Does this qualify as "mega-data"? :)

[atalas]

Great result with a DSLR !

[Shiraz (Ray)]

That is an excellent image - hero status, when the equipment is considered.

[marco (Marco Lorenzi)]

As somebody else said Richards, this is a fantastic image far above what I could imagine possible to do with a modes DSLR. I got details that compare or exceed those visible on "normally" long exposures using cooled CCDs
You must be very satisfied with the result

Clear skies
Marco

[prokyon (Werner Probst)]

Great effort Richard! It would be the perfect way to capture so many data for every image. But we all don't live in Andes mountains.
No noise, faint details, great colors. My answer, YES, it was it worth!

[Harel_Boren]

Excellent image, and the effort is indeed worthwhile!
Cheers,
Harel

[rustigsmed (Russell)]

Fantastic image congratulations. There is something about people taking their gear to the max!

I had actually been curious as to the result of using a non- cooled DSLR with a serious amount of imaging time (mega). You've surely answered the question there!

Inspiring stuff!

Rusty

PS; most computers would've exploded stacking 439 subs!!

[rmuhlack (Richard)]

Thanks again for the lovely comments. I think that the humble DSLR is actually quite a capable astroimaging tool (more than people often give it credit for), and with careful balancing of the capture settings and sub calibration you can really get some good results (albeit with a trade-off to dynamic range).

I have an updated version here, where I have tweaked the curves ever so slightly to try to improve the contrast and bring out some more of the cirrus which is there without also amplifying the noise too much. A hi-res version of this image can be found here: http://www.astrobin.com/82767/C/

I have also attached an "ultra-stretch" to give some indication of the cirrus that the camera has picked up, however it is proving a challenge to elegantly present this at full res.

[batema (Mark)]

Congratulations on a fatastic image. What brand scope were you using and at that size it truely is a magical image. Well done.

[rmuhlack (Richard)]

Originally Posted by rustigsmed

PS; most computers would've exploded stacking 439 subs!!

My desktop has an AMD Phenom X6 1075T CPU (6 physical cores) with 32GB of RAM. The processor is a couple of years old now but it does the job. Calibration and stacking still takes several hours using Pixinsight with that many subs, and because the CPU spends much of that time with all cores at 100% I've upgraded the CPU cooler as well (its now *HUGE*)

[rmuhlack (Richard)]

Originally Posted by batema

Congratulations on a fatastic image. What brand scope were you using and at that size it truely is a magical image. Well done.

Thanks Mark. The OTA is a small Celestron 130mm f5 newtonian, which originally started out life as a 130SLT although it is now long since separated from its original alt-az mount. It has been upgraded with a 2 inch focuser (with Robofocus), a larger secondary to increase the full illumination of the image circle, and tube rings fixed to a losmandy dovetail. I'm using a basic MPCC, and am guiding with a 200mm FL f4 Nikkor camera lens as a guide scope in conjunction with a QHY5LII and a Geoptik Nikon-T2 adapter. All riding on a HEQ5.