Ghost of Jupiter & Centaurus A, C8 F10.

wasyoungonce (Brendan) · #1 19-02-2010, 11:40 AM

I imaged NGC 3242 (Ghost of Jupiter) Planetary Nebula while waiting for Centaurus A Galaxy to rise in Alt.
NGC3242:
C8 @F10; Canon 450D (non mod); 4 x 5 min ISO400; 5 x 3.5 min ISO400;
10 x darks; No flats;G11, tracked with WO 70ED & QHY5.
Stacked in DSS, curves/levels in CS2.

I imaged this while waiting for another target to come into a better view. I was surprised by the small image scale. It is really a very small target so this is an enlarged crop.

Outstanding colour in the object. It is so unusual.

Again I am very surprised at the ability of the C8 scope. To think I nearly gave up on this scope. This is a keeper.

Centaurus A galaxy (NGC 5128) is a much imaged galaxy

. Yet I was again surprised but the image scale of the C8.
NGC5128:
C8 @F10; Canon 450D (non mod); 5 x 4 min ISO400;5 x 5 min ISO400; 5 X darks (battery ran out); No flats;
G11, tracked with WO 70ED & QHY5.
Stacked in DSS, curves/levels in CS2.

This was shaping up to be a good astro-photo but the dreaded clouds rolled in

& my battery went flat

doing dark frames. I'm building a battery PSU, to fix this, but are still waiting for parts.

I need to experiment with different ISO setting some more on this, and, maybe next time the clouds will stay away so I can get in more subs.

Astrobserver99 (Rob) · #2 19-02-2010, 04:04 PM

I like your Centaurus A. The Ghost of Jupiter looks a little blurry though, could be out of focus? You should be able to resolve the center rings.

jjjnettie (Jeanette) · #3 19-02-2010, 04:42 PM

I love Centaurus A. Those dust lanes!
A nice pair of images. Thanks.

wasyoungonce (Brendan) · #4 19-02-2010, 04:46 PM

Funny thing is I started at 5 min exposures ISO 400 for Ghost of Jupiter but found the image exposure too much....the core was burnt out. I then went back to 3 min which was too little.

By then I was having some image/mount drift problems. The stars became slightly elongated. The target was quite low in altitude which probably didn't help.

After lots of mucking around and trying differing times I bugged out & went onto Centaurus A, refocus & re-balanced scope etc. It was ok after that.

I really need to spend a dedicated night on NGC3242 maybe I'll re-try when it's a little higher.

AlexN · #5 19-02-2010, 05:00 PM

Both are nice, but Centaurus A stands out... Really nice work once again mate..

The stars look a lot better this time around compared to your Eta Car... Much smaller and tighter looking..

strongmanmike (Michael) · #6 19-02-2010, 05:18 PM

Well Brendan I recon they're both pretty good

Not that familiar with Centaurus A though..where is it it exactly?

Mike

wasyoungonce (Brendan) · #7 19-02-2010, 05:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlexN

Both are nice, but Centaurus A stands out... Really nice work once again mate..

The stars look a lot better this time around compared to your Eta Car... Much smaller and tighter looking..

Thanks ladies & gents...I think the background/foreground stars are lower rmagnitude than the Keyhole stars.