Did a swing by some deeper targets to mix things up- all live stacked using Asiar Pro and basically the same setup as the 10” LX50 & CGEM planetary rig just swap the Barlow for the 0.63 reducer and a couple different filters! Thought I’d share a few that came up ok:
Just some cropping and a few touch ups in PSexpress. I’ll come back to these with a bit more time and my edge800 and try my hand at some proper post processing as soon as my planet-fever wanes.
Thanks Jeff! Good to have a break every now and then. I can do the EAA stuff in my sleep whereas planetary pics quite new to me and intense concentration at times. Should mention these are taken over the last month -not all in one night!
I'm just curious but do you find it more challenging to do planetary or deep space photography? Obviously it depends on what equipment is used, but I'm curious of what others find.
Beautiful set of pictures. Refreshing to see deep natural shots for a change after all the crap that's being peddled in the deep space forums of late. You can tell straight away when a planetary guy does deep sky. Attention to focus and the basics with good data capture. Love that galaxy shot.
Reilly- that’s a tough one and I’m sure everyone has a different answer! For me I find a session of DSO eaa / live stacking is very low-effort. Usually I’m controlling it from the couch inside and I’m stretching/tweaking it in PS while the capture is still running and then move onto the next one. Sometimes a target just ‘pops’ and I’ll stay there for an hour or so taking in the view. Proper deep sky imaging is a bit different and I find that quite daunting with all the post processing. I’m learning bit by bit but in no rush cause still having great fun doing the other stuff. I absolutely love getting planetary images, but it is quite fickle and a bit of time post processing. Sometimes I’ve spent an entire night out in the cold for no decent data. It’s great to be able to mix it up and keep things fresh!
Cheers Marc I’m glad you like them (warts and all)! I think because I’ve been an entirely visual guy and eaa till recent so still totally chuffed to be able to get any decent view from the backyard rather than driving somewhere dark. Each to their own I guess but yeah I certainly like things true to the data and target.
Thanks Martin- yeah that galaxy in Pavo seemed to come up real nice with my setup. I’m always trying to get something new or off the beaten track! I’ve saved the subs from some of the better targets and am in the process of working through your startools procedure and hope to be able to post something at some stage. Thanks again!
Thanks Anth! Appreciate the comments. I’m always in awe of some of the beautiful work posted on these forums so definitely happy with some modest offerings!!