Lambda Centauri Nebula IC2944 with Atik 11002M

Hagar (Doug) · #1 10-07-2010, 10:20 AM

I have spent the last couple of nights collecting data on IC2944.
My original capture was to be 50 minutes of each colour and 100 minutes of Luminance. At this point I was a little surprised at how little red data for the nebula I had managed so I decided to capture a little more and also some Ha that I could blend into the lum and the red channel. I captured a further 4 X 15 minute exposures of the red channel.
In total I ended up with: 6.8 hrs of captured images
5 X 10 minute Red
5 X 10 minute Green
5 X 10 minute Blue
5 X 10 minute Lum
4 X 15 minute Red
10 X 15 minute Ha
Combined as Ha+Lum, Ha+Red,Green,Blue as LRGB
Camera: Atik 11002M
Filters: Baader LRGBHa
Scope: Takahashi FSQ106ED at F5
Guided on a Losmandy G11 Mount

Image cropped a little to remove edge problems from alignment drift over the 2 nights.
Hi Res version Here: http://www.darkskyau.com/cm/displayi...273&fullsize=1 Approx 2MB

strongmanmike (Michael) · #2 10-07-2010, 10:28 AM

One of your (if not "the") best images mate.

Great shot

If you could camoflage the halo around Lambda Cen just a little more it would be just about perfect

. Some will say it's too red but it looks quite good even so and you have the whole chicken there all be it upside down

Some say that cameras are all the same and it is just the imager that makes the difference..well I dunno...it seems rather coincidental that your images could improve so much since the advent of the Atik11002, looks like you are on a winner there Doug

Mike

TrevorW · #3 10-07-2010, 10:46 AM

Very nice indeed Doug well done

Alchemy (Clive) · #4 10-07-2010, 10:58 AM

Looks good, agree with mike about the purple halo... Minor detail,

The star colors are impressive. If you look closely in the large image, to the left of the main nebulosity there's a white line..... An asteroid ?

Could possibly do some extra sharpening and layer it in on the lines of nebulosity tombring out more detail, again a very minor point.

All in all pretty good,
See ya

Clive

Hagar (Doug) · #5 10-07-2010, 11:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by strongmanmike

One of your (if not "the") best images mate.

Great shot

If you could camoflage the halo around Lambda Cen just a little more it would be just about perfect

. Some will say it's too red but it looks quite good even so and you have the whole chicken there all be it upside down

Some say that cameras are all the same and it is just the imager that makes the difference..well I dunno...it seems rather coincidental that your images could improve so much since the advent of the Atik11002, looks like you are on a winner there Doug

Mike

Thanks Mike, The halo is a pest I don't quite know what to do about it but there must be a fix. As for the camera I am very happy with what it can do and a little surprised at the resolution gained in the images.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TrevorW

Very nice indeed Doug well done

Thanks Trevor.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alchemy

Looks good, agree with mike about the purple halo... Minor detail,

The star colors are impressive. If you look closely in the large image, to the left of the main nebulosity there's a white line..... An asteroid ?

Could possibly do some extra sharpening and layer it in on the lines of nebulosity tombring out more detail, again a very minor point.

All in all pretty good,
See ya

Clive

Thanks Clive, the star colour was my main concern with the Ha Blend.
The white line you wrote about is I think 4 tiny stars very close together. It is evident in each and every file of the stack when blown up to 300%. That is as long as I am looking at the right line. See attached image.

multiweb (Marc) · #6 10-07-2010, 12:00 PM

ha... now you're talking. Impressive.

DavidU (Dave) · #7 10-07-2010, 02:48 PM

Another monster image Doug.

h0ughy (David) · #8 10-07-2010, 02:56 PM

great image Doug

paulF (Paul) · #9 10-07-2010, 04:27 PM

This is awesome!!! I love the way Saturn looks on the left side at the bottom part of the Nebula

Great work Doug

Alchemy (Clive) · #10 10-07-2010, 05:09 PM

Quote:

The white line you wrote about is I think 4 tiny stars very close together. It is evident in each and every file of the stack when blown up to 300%. That is as long as I am looking at the right line. See attached image.

Yep thats the one..... You've been holding out on thte detail, there's even more than your large file showed......excellent

danielsun · #11 10-07-2010, 05:23 PM

Beautiful image Doug! I think the camera has made a difference.

Doug, Photoshop Astronomy by R.Scott Ireland has useful tips for enhancing or reducing star halo's as well as all round processing techniques.
I think it's a very handy book.

Cheers Daniel.

gregbradley · #12 10-07-2010, 05:25 PM

A fine image Doug. Very nicely done.

Greg.

Hagar (Doug) · #13 10-07-2010, 07:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by multiweb

ha... now you're talking. Impressive.

Thanks Marc.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DavidU

Another monster image Doug.

Thanks David Its big alright the finished TIFF file is 62.5MB

Quote:

Originally Posted by h0ughy

great image Doug

Thanks David

Quote:

Originally Posted by paulF

This is awesome!!! I love the way Saturn looks on the left side at the bottom part of the Nebula

Great work Doug

Those stars do look a bit like Saturn. I'm just happy they are resolved well enough to see.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alchemy

Yep thats the one..... You've been holding out on thte detail, there's even more than your large file showed......excellent

Quote:

Originally Posted by danielsun

Beautiful image Doug! I think the camera has made a difference.

Doug, Photoshop Astronomy by R.Scott Ireland has useful tips for enhancing or reducing star halo's as well as all round processing techniques.
I think it's a very handy book.

Cheers Daniel.

Thanks Daniel Might look at that book. I think I have all the others. The huge CCD and big pixels must make some difference but I just don't know how it will go on the RC8. I am having too much fun with it on the FSQ.

Quote:

Originally Posted by gregbradley

A fine image Doug. Very nicely done.

Greg.

Thanks Greg. I am really enjoying this camera and the high resolution it produces.

David Fitz-Henr · #14 10-07-2010, 08:04 PM

That's a great image, Doug!! Good detail and colour in the high-res version - well done !!!

Hagar (Doug) · #15 10-07-2010, 09:33 PM

Thanks David, I just found another way to bring in the stars from a standard RGB version. I have learnt so much in this last couple of weeks working with really good data. It has been very enjoyable.

desler · #16 10-07-2010, 10:28 PM

Really impessive Doug, just enjoyable !

Darren

mithrandir (Andrew) · #17 10-07-2010, 10:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hagar

Thanks Clive, the star colour was my main concern with the Ha Blend.
The white line you wrote about is I think 4 tiny stars very close together. It is evident in each and every file of the stack when blown up to 300%. That is as long as I am looking at the right line. See attached image.

In the UCAC3 catalog your four stars, from the bottom, are 053-121547, 053-151560, 053-151572, 053-151585

Hagar (Doug) · #18 11-07-2010, 01:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mithrandir

In the UCAC3 catalog your four stars, from the bottom, are 053-121547, 053-151560, 053-151572, 053-151585

Thanks for that info Andrew. What program are you using to get this information and overlay it on the image? It is always interesting to see the actual catalogue details in an image.

richardo (Rich) · #19 11-07-2010, 10:42 PM

Yes great going Doug!
I enjoyed flicking between the two images you posted here.
The full res version is pretty nice to look around as well.

Good stuff.

Rich

RB (Andrew) · #20 11-07-2010, 10:47 PM

Now that's a lovely shot, well done Doug !!

Keep up the good work.