Hi all, after getting my comet buzz for the evening I was left with a nice dark sky and a chance for some imaging. Conditions were hot and humid and there was some haze.
This is NGC1365 in Fornax at mag 9.5
30 images in luminesence at 21 seconds each.
Taken with DSI II Pro and f/3.3 focal reducer, telecsope was a LX200R 12" in Alt/Az and tracking was done with Sky Atlas Pro.
Processed with MaximDL.
Hi Gama, that would be nice but the budget is a bit streched at the moment.
I think that there is still a lot more I can do with the DSI as at the moment I am still in Alt/Az and therefore really limited to sub 30 second exposures.
My next step will be to get onto a wedge and increase my exposure times beyond that 30 second limit.
Hi Ric,
good to see you getting some photon time.
This is one of my favourite galaxy's.
You've done her justice and once you get the wedge and go out to longer subs, you'll notice the smoothness and ease of processing.
But you will need to find a different method of stretching, other than just tweaking curves or however your doing things at the mo. Hard not to burn the core or make the stars look to stark, but the following programs might help you.
Try and get your head around IRIS, this is a powerful program and it's free.
Or also PixInsight Le. This is also free and has some excellent features.. also a bit easier than Iris. Final tweaking can be done in Paint Shop Pro... I think this is still free as well (a bit PhotoShopish, for those who don't have the bucks)
A suggestion, get rid of the 3.3 reducer... more for visual. They were never that great for imaging causing too much vignetting.. the 6.3 I think you'll find a lot better for imaging purposes.
All JIMHO of course here Ric.
Hi Rich, thanks for the advice it is always appreciated. I shall have a look at the software that you have mentioned and give it a go.
Thanks for your input.
A suggestion, get rid of the 3.3 reducer... more for visual. They were never that great for imaging causing too much vignetting.. the 6.3 I think you'll find a lot better for imaging purposes.
All JIMHO of course here Ric.
The 3.3 reducer was specifically made for imaging (although only really suitable for small size sensors), not for visual use.
The 6.3 reducer is more suited for both visual and imaging, but again will produce vignetting on large sensors.
Thanks for the comments Andrew,
I am thinking of two paths for the wedge either a Ultra wedge from Meade or a custom made one based on a design called the Ulti wedge I saw on the net.
I think the 3.3 reducer is quite a handy accessory in Alt/Az mode as it reduces your exposure times quite significantly, that is quite handy when you restricted to sub 30 second exposures.
