Eta Carinae Nebula in HaRGB

[Brad Moore]

Originally Posted by Harlequin

Amazing image. Well done.

How much coffee does it take to produce images of this quality?

Not much as you think, just a few clear nights. Image processing is the hardest part I spend anywhere from 2 to 5 hours on each image.

Most people don't call this real astronomy (and are sometimes disgusted) as my observatory (besides the roll off roof) is fully robotic and automated, however I have spent endless years cutting my teeth the hard way. I’m not particularly interested in setting up/tinkering/tearing down my hardware each night little alone the sleep deprivation. Don’t get me wrong lots of work goes into getting everything automated, it took me over 2 months to fully configure.

A typical imaging run is this:

1. I manually roll the roof off two hours before the suns sets (to start the cooling process).
2. Turn on the power.
3. Program the imaging run which is a few mouse clicks.
4. Resume my normal life which includes sleeping.

If it gets cloudy or rains the cloud/rain sensor will wake me from my sleep to close up shop.

http://www.southern-astro.com.au/php...loudsensor.php

Cheers,
Brad

[iceman (Mike)]

That's awesome Brad, a great automated setup. I don't know why people would find that disgusting - it's simply a different method to get a result.

The cloud sensor is great - all you need is an auto garage door setup for your roll-off roof, so it can auto-roll off and if it gets cloudy, the roof can auto roll back on. I'm sure you've already thought of it

[Brad Moore]

Originally Posted by iceman

That's awesome Brad, a great automated setup. I don't know why people would find that disgusting - it's simply a different method to get a result.

The cloud sensor is great - all you need is an auto garage door setup for your roll-off roof, so it can auto-roll off and if it gets cloudy, the roof can auto roll back on. I'm sure you've already thought of it

Hi Mike,

Trust me I've had some nasty emails from narrow minded people. <!--[if gte vml 1]><v:shapetype id="_x0000_t75" coordsize="21600,21600" o:spt="75" o:preferrelative="t" path="m@4@5l@4@11@9@11@9@5xe" filled="f" stroked="f"> <v:stroke joinstyle="miter"/> <v:formulas> <v:f eqn="if lineDrawn pixelLineWidth 0"/> <v:f eqn="sum @0 1 0"/> <v:f eqn="sum 0 0 @1"/> <v:f eqn="prod @2 1 2"/> <v:f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelWidth"/> <v:f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelHeight"/> <v:f eqn="sum @0 0 1"/> <v:f eqn="prod @6 1 2"/> <v:f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelWidth"/> <v:f eqn="sum @8 21600 0"/> <v:f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelHeight"/> <v:f eqn="sum @10 21600 0"/> </v:formulas> <v:path o:extrusionok="f" gradientshapeok="t" o:connecttype="rect"/> <o:lock v:ext="edit" aspectratio="t"/> </v:shapetype><v:shape id="_x0000_i1025" type="#_x0000_t75" alt="" style='width:28.5pt; height:13.5pt'> <v:imagedata src="file:///C:\DOCUME~1\BRADMO~1\LOCALS~1\Temp\ msohtml1\01\clip_image001.gif" o:href="http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/images/smilies/shrugging.gif"/> </v:shape><![endif]--><!--[if !vml]--><!--[endif]-->

I found a small group of people who are anti-go to and automation, they think its cheating as I don't have to work hard, stay up late, tweak the hardware night to night. Sleeping and taking images!!! PLEASE!! That’s not astrophotography? Is it?<!--[if gte vml 1]><v:shape id="_x0000_i1026" type="#_x0000_t75" alt="" style='width:13.5pt;height:13.5pt'> <v:imagedata src="file:///C:\DOCUME~1\BRADMO~1\LOCALS~1\Temp\ msohtml1\01\clip_image002.gif" o:href="http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/images/smilies/happy04.gif"/> </v:shape><![endif]--><!--[if !vml]--> <!--[endif]-->

<!--[if gte vml 1]><v:shape id="_x0000_i1027" type="#_x0000_t75" alt="" style='width:26.25pt;height:18.75pt '> <v:imagedata src="file:///C:\DOCUME~1\BRADMO~1\LOCALS~1\Temp\ msohtml1\01\clip_image003.gif" o:href="http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/images/smilies/helpsign3.gif"/> </v:shape><![endif]--><!--[if !vml]--><!--[endif]--> Well I really am at a loss on how to automate my roof. If you have any ideas please share. I know the cloud sensor can close it for sure.

Cheers,
Brad