I have to admit defeat on the outer ring. There is an almost impercetable red glow where I think it should be (a small portion of it anyway), but it is really indestinguishable from the background and so I could not confidently claim that I captured it. But it is definitely a future goal.
Here's my image of the Helix Nebula.
I took the image with my Canon EOS 300D on the 12-inch equatorial 'scope, handguided with the 4.5-inch guidescope.
The composite image is composed of 1 x 3 min. @ ISO1600 and 3 x 6 min. @ ISO400, about 21-minutes total exposure time. The images were manually stacked in photoshop, no dark frames etc.
Nice one Paul, now a little birdy told me your getting a 2" flat field baader coma double overhead cam foxtailed corrector very soon. Will that spur on some competition between you and the little birdy that told me?
Nice one Paul, now a little birdy told me your getting a 2" flat field baader coma double overhead cam foxtailed corrector very soon. Will that spur on some competition between you and the little birdy that told me?
NaNa
I got mine last week. All I need now is some dark clear skies.
Nice one Paul, now a little birdy told me your getting a 2" flat field baader coma double overhead cam foxtailed corrector very soon. Will that spur on some competition between you and the little birdy that told me?
It should correct a great deal of the coma that affects the 12-inch GSO scope. If you look at this image http://www.skylab.com.au/pmsa/ngc253_page3.html
you may note that the stars around the edge of the pic suffer from coma, which makes the stars look elongated, dove tailed, etc (I mean no longer round).
The little bird and I have always learn't from each other's work, no competition, just our hobby, Astronomy! And now IIS makes it even better 'cause we can share our images and ideas with others like yourself.
Hi all
A while ago I tried using the Baader 7 Nm H Alpha filter on the Helix with my unmodified 300D, as such the result was a bit noisy, had to go 2 x 20 minutes at ISO 1600. Anyway Ive used that to replace the red channel on a 2 x 20 minute ISO 1600 shot with the Baader UHCS filter.
Ive had to rotate it as well as the Ha shot was taken at a different time and orientation.
Heres the complete RGB Ha shot and the standard 2 x 20 min shot with the uhcs filter
Scott
[IMG]http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=5489&st c=1
[/IMG]http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=5490&st c=1
I should mention that like Terry, Paul and I hand guide our scopes .
The UHCS filter does have a disadvantage, it filters out starlight as well as light pollution, reducing star brightness a bit, including background galaxies, Paul has a nice one on right side of the edge of the Helix, its only visible as a faint dot in my filtered image.
Scott
Many thanks.
I just wished I had access to darker skies, the filter really helps with the light polution, but its not suitable for broad emission objects like galaxies and reflection nebulas, but best for emission line nebulas like the Helix. I get a blue cast in the original raw images with the uhcs filter, with 20 mins @ISO 1600 giving the histogram peak nearly 1/2 way across, that would happen in less than 3 mins without the filter here in Newcastle. When I use either Curves, or Gradient Xterminator in Photoshop to neutralise the background to grey, it enhances the reds, making red nebulas really stand out
Scott
But it is definitely a future goal.
Astronomy! And now IIS makes it even better 'cause we can share our images and ideas with others like yourself. 
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