Hi all
Decided to jump into mono, and gave Carina a go first because it's nice and bright (and the Dolphin is too low to image for long periods during these cloudy conditions).
Also tried to use the mono camera and shoot RGB stars, but due to a filter wheel issue, I had to use the 2600MC (thankfully has the same sensor) instead.
Anyway, here's my first mono image. I'm more happy that it's "done" for now, and will think about if it needs re-editing later on. Learned a lot on this project, and excited to try some of the targets that will pop up in the next few months, especially the Dragons
Details for those interested
Camera: QHY268M (Ha/OIII/SII) + 2600MC (RGB stars)
Filters: Antlia 3nm pro
Scope: Esprit 120 + 0.77x reducer (might try this at 1x instead one day)
Ha: 26 x 300 seconds, Gain 56 offset 25, High Gain mode
OIII: 21 x 300 seconds, Gain 56 offset 25, High Gain mode
SII: 26 x 300 seconds, Gain 56 offset 25, High Gain mode
RGB: 86 x 60 seconds + 70 x 90 seconds, Gain 0, Offset 50
Stacked in DSS (still not sure how to stack mono in PI), edited in PixInsight
Weird colour combination, mostly SHO but also something else, but it's false colour so I thought I'd experiment and have fun.
Still have star elongation issues to sort out on the 268M, but the 2600 is very close now, maybe another 0.5mm to go. Maybe not entirely happy with the star colour and saturation (a bit blown?), but will keep working on the concept over the coming years!
Link to a larger image, warts and all
Happy for honest criticism and critique.
Thanks
Adam