Rosette Hyperstar

Rod771 (Rod) · #1 22-01-2015, 10:52 PM

Hi Everyone.

Had a couple of clear (and hot) nights last week which give me the opportunity to image the Rosette nebula. I found it to be a very photogenic target and had a lot of fun capturing and processing the data.

Only glitch on this one, apart from the temp being 23c at midnight, was PHD2 was losing the guide star at the end of most dither commands sent from Backyard Eos. I tried everything , changing settings and searching google. Ended up just baby sitting PHD by re selecting the star manually each time it was lost. Would have preferred snoozing on the lounge than sitting at the laptop.

I did manage to fix the problem before the second nights run. I updated to the latest version of PHD2, which ran perfectly.

Taken with the Canon 60Da at F2 using the Hyperstar lens on C11 Edge HD.

170 x 90sec subs @ ISO800. Calibrated with darks and flats. Processed in Pixinsight.

EDIT: I've replaced the original uploads with new amended image. Different colour balance with slightly better star cores. Both old and new versions are on Astrobin for comparison, the link below now opens new image.

Large click here

Thanks for looking

Cheers

Rod

strongmanmike (Michael) · #2 23-01-2015, 12:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rod771

I found it to be a very photogenic target and had a lot of fun capturing and processing the data.

And that's the main thing in the end huh?

Quote:

Ended up just baby sitting PHD by re selecting the star manually each time it was lost.

Nightmare, the first time I tried dithering using the AP and astroart with seperate cameras and I didn't know how to have Astroart comand two cameras and dither...I did the same, manual dithering is very annoying

Quote:

Would have preferred snoozing on the lounge than sitting at the laptop.

Oooh yeah = double

Glad to hear you sorted it the second night, must have been a relief?

Quote:

Ive attached two images. The first is the colour calibration Pixinsight produced which I dont mind. The second has the blues pushed a little, which I also like. I couldn't decide on one, again.

Close but perhaps the bluer one for my eye/monitor? (apart from a dislike of decon worms and a terrible habit of posting images at less than 100% res

...I also have a penchant for blue

)

Mike

DJScotty (Scott) · #3 23-01-2015, 01:03 PM

I agree with Mike. It is the enjoyment we get out of this that is important.

A nice image. I too like the slightly (ever so) bluer image.

DJ Scotty

multiweb (Marc) · #4 23-01-2015, 07:54 PM

Great stuff Rod. One for the cool wall.

Rod771 (Rod) · #5 24-01-2015, 09:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by strongmanmike

Glad to hear you sorted it the second night, must have been a relief?

Close but perhaps the bluer one for my eye/monitor? (apart from a dislike of decon worms and a terrible habit of posting images at less than 100% res

...I also have a penchant for blue

)

Mike

Cheers Mike. Yeah I was very relieved PHD wasn't losing the guide star after the upgrade. I sat and watched about 8 dithers then felt game enough to lay down on the lounge for 2 hours sleep. Woke up at the end of the session put the cover over the scope then went to bed.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DJScotty

I agree with Mike. It is the enjoyment we get out of this that is important.

A nice image. I too like the slightly (ever so) bluer image.

DJ Scotty

Thanks Scotty!

Quote:

Originally Posted by multiweb

Great stuff Rod. One for the cool wall.

Thanks Marc! I've actually discover some more suitable settings in PI's masked stretch tool for my star data. I blew them out in above images so I'm re doing some steps to see if I can rescue them.

Cheers

Rod

pluto (Hugh) · #6 24-01-2015, 10:15 PM

That's an awesome image Rod, great work

Rod771 (Rod) · #7 25-01-2015, 06:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pluto

That's an awesome image Rod, great work

Glad you like it Hugh! Cheers mate!

I haven't been able to leave it alone, Ive uploaded a revision above and on Astrobin. I think its time I walk away from it now, before my eyes pop out of my head.

Ross G · #8 26-01-2015, 10:52 PM

A great looking Rosette photo Rod.

You have your hyperstar system well tuned!

Ross.

SimmoW (SIMON) · #9 27-01-2015, 02:18 PM

that's a real sharp image there, great result

IanP · #10 27-01-2015, 02:42 PM

Nice Rosette, Rod ...

Quote:

..apart from the temp being 23c at midnight..

The sensor's temperature @90s will be close to 40C, have you ever considered a cool-box or something to cool the 60Da down?

eg. http://www.centralds.net/cam/?p=2728

Rod771 (Rod) · #11 28-01-2015, 11:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ross G

A great looking Rosette photo Rod.

You have your hyperstar system well tuned!

Ross.

Thanks Ross! Yeah, got a few miles under the belt now. My secondary housing came loose a couple of weeks ago so I had re align and tighten that up then re collimate the hyperstar lens. I think I've got it back to where it was.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SimmoW

that's a real sharp image there, great result

Thanks Simon! The hyperstar/60Da samples at 1.54"arcsec per pixel So I use PI's drizzle tool.

Quote:

Originally Posted by IanP

Nice Rosette, Rod ...

The sensor's temperature @90s will be close to 40C, have you ever considered a cool-box or something to cool the 60Da down?

eg. http://www.centralds.net/cam/?p=2728

Cheers Ian!

Backyard EOS was reporting sensor temps of 27 c to 29 c during this run. So yeah, pretty hot. I think I'll be going mono CCD in the future, until then its lots of lights and lots of darks.