels, (LRGB) and then see the clouds appearing, you will treasure the OSC. I do. Is there anyone close that has one, as to see it in action is the only way really.
That’s it then. You’ve help solve my dilemma – thanks.
I’m not aspiring to be a world-class DSO imager; I like to take pretty pictures for the inspiration, challenge and stimulation of setting up the gear, tuning it, acquiring the object, grabbing the data and processing it. Its more fun based than goal driven, so it seems that a OSC is more matched to my needs and approach. At least for now, that is.
Awesome pic! Look at the other faint fuzzies floating around nearby ..... I am beginning to think it will be OSC or luminance only for me before long....
Lee, by the look of both you and Dennis maybe I should buy a few of these and on-sell them.
Really though, as I said with Dennis, they are not as sensitive as a mono camera, but by golly for pretty pictures, with a minimum of fuss they are hard to beat.
Lets not forget it was you that sparked this idea as well. Thanks.
A very well processed image Gary. Magnificent spiral structure present with the outer fainter arms displaying strong details. A sprinkling of background galaxies complements the foreground subject. Well done.
Mono vs. one shot colour... depends on how much of a purist you are. Personally, I'll take to mono. Sure, one shot colour reduces workload, but this comes at the cost of flexibility. The ability to image through individual filters is a major benefit allowing greater control over the final output. Depends on your imaging goals.
..... I am beginning to think it will be OSC or luminance only for me before long....
