B&w M8

[richardo (Rich)]

Hi all,
had a chance to get out tonight after a false start due
to clouds.
Miraculously they parted.
Messed around with getting my primary cell to hold better
this afternoon.
Collimation hung in there tonight.
This image is a little over baked, but was a quick dirty
processing job, a bit clipped.
Really happy with what this scope is doing now I've sorted a few
things out!

BTW, this is a work in progress so excuse the shabby edges.

Scope- 10" F4 newtonian (Royce primary/ Antares secondary)
Camera- HX916 unbinned.
Exposures- 40@ 1min
Unguided.
FWHM 1.1 average @ 2xs binned.

http://www.baytop-observatory.com/cc.../m8lumnewt.jpg

Colour hopefully tomorrow night weather permitting.

Hope you all had some clear skies tonight.
Cheers for now
Rich

[iceman (Mike)]

Beautiful image, huge image scale. I look forward to the colour data!

[jase (Jason)]

Good start Rich. A little noise present. May have been better off with 4 x 10min subs instead of 40 x 1min. Alternatively, use a gaussian blur mask to treat the dimmer areas. Looking forward to the final result.

[leon]

Looks pretty good to me, there is something about black and white imaging.
very nice indeed.

Leon

[Ric]

A great looking image Rich, I wish my quick images looked that good.

Cheers

[Dr Nick (Nick)]

Beauty!

[rogerg (Roger)]

Looks good. Nice large size.

I feel like running a slight sharpen over it, but hard to know how quickly it would look over processed.

[richardo (Rich)]

Originally Posted by iceman

Beautiful image, huge image scale. I look forward to the colour data!

Thanks Mike, colour has been called off tonight due to clouds, hopefully soon.

Originally Posted by jase

Good start Rich. A little noise present. May have been better off with 4 x 10min subs instead of 40 x 1min. Alternatively, use a gaussian blur mask to treat the dimmer areas. Looking forward to the final result.

Thanks Jase... like I said, 'quick and dirty process'... I still want to bring out some more contrast to the inner part of the neb structure. I went for 1min subs cause my guider was chasing the really poor seeing I had, so it's good to fall back on just plain old tracking when transparencies good. Lucky this is such a bright object! I find with this scope, the stars are like pin points with short subs, when I start to get out to 3min + guided they bloat quite quickly... fast newts !
I did notice a little noise but I will attend to this... I generally don't try to denoise too much, when I do I selectively mask the areas that need it and use the 'Neat Image' plugin in PS.
Thanks for your comments... appreciated!

Originally Posted by leon

Looks pretty good to me, there is something about black and white imaging.
very nice indeed.
Leon

Thank you. I agree with you Leon, B&W look great, especially done with a Ha filter... but when the colour is added, seems to give it a 3D effect!

Originally Posted by Ric

A great looking image Rich, I wish my quick images looked that good.
Cheers

Cheers for that Ric, it's really this scope Ric.. I still can't get over the refractor like images it's throwing up, especially with this new secondary.... I just get excited.... after all the crappy soft images I used to get with my VC200L... It was the ED80 that showed me what an image could turn out like with almost apo refractor optics.... I'm just a happy chappy that this scope is doing a great job of it!...

Originally Posted by Dr Nick

Beauty!

Thanks Nick!

Originally Posted by rogerg

Looks good. Nice large size.

I feel like running a slight sharpen over it, but hard to know how quickly it would look over processed.

Rog, I've already hit it with various amounts of sharpening enhancements prior to opening it up in PS. Did a bit more in PS but backed it off a tad as it became a little too noisy.. but this was just a 'quick and dirty' processing job done with bleary eye balls... I'll have more time tonight to get into some masking and enhancing on areas I'm not happy with...

Thanks all for you comments and critique.... all welcome

Cheers for now
Rich

[bluescope]

Lots of subtle detail in the varying greys Rich. I would agree with you that your VC200L images were quite soft in comparison to the Newt and ED80. Certainly nothing wrong with the 10 inch ay !

[atalas]

Nice work Rich,lots of detail ! looking forward to seeing the colour data added.

[richardo (Rich)]

Thanks Steve and Louie !!
If you have another look have just done some adjustments to my satisfaction.
It's still not cropped, will wait for the colour before i do this. So the edges are rough.
Here's a link to the completed Lum...
http://www.baytop-observatory.com/cc.../m8lumnewt.jpg

Will probably push the Lum further once I combine the colour.

All the best
Rich

[atalas]

Hi Rich
Man,you must of done some real subtle changes cause I'm struggling to find a difference ! you've processed the middle Zone (brightness)very very well dude !

[skeltz (Rob)]

Originally Posted by jase

Good start Rich. A little noise present. May have been better off with 4 x 10min subs instead of 40 x 1min. Alternatively, use a gaussian blur mask to treat the dimmer areas. Looking forward to the final result.

yes good start rico noise ,yes noise um i will have to get my glasses strenghend by 200% so i can see this so called noise...HEY nice image mate anyway

[2020BC (Bill Christie)]

A very nicely captured image with great detail. You can be proud of that one. What mount did you use BTW?

[richardo (Rich)]

Originally Posted by atalas

Hi Rich
Man,you must of done some real subtle changes cause I'm struggling to find a difference ! you've processed the middle Zone (brightness)very very well dude !

Louie, the original quick post had quite severe black point clipping to the bottom R/H corner as well as on some of those Bok globules... i did it this way to bring out heaps of contrast... any way I merely (subtly) went back and redid all the subs so the black point was raised a bit more. I'm a bit more happier with the level over the whole image now. Sorry there's no comparison...
Thanks for taking another look!!

Originally Posted by rpsastronomy

yes good start rico noise ,yes noise um i will have to get my glasses strenghend by 200% so i can see this so called noise...HEY nice image mate anyway

Hey Roberto, thanks there buddy!! Haven't even touched it with any noise reduction..... promise...
The new springs in the primary cell I think will do the job.. well, proof will be in the pudding hey!! But we wait for this cloud to take a hike... jeezzz, you'd think we could get some rain out of at least!

Originally Posted by 2020BC

A very nicely captured image with great detail. You can be proud of that one. What mount did you use BTW?

Thanks Bill..... just need some colour to finish it up.
I use a CI700 mount, controlled by a Mel Bartels Goto Control System with Vexta PK264m-01b motors with a pulley and belt system..... the gearing is quite good in this one but she's finicky at times with this 30+ lbs on board..... it's a love hate relationship you might say!!

If it's cloudy, then let it rain....
If not then let there be stars......

Cheers all
Rich