| Charlie Hein |
| (Postmaster) |
| 07/01/09 05:03 PM |
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Jul09 DSLR Challenge Submissions!
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Please post your images of "Cats Eye" Nebula NGC6543 here.
Please post any comments on these images in the Rules and Comments thread.
| Lord Beowulf |
| (professor emeritus) |
| 07/12/09 10:01 PM |
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Re: Jul09 DSLR Challenge Submissions!
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Here's last night's effort for the Cat's Eye. This is a stack of the best 75% of 137 15-second unguided subs taken with my 8" SCT. At this resolution, it's still tiny, but bright, so you have to go with very short exposures to get anything. There's also not much in the way of stars in this area to guide off of, so longer exposures at higher magnification would be difficult. Thus, unless my setup changes drastically in the next couple weeks, this is probably about all I'm going to attempt!
Other details: 1600 ISO on the 450D, 28 darks, 21 flats, 10 bias. Shot using the CGEM, stacked in DSS, and processed in PS CS4.
Beo
| GeorgeNC |
| (Pooh-Bah) |
| 07/14/09 01:56 PM |
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Re: Jul09 DSLR Challenge Submissions!
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I'll go ahead and post my effort - Not a good target from my location, somewhat severe light pollution problem to my north from the city of Asheville.
Camera: Canon 40D (unmodified) with IDAS LPS filter.
Scope: Celestron C11 with 0.63x focal reducer.
Mount: Celestron CGE.
Autoguide: 80mm Stellarvue Nighthawk II with Orion SSAG and PHD software.
Exposure: twelve 60 second subs @ ISO 800.
Stacking: DSS (best 80%)
Processing: PhotoShop CS3 and Carboni's AstroTools.
100% crop of the full frame:
| moladso |
| (member) |
| 07/26/09 08:34 PM |
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Re: Jul09 DSLR Challenge Submissions!
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Very dificult object, a true challenge.
Camera: Canon DSLR, no IRcut filter
Optics: Meade SC8" @ f/10, no reducer, IDAS LPS
Mount: Vixen GPD2 with Meade Autostar motors.
Picture: 25x60s @ISO200
(click image for aditional details)
| scully1234 |
| (sage) |
| 07/28/09 01:39 PM |
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Re: Jul09 DSLR Challenge Submissions!
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Holy P-nebs !
This was one tough target !
I must have worked harder on this image than anything I have tried so far.
The close-up of the P-neb was done with the xsi and the 55mm kit lens afocally through my 32 mm 2 inch eyepiece.
The wider field was with the xsi mounted on the C8 at prime focus.
I know there is some webby nebulosity around the "cat's eye" part, but I could not get it with my gear. I tried 10 minute subs but still got just a small piece of it and my guiding is too unstable to go any longer. Maybe with a better mount I could have got it but oh well ...
P-neb close-up
Imaging scope = C8 XLT on the CG-5GT mount
Imaging Camera = Canon 450D xsi and 55mm lens afocal through 2inch 32mm eyepiece
12 exposures 30 sec each @ ISO 800
Guide scope = Meade 70mm AZ refractor
Guide cam = DSI osc
PHD guiding
Wider field
Imaging scope = C8XLT on the CG-5GT mount
Imaging camera = Canon 450D xsi Prime focus
24 exposures 4 min ea @ ISO 800
Guide scope = Meade 70 mm AZ
Guide cam = DSI osc
PHD guiding
Stacked in DSS
Processed with PS CS4, Noels tools
| EdmontonAB |
| (sage) |
| 07/28/09 07:45 PM |
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Re: Jul09 DSLR Challenge Submissions!
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Here is my attempt. Technical info about the image:
Image Taken 27 Jul 09
Object: NGC 6543 Cats Eye Nebula
Mount: HEQ5 Pro
Imaging scope: AT8RC with AT 1.0x Field Flattner
Imaging FL: 1625mm
Imaging camera: unmodified Canon 400D
Lights: 10 x 1 sec
10 x 2 sec
10 x 4 sec
10 x 8 sec
10 x 8 min
Calibration: none
Guide scope: KWIQ Autogider
Other details: guided with PHD, stacked in DSS processed in Photoshop.
| Igor Chekalin |
| (member) |
| 07/28/09 10:51 PM |
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Re: Jul09 DSLR Challenge Submissions!
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My little kitten's aperture
Taken during 11 clear nights from Mar 29, till Apr 19, 2009. Visibility of this object from my balcony is limited to about 1-2 hours (moving from trees to the roof), so only 9 hours of expositions gathered for widefield image. Lught-polluted city sky (about 4.0m visual magnitude limit)
Canon 350Da, SkyWatcher Newton 254/1200, EQ6PRO mount.
Guided with 75mm refractor and QHY6CCD, using MaximDL.
Wide:
32 frames x 10 min with Baader UHC-S filter @ISO800
11 frames x 20 min with Baader O-III filter @ISO800
Channels was stacked separately, OIII was added to both Green and Blue UHCS channels, using Signal/Noise-optimized addition (FITs Stacker software made by Ivan Ionov).
Initial processing in Iris, minimal Photoshop post-processing.
Close up image:
Same telescope, but with 2xBarlow (actually worked as 2.3x)
25x30sec @ iso800
25 best frames selected from 51 frame sequence by FWHM.
Initial processing, fwhm-selection, color balance, wavelets by Iris. Photoshop for post-processing (saturation and additional sharping) Final sum's FWHM is about 2.1".
| nickatnight |
| (Carpal Tunnel) |
| 07/29/09 07:49 AM |
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Re: Jul09 DSLR Challenge Submissions!
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This NGC 6543 image is a composite of multiple exposure durations, isos and focal lengths. The final scale is about 50% of the CPC f6.3 capture size, with the inset being 100% capture size. I do think shooting through the 5x barlow at 7400mm and then reducing to scale added some detail to the image. I didn't shoot for the outer monster blossom of the nebula (see Igor's wonderful image!), and have only a few dim whiffs of it. I'll save that challenge for another year.
Scope: CPC925 w 6.3 fr/fc & IDAS LP2 filter on a Mitty Wedge
Guiding: SSAG through EON 72mm with 2x barlow
130 minutes x 60 sec subs @ iso 100 (1480mm)
21 minutes x 30 sec subs @ iso 800 (1480 mm)
20 minutes x 4 minutes subs @ iso 1600 (1480mm)
52 minutes x 60 second subs @ iso1600 (7400mm)
20x Darks, 20x Flats, 20x Darkflats, 20x Bias
Star Field Stacked in DSS
Barlowed P-Neb Stacked in Registax
Stretching done in PixInsight
Tweaking and Compositing in Photoshop
| Nils_Lars |
| (Post Laureate) |
| 07/30/09 12:48 AM |
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Re: Jul09 DSLR Challenge Submissions!
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Wow I have been busy processing and didnt check to see there were some submissions much better then mine but since I spent so much time on it ill throw it in the mix.
I only got a chance to do a couple hours of this from my clubs dark sky site and I found it a real challenge in both shooting and processing , when I first framed my 1 min shot I thought NGC 6552 was the target
I used my best 21 5min subs for the outer portion and 53 20sec subs for the eye.
This is a 2x Drizzle from my 8" SCT on both sets and then blended together.
Mount was an EQ-6 guided with an ED80 , shot on my modded 400D and stacked in DSS and processed in PS CS2
| HHastro |
| (sage) |
| 07/31/09 11:01 AM |
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Re: Jul09 DSLR Challenge Submissions!
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Hi,
Here is my Cat-Eye. Conditions were not so good last night, because the clear evening sky changed to cloudy night and rain. One hour before dawn clouds faded.
Indeed, NGC 6543 is not easy, so I take some subs, varied from 20 sec. to 1 min.
After all, I think, my Cat-Eye here is not glorious, but it could happen more worse.
12" ACF, Canon EOS 20 Da (modded Baader), GEG f-6,5. 2000mm
One single Exp. 20 sec. (twenty). Photoshop CS2, 07/31/2009
Thats all, Bruno
| Charlie Hein |
| (Postmaster) |
| 08/01/09 06:43 AM |
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Re: Jul09 DSLR Challenge Submissions!
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Submissions are now closed - good luck in the contest, folks!
Charlie