Had some excellent seeing again (FWHM 1.4"-1.8") over the weekend up at Eagleview but with the Full Moon it limited my target choice .
Full Moon was not ideal for collecting OIII and normally I would wait for less Moon to be in the sky but being such a bright object and the restricted field of view, something useful was kind'of achievable, just to provide some colour variation.
I think the good quality seeing and its consistency, is making me feel that I need a finer image scale than 0.84"/pix to take better advantage of it......not anytime soon though I am afraid, it would cause a divorce...
Happy with the outcome but after lots of fiddling and tinkering/variations, I couldn't choose a favourite version or faming...so, here are three
Mike,
Super images from up there on top of the world
At least the moon was traversing quite low
Gee us coastal huggers jump for joy when seeing is below 3.0
Nothing wrong with imaging Carina , there’s so much to explore with bigger scopes
Well done !!
Martin
That's a fantastic result Mike! Amazing details - I think I like the 'Mystic Mountain" framing best but honestly they're all fantastic. Eagleview must be so rewarding to shoot at!
I think we must be imaging off the same playbook at the moment - I've been attempting some closeups of the Homunculus Neb but with only a couple of clear nights this year still a work in progress to get the best settings. My seeing has been so bad of late I've tried some short exposure shots (0.5sec) of the bright lobes of the HN with some success and APP reporting FWHM around 1.2" on the better subs and pretty nice detail coming through. It's no Eagleview tho...
Hi Mike,
superb image.
you even picked up the oval shape of the Homunculus Nebula -
just like Martin but even clearer - as per his here: https://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/...d.php?t=203069
Is that becoming the new standard for Eta Carinae?
"a finer image scale than 0.84"/pix"
I bet you have been looking at QHY-600 adverts?
Hi Mike,
just thinking now -
if you could somehow get a 2X Barlow or even a 3X Barlow into your system
and you took video you'd be able to use lucky imaging to really
zoom in on that Homunculus Nebula.
You've got the high quality optics to do it.
I suppose it's too difficult or expensive to set up?
Mike,
Super images from up there on top of the world
At least the moon was traversing quite low
Gee us coastal huggers jump for joy when seeing is below 3.0
Nothing wrong with imaging Carina , there’s so much to explore with bigger scopes
Well done !!
Martin
Cheers Marty, I'm over the Moon with the seeing quality up there (hate the Moon though ), it was not a given and I was worried but while it's no Atacama, the seeing improvement is significant over Wallaroo..thaaaank God! Yes, the Carina Nebula is a bit like the LMC really, can make several images from the one object
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dave882
That's a fantastic result Mike! Amazing details - I think I like the 'Mystic Mountain" framing best but honestly they're all fantastic. Eagleview must be so rewarding to shoot at!
Mate its magical, the thrill is palpable when I am on site under a dark clear sky! Feels like Christmas morning when I was a kid, every time! One thing that a dark and steady site does, is make your processing easier, much less gradient filled, faint, blurry data, a dream to work with ..can only imagine what data from Cerro Tololo and La Silla etc must be like to work with!
Quote:
I think we must be imaging off the same playbook at the moment - I've been attempting some closeups of the Homunculus Neb but with only a couple of clear nights this year still a work in progress to get the best settings. My seeing has been so bad of late I've tried some short exposure shots (0.5sec) of the bright lobes of the HN with some success and APP reporting FWHM around 1.2" on the better subs and pretty nice detail coming through. It's no Eagleview tho...
Sounds very promising and a good approach, hope you get it done, look forward to seeing what you end up with
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dilsh
Fantastic images Mike. I agree, there is so much in this target at higher focal lengths.
Happy "seeing"
Dilshan
Thanks Dilly
Quote:
Originally Posted by alpal
Hi Mike,
superb image.
you even picked up the oval shape of the Homunculus Nebula -
just like Martin but even clearer - as per his here: https://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/...d.php?t=203069
Is that becoming the new standard for Eta Carinae?
"a finer image scale than 0.84"/pix"
I bet you have been looking at QHY-600 adverts?
cheers
Allan
Maaate I'm looking at lots of things...just can't have any more...for a while...a looong while
Aaaactually, the whole hourglass shape is visible and even a little detail in each lobe ...at just 1120mm FL and without lucky imaging and no AO either, just traditional autoguiding...really need a finer image scale though but until then I'm satisfied with the improvements the site has provided in the resolution capability...so I will juuust have to re-image everything I have ever shot! .. ....
Quote:
Originally Posted by alpal
Hi Mike,
just thinking now -
if you could somehow get a 2X Barlow or even a 3X Barlow into your system
and you took video you'd be able to use lucky imaging to really
zoom in on that Homunculus Nebula.
You've got the high quality optics to do it.
I suppose it's too difficult or expensive to set up?
cheers
Allan
Yeah thought about the Barlow solution but just too fiddly to setup...I'm lazy ...I'll just stay wondering......
Last edited by strongmanmike; 08-02-2023 at 02:49 PM.
Maaate I'm looking at lots of things...just can't have any more...for a while...a looong while
Aaaactually, the whole hourglass shape is visible and even a little detail in each lobe ...at just 1120mm FL and without lucky imaging and no AO either, just traditional autoguiding...really need a finer image scale though but until then I'm satisfied with the improvements the site has provided in the resolution capability...so I will juuust have to re-image everything I have ever shot! .. ....
Yeah thought about the Barlow solution but just too fiddly to setup...I'm lazy ...I'll just stay wondering......
Yes - I like that Homunculus Nebula shot - it has quite good detail.
Your system is not setup to take high res shots but you're
getting them anyway even at 1120mm FL.
The composition on this one is a winner Mike making it an exceptional image. The dark areas at the bottom create a base like a bubbling sea that the rest of the image rises upon
The composition on this one is a winner Mike making it an exceptional image. The dark areas at the bottom create a base like a bubbling sea that the rest of the image rises upon
They were my thoughts too, while I wasn't actually thinking of it at the time, HST did a similar framing (NB: the full size version is incredible BTW, so make sure you click on it!), so I recon it was in my subconscious
Great images Mike, especially the mystic mountain! A great reward for all of the planning and hard work, just fantastic. Cheers, Mat
Thanks a lot Mathew, it's great to fiiiinally be imaging and the natural unique location is a bonus ..even if managing 100acres iiiiis a bit of work..aaaand a bit of a learning process
That looks pretty good Mike. I do wonder what it would look like with a touch of Blur Xterminator applied? I have found it gives a more filigree look to the fine details. It's good to test old favourites at a new site though and gives you a comparison of an old setup and new setup. Are you doing something new altogether?
That looks pretty good Mike. I do wonder what it would look like with a touch of Blur Xterminator applied? I have found it gives a more filigree look to the fine details. It's good to test old favourites at a new site though and gives you a comparison of an old setup and new setup. Are you doing something new altogether?
Cheers Paul, yeah everyone is talking about BlurXterminator and other new fangled palava, all sound great...maybe but until then, happy enough with my current predicament of being locked into Astroart and PSCS3+
Just enjoying the journey, going up tomorrow to commission the 18" visual Dob should be much fun, skies are forecast clear too
.
...not anytime soon though I am afraid, it would cause a divorce...
...I'll just stay wondering...
