20 replies to this topic

[bobzeq25]

The Spider, the Tadpole, and the Flaming Star.

 

Wanted to try my new C8 RASA/Astronomik 6nm Ha MaxFR/2600MM combination.   Rotten night, normally I would have passed on it.  This is 24/35 subs, more than I usually discard.  But I was flabbergasted by the detail with 48 minutes (24X120) in Bortle7.

 

Two versions.  The first is the original.  In the second I did a number of things to increase contrast and detail.  Imagine 5 versions.  The ones below are 2 and 4.  1 has less contrast and detail than 2.  3 is in between 2 and 4.  5 would have more contrast and detail than 4.

 

Comments solicited on:

 

Which of the 5 you would personally prefer.

 

Anything else you want to say.  Have at it.  <smile>

 

Better versions here.

https://www.astrobin.com/nieqwy/B/

 

 

Edited by bobzeq25, 26 January 2022 - 03:45 PM.

[Topographic]

Bob

 

Of the two I prefer the first, stars seem a little tighter and although there is less contrast I find it more 'natural'.

 

Lovely work.

 

David

[CharLakeAstro]

Bob - Nice image!!

 

It is unfortunate that part of the Flaming Star is out of frame... to get the Spider in frame. I suppose you had to choose one or the other unless this was the start of a mosaic...

[calypsob]

Nice! Super deep ha data, I like 2 the best.

[TareqPhoto]

Bob - Nice image!!

 

It is unfortunate that part of the Flaming Star is out of frame... to get the Spider in frame. I suppose you had to choose one or the other unless this was the start of a mosaic...

There is always the idea of mosaic, or the idea to buy a wider FOV scope with slightly larger sensor say APS-C or using a reducer, some people just like to image one target or maximum two in the frame and exclude another one, some like to include them all, for me i hate mosaic, so the only option is to go wider then, and i am still thinking about how much widest i should go that is acceptable rather than too much WIDE that it really take out details of main targets. 

[noodle]

I like ver. 2 , better star profile and  background detail

[RogeZ]

Good amount of signal for 48 mins but I would go easy on the processing…between the star reduction, MT and noise reduction, the loss of fine detail and the scarring to the image is significant. With processing, less is more. imho of course.

[Look at the sky 101]

Superbly done,  love the number 2 .

[ntph]

I'm a bit confused with the two versions out of 5, 2 or 4 question but my preference is the upper version in the post. Probably more that I find the lower one a bit too punchy, maybe a bit too much sharpening and contrast for my taste compared to the upper version, after a good look at both on A-Bin. So does that mean I might like version 3 out of 5, or just something maybe a little more than the upper one and less than the lower one?  

 

Impressive performance of the setup, I must say. Nice kit and good work, Bob. Looks like that Ha filter plays OK with the RASA. 

Edited by ntph, 27 January 2022 - 12:43 AM.

[iwannawon]

very nice. i think on the forum i prefer #2. i'm pretty sure on my pc screen i'd prefer #1. i tried on my last posted image to get something that would translate well but i couldn't. looking at my orig vs what uploaded was disappointing. (and then looking from work laptop was even worse). i'm assuming there are ways to make it work but i don't know them. i like both yours but i assume some detail is lost in the process so i think the higher contrast helps (me). but i think going up to a version 5 would be too much.

[galacticinsomnia]

The Spider, the Tadpole, and the Flaming Star.

 

Wanted to try my new C8 RASA/Astronomik 6nm Ha MaxFR/2600MM combination.   Rotten night, normally I would have passed on it.  This is 24/35 subs, more than I usually discard.  But I was flabbergasted by the detail with 48 minutes (24X120) in Bortle7.

 

Two versions.  The first is the original.  In the second I did a number of things to increase contrast and detail.  Imagine 5 versions.  The ones below are 2 and 4.  1 has less contrast and detail than 2.  3 is in between 2 and 4.  5 would have more contrast and detail than 4.

 

Comments solicited on:

 

Which of the 5 you would personally prefer.

 

Anything else you want to say.  Have at it.  <smile>

 

Better versions here.

https://www.astrobin.com/nieqwy/B/

 

three nebulae auriga v1.jpg

 

three nebulae auriga v5a.jpg

This is exactly what I have been working on, but because of my eccentricity of not rotating my camera ever, I could only get Tadpole and Flame..  Still capturing this evening.

Your shots look really good !!


Clear Skies !!

 

[imtl]

Bob,

 

I looked at the Abin version and it looks like there was much post processing star reduction done. Is it just my screen or it is correct? (I vote for my screen because it is bad).

[bobzeq25]

Bob,

 

I looked at the Abin version and it looks like there was much post processing star reduction done. Is it just my screen or it is correct? (I vote for my screen because it is bad).

It's correct. 

 

The data was (to me) surprisingly deep.  The nebulae were overshadowed by _large_ numbers of stars.  They were like a screen across the frame.

 

I can understand someone saying "well, that's the way it is".  I don't think that way.  I'm the classic "pretty picture" imager.  I wanted the nebulae to take center stage.  So I fixed it.  <smile>

 

Re people's comments.  I think the top version is more natural, the bottom has more dramatic input.  I think I'll go for something in between.

 

Thanks, the comments have been really helpful.

 

This is exactly what I have been working on, but because of my eccentricity of not rotating my camera ever, I could only get Tadpole and Flame..  Still capturing this evening.

Your shots look really good !!
2022-01-26_222119.jpg

Clear Skies !!

Thanks.

 

Yep, I rotated the camera.  Some of my technical work is weak (I'll try to reduce the stars better), but I do like my framing.  <smile>

Edited by bobzeq25, 27 January 2022 - 12:08 PM.

[fewayne]

Just out of curiosity Bob, have you tried out the star reduction in APP? The beta was underwhelming, at least for me, but the release 1.083 is supposed to be significantly better. I haven't really played with it myself. Mostly starnet does what I want.

[DRK73]

Funny - I have been working on almost this exact framing using a FRA400 with its 0.7x reducer and my asi2600mm. Think I probably finished collecting on it last night and have ~900 sub frames to crunch (SHO and LRGB).

 

FWIW, I like the contrast in your #2. 

[bobzeq25]

Just out of curiosity Bob, have you tried out the star reduction in APP? The beta was underwhelming, at least for me, but the release 1.083 is supposed to be significantly better. I haven't really played with it myself. Mostly starnet does what I want.

No.  MorphologicalTransformation is PI is extremely adjustable (a PI trait), so I see no need to go looking elsewhere.

 

Just need to learn to use MT better.  Also a PI trait.  <smile>

[bobzeq25]

Thanks for the comments, I paid attention.  <smile>

 

My final (at present) version is somewhere in between,  It's complicated, based on the particular features.  Worked harder on the stars, dialed the reduction back a bit.  Better noise reduction.  Just the astrobin version, the required CN jpg blurs the distinctions between versions.

 

https://www.astrobin.com/nieqwy/C/

 

People have been surprised when I say I take 10-50 hours to process an image.  This one is up to about 10, and it's black and white. 

 

PixInsight does not do good images automatically.  <smile>

[mehdymo]

Nice job. Thanks for sharing this. I guess Asronomic FRmax filters are better than Baaders as they don't roduce any halo. Have you tried all three narrowband filters? any downside compared to Baader?

 

Mo

[bobzeq25]

Nice job. Thanks for sharing this. I guess Asronomic FRmax filters are better than Baaders as they don't roduce any halo. Have you tried all three narrowband filters? any downside compared to Baader?

 

Mo

I just have the Ha MaxFR.  I like HaRGB, the concept is to use a 2600MM to capture Ha, then a 2600MC for RGB.  One really doesn't want to change filters a lot with a RASA.

[mehdymo]

This is ineteresting! I am using a ZWO mini EFW on EdgeHD 11"+Hyperstar 4. There is a slight vignetting on ASI294 with 31mm filters, but it is acceptable. I will be testing 5 nm astrodons on it, but I guess it will have too mcuh tranmission loss and I will end up bying an Astronomik MaxFR set. Unfortunatelly, I haven't had a clear night for like two weeks!

I just have the Ha MaxFR.  I like HaRGB, the concept is to use a 2600MM to capture Ha, then a 2600MC for RGB.  One really doesn't want to change filters a lot with a RASA.

[TareqPhoto]

I just have the Ha MaxFR.  I like HaRGB, the concept is to use a 2600MM to capture Ha, then a 2600MC for RGB.  One really doesn't want to change filters a lot with a RASA.

Unfortunately, i don't have RASA or even SCT Hypertstar, and another unfortunately that i don't want to use one scope with two cameras, i want to use both of cameras together at same time which means two scopes definitely, and last unfortunately, i don't have MaxFR filters.