In the boundless theatre of the night sky, where celestial tales unfold across the eons, lies an ethereal masterpiece that has captivated the gaze of astronomers and dreamers alike. This image, a delicate two-panel mosaic, is a profound revelation of the Elephant’s Trunk Nebula, known formally by its catalog designations IC 1396A, nestled within the larger expanse of the IC 1396 complex in the constellation of Cepheus.
Crafted with meticulous dedication over the span of five months, this portrait of the cosmos was brought to life using a full-frame monochrome CMOS camera, a testament to the intersection of art and technology. The camera, acting as a modern-day alchemist, transformed the invisible into the visible, capturing the nebula’s intricate details and sweeping gas clouds that resemble an elephant’s trunk, reaching out into the void.
However, this image is more than a snapshot; it is a chapter in an ongoing saga dictated by the unpredictable whims of the UK’s weather. The journey to encapsulate the nebula’s full glory has been a dance with the elements, with many nights spent under the cloak of clouds rather than stars. Despite these challenges, the initial results have unveiled a stunning glimpse into the cosmos, showcasing the nebula’s haunting beauty and the vibrant activity within its star-forming regions.
Yet, the story does not end here. The image is a promise of what is yet to come, as there are plans to revisit the Elephant’s Trunk Nebula later this year. The aim is to deepen the exploration, to add more data to this cosmic tapestry, and to further refine the clarity and depth of this celestial phenomenon.
This endeavor, a blend of patience, passion, and precision, highlights not just the technical prowess required for astrophotography but also the enduring human desire to connect with the universe. Through this image, we are reminded of our place in the cosmos, a mere speck within the vastness, yet capable of capturing and celebrating its majesty.
The Elephant’s Trunk Nebula stands as a beacon in the dark, a symbol of the mysteries that await our discovery. With each photograph, we peel back another layer of the universe, bringing us closer to understanding the grand design of which we are a part. This image is an invitation to gaze upwards, to wonder, and to dream of the infinite possibilities that lie beyond our world.
In the boundless theatre of the night sky, a spectacle of cosmic proportions gently unfolds. Here, through the unblinking eye of my camera, we witness the Heart and Soul Nebulae, celestial bodies of unimaginable scale and beauty. Captured in the vivid hues of the Hubble Palette, this image is the culmination of over 68 hours of patient vigil over the course of six months, a testament to the relentless march of time and space.
The Heart Nebula, known as IC 1805, and its companion, the Soul Nebula, IC 1848, are more than mere clusters of gas and dust. They are incubators of stars, cosmic nurseries where new celestial lives begin. Nestled within is the charmingly named Fish Head Nebula, a smaller star-forming region within this grand cosmic landscape.
Each pixel of this mosaic is a story, a tiny fragment of the universe’s narrative, captured through the artful blend of sulfur, hydrogen, and oxygen emissions. As we gaze upon this image, we are not merely observers but voyagers, embarking on an odyssey across the galaxy. It invites us to ponder our place in this magnificent universe, a reminder of both our insignificance and our profound connection to the cosmos.
In the grand scheme of things, this image is but a fleeting glimpse into the eternal dance of the cosmos. It is a humble offering to the beauty and complexity of the universe, a universe that continues to captivate and inspire us with its endless mysteries.
Catalog Names: IC 1805 (Heart Nebula) IC 1848 (Soul Nebula) Fish Head Nebula (Part of the Heart Nebula)
Acquisition Dates: 16 May 2023, 17 May 2023, 20 May 2023, 21 May 2023, 25 May 2023, 26 May 2023, 27 May 2023, 28 May 2023, 15 Jun 2023, 16 Jun 2023, 24 Jun 2023, 25 Jun 2023, 26 Jun 2023, 13 Jul 2023, 16 Jul 2023, 17 Jul 2023, 19 Jul 2023, 20 Jul 2023, 25 Jul 2023, 26 Jul 2023, 6 Aug 2023, 7 Aug 2023, 9 Aug 2023, 10 Aug 2023, 17 Aug 2023, 20 Aug 2023, 22 Aug 2023, 5 Sep 2023, 9 Sep 2023, 15 Sep 2023, 23 Sep 2023, 29 Sep 2023, 8 Oct 2023, 9 Oct 2023, 14 Oct 2023, 15 Oct 2023, 6 Nov 2023, 7 Nov 2023, 10 Nov 2023, 11 Nov 2023, 14 Nov 2023, 15 Nov 2023, 19 Nov 2023, 20 Nov 2023, 22 Nov 2023, 24 Nov 2023, 25 Nov 2023
Many people like myself have transitioned from a MONO camera to a One Shot Colour (OSC) for whatever reason, for me it was all about not being able to get the required amount of time due to weather conditions here in the UK. When I first considered moving to an OSC camera, it dawned on me that I would not be able to produce the vibrant Hubble Palette images that I could produce by imaging with specific filters on my MONO camera, specifically Hydrogen Alpha (Ha), Oxygen 3 (OIII) and Sulphur Dioxide 2 (SII) which would then be mapped to the appropriate colour channels when creating the final image stack.
Now along came Dual and Tri band narrowband filters for OSC cameras which peaked my attention, the Dual Band filters allow Ha and OIII data to pass, the Tri Band filters allow Ha, Hb (Hydrogen Beta) and OIII to pass but at a high Nm value. I reached out to my friends at Optolong who had two filters, the L-eNhance and the L-eXtreme, the L-eNhance is a Tri Band filter, but after speaking with Optolong it would not work well for me at F2.8, so I went with the L-eXtreme Dual Band filter which has both the Ha and OIII at 7nm.
After receinving my ASI6200MC Pro, I decided to start acquiring data on a 1/2 to 2/3 moonlit nights on the North America Nebula, and so far when writing this post I had acquired a total of 60 frames of 300 seconds each at a gain value of 100, I processed the image my normal way in PixInsight and below is the result of the image:
North America Nebula, 60x300S at Gain100, Darks, Flats and BIAS frames applied with the ASI6200MC Pro using the Optolong L-eXtreme Dual Band 2″ Filter
I thought that my data looks good enough to work with and experiment with trying to build an SHO (Hubble Palette) image with, and I have spoken with Shawn Nielsen on this exact subject a few times so he gave me some hints and tips especially with the blending of the channels. So off I went to try and produce an SHO image.
Before we start, there are some requirements:
This tutorial uses PixInsight, I am not sure how you would acomplish this with Photoshop since I have not used PhotoShop for Astro Image Processing for a number of years
Data captured with a One Shot Color (OSC) camera using a Dual or Tri Band Narrowband filter
Image is non-linear…so fully processed
Step 1 – Split the Channels
In order to re-assign the channels, you have to split the normal image into Red, Green and Blue channels, I found this to work better on a fully processed “Non-Linear” image as above, once this was done, I renamed the images in PixInsight to “Ha” – Red Channel, “OIII” – Blue Channel and “SII” – Green Channel, this makes it easier for Pixelmath in PixInsight to work with the image names. Once this was done, I used PixelMath to create a new image stack with the channels assigned, and this is how PixelMath was configured
Red Channel = SII Green Channel = 0.8*Ha + 0.2*OIII Blue Channel = OIII
Once applied this produced the following image stack (do not close the Ha, OIII or SII images, you will need these later on):
SHO Combined image from PixelMath
Step 2 – Reduce Magenta saturation
As you can see from the above image, some of the brighter stars have a magenta hue around them, so to reduce this, I use the ColorMask plugin in PixInsight (You will need to download this), and selected Magenta
ColorMask tool with Magenta selected
When you click on OK, it will create the Magenta Mask which would look something like this:
Once the mask has been applied to the image, I then use Curves Transformation to reduce the saturation which will reduce the Magenta in the image
The result in reducing the magenta can be seen in this image, you will notice there is now no longer a hue around the brighter stars
Result after Magenta Saturation reduced using Magenta ColorMask and Curves Transformation
Step 4 – ColorMask – Green
Again using the Color Mask tool, I want to select the green channel, as we will want to manipulate most of the green here to red, so again ColorMask:
This then produced a mask that looks like the following:
Step 5 – Manipulate the Green Data
Once the Green Mask has been applied to the image, since most of the data in the image is green, we are looking to manipulate that data to turn it golden yellow, so for this we use the Curves Transformation again
The above Curves transformation was applied to the image three times whilst the the green mask was still im place, and this resulted in the following image changes:
Resulting image after green data manipulated in the red channel using Curves Transformation
So as you can see we are starting to see the vibrant colours associated with Hubble Palette images
Step 6 – Create a Starless version of the OIII Data
Now remember I said not to close out the separated channel images, this is because we are going to want ot bring out the blue in the image without affecting the stars, so for this we will turn the OIII image into a starless version by using the StarNet tool in PixInsight
Here’s the OIII Image before we apply StarNet star removal:
Default settings used in the StarNet process
This resulted in the following OIII image with no stars:
Step 7 – Range Selection on OIII Data
Because we do not want to affect the whole image, we will use the range selection tool on the starless OIII image to select areas we wish to manipulate, now we have to be careful that the changes we make are not too “Sharp” that they cause blotchy areas, so within the range selection tool, not only do we change the upper limit to suit the range we want to create the mask for, but we also need to change the fuzziness and smoothness settings to make it more blended, these are the setings I used:
Which resulted in the following range mask
Step 8 – Bring out the Blue with Curves Transformation
We apply the Range Mask to the SHO Image so that we can bring out the Blue in the section of the nebula where the OIII resides, with the range mask applied we will use the Curves Transformation Process again as follows:
Curves transformation process to increase blue, reduce red and increase saturation of image with rangemask applied
The result of which is:
Result after first curves transformation with RangeMask applied
As you can see we have started to bring out the blue data, but we are not quite there yet, with the range mask still applied, we will go again with the curves transformation only this time, just reducing the red element:
The result of the 2nd curves transformation with the Range Mask is as follows:
Resulting image after 2nd pass with Curves Transformation to remove the red elemtn in the range mask
Step 9 – Apply Saturation against a luminance mask
On the above image, we extract out the luminance and apply as a mask to the image, and we then use the Curves Transformation for the final time to boost the saturation to the luminance
Luminance Mask to be applied to image
Curves Transformation with Luminance Mask applied
Final Image
I repeated the same process on my Elephant’s Trunk Nebula that I acquired the data when testing out the ASI2400MC Pro and this was the resulting image:
I hope this tutorial helps in producing your SHO images from your OSC Narrowband images, I know many of my followers have been waiting for me to write this up, so enjoy and share.
I was lucky enough for 365Astronomy to offer me one of the ZWO ASI2400 full frame cameras to test and write a review, so obviously I jumped at the chance, and within a couple of days I was successfully imaging and acquiring data with it, so firstly what is the ASI2400?
The ASI2400MC Pro is a full frame 24mpx camera that utilises the Sony IMX410 back illuminated sensor, ZWO produced a similar camera before which was the ASI128MC Pro (24mpx) and they also have the ASI6200 (62mpx), so what are the differences between the cameras?
ASI2400MC
ASI128MC
ASI6200MC
Image Sensor
IMX410
IMX128
IMX455
Pixel Size
5.94
5.97
3.76
Full Well Capacity
100ke
76ke
51.4ke
Cooling Delta
-35C
-35C
-35C
Resolution
6072×4042
6032*4032
9576×6388
ADC
14-Bit
14-Bit
16-Bit
Read Noise
1.1e-6.4e
2.5e
1.2e-3.5e
DDR Buffer
256MB
256MB
256MB
QE
>80%
>53%
>80%
FPS (Video)
8
5
2
If we compare the ASI2400 and the ASI128 since they have similar pixel sizes and offer almost a matching resolution, but the ASI2400 clearly is a better camera, with a higher full well capacity, this means that it takes a lot more to saturate out the colours around bright stars for example, but also a big increase on the quantum efficiency going from 53% to >80%.
Now the first thing I noticed was that the ASI2400 was only slightly cheaper than the ASI6200, but the ASI6200 is offering a much higher resolution, so why would people not just go for the ASI6200? Well it comes down to pixel size, the ASI6200 has a pixel size of 3.76 so it would be better suited to a short focal length scope, if I attach the ASI6200 to my SharpStar 15028HNT which has a focal length of 420mm at F2.8, this will give me around 1.85 Arc-Seconds per Pixel which for UK skies is an ideal figure, the ASI2400 has a bit more flexibility with the focal length of telescopes because of the larger pixel size, so whilst the ASI6200 offers a higher resolution image sensor of 62mpx, the ASI2400 offers more flexibility of a higher focal length telescope.
When I unboxed the ASI2400 I was very impressed with the quality, this was the first ZWO Camera I have ever actually seen in the flesh, the red finish matches my SharpStar 15028HNT, but one thing that I noticed straight away was the two additional USB Ports on the top of the camera which I sat and thought to myself that it would certainly help with tidying up my cables around the scope. In the box was a couple of adapters to obtain the very common 55mm back focus, two USB Cables, and a USB 3.0 cable, and the camera arrived in a very nice case too.
I removed the camera sensor cover and revealed the massive full frame sensor and compared it to the APS-C sized camera I have and was like wow, that’s a big sensor, here’s a picture of the sensor:
Size matters, the Full Frame sensor on the ASI2400MC Pro
I noticed too that there was a special tilt plate on the camera which in my opinion is a critical point, my other camera has a tilt plate that is very cumbersome to use, so after a while of looking at the sensor, I decided to start adding my ZWO filter drawer and M48 extension tubes in order to get it connected to the mount, I am using the ZWO M54 2″ Filter drawer which has a 2mm M54 to M48 adapter too, threading the filter drawer on the camera was very smooth, but I would not expect anything less than that with ZWO kit connecting to ZWO kit, here’s a picture with the filter drawer and the Optolong L-Pro 2″ filter connected to the camera:
ZWO M54 Filter Drawer connected to the ASI2400MC Pro
Once connected to the telescope, I had to find out where the camera was facing when connected at the optimal distance of 55mm as all of my image train is threaded on, once identified which direction the top of the camera sensor was facing I could rotate the focuser and then re-check the collimation with the laser before putting the camera back on and connecting the cables.
Identifying which side of the camera the top of the sensor was is so easy on this camera, there’s what looks like a black plastic button on the side of the camera, it is obviously a cover of some sort, but this also indicates which side the top of sensior is located, something I wish all camera vendors would do.
One of the first things I do when testing out a new camera is dark frames, all vendors claim they have zero amp glow, so this is always my first test, and the ASI2400 didn’t let me down, indeed there was zero amp glow and I tested with various exposure times and gain settings, here’s a 300S exposure with Gain 26 which has had a Screen Transfer Function auto stretch applied:
After connecting it all up to the telescope, and acquiring some darks, flats, and BIAS frames, and the skies were clear, it was time to put the camera under a proper test, I had set a couple of targets up, the Cygnus Loop and the Elephant’s Trunk Nebula using the Optolong L-eXtreme Narrowband filter and here are the results:
Cygnus Loop – Eastern Veil, Western Veil and Pickerings Triangle – 29x300S at Gain 26, ASI2400MC Pro on the Sharpstar15028HNT using the Optolong L-eXtreme Dual Band FilterElephant’s Trunk Nebula – 19x300S at Gain 26, ASI 2400MC Pro on the SharpStar 15028HNT using the Optolong L-eXtreme Dual Band Filter
So you can see the camera performed really well, stars are almost perfect in the corners (a little fine tuning required on spacing), I am hoping to get a few more clear nights over the next few days to build on the above images and really show off the performance of the ASI2400, and I can’t wait to test it out on the Iris Nebula.
Conclusion: The ASI2400 is in my opinion an awesome piece of kit, that massive full frame sensor has the adaptability for longer focal length telescopes due to the larger pixel size, the advantage of the USB Hub built into the camera, the adjustable tilt plate on the front of the camera is the most advantageous aspect, would have saved me so much time trying to rectify tilt instead using copper shims, but also the smaller things that are equally as important like having something to identify which way round the sensor is rather than trying to figure it out with images in my opinion is what sets this apart from other similar cameras from other vendors.
If you are looking for a full frame camera and have a short focal length telescope, the ASI2400 or the ASI6200 full frame cameras will do just the job,but any longer focal length scopes, then the ASI2400 is the right choice.
Additional image taken since writing this post:
M31 – Andromeda Galaxy – 51x90S frames at Gain 0 using the Optolong L-Pro Filter, darks and flats applied
When I moved to the Sky-Watcher Quattro telescope I noticed some bizzare halo’s around bright stars in my images, this was evident in both my Atik 383L+ CCD Camera as well as my QHY183M ColdMOS Camera when using the Quattro 8-CF at F4, if you browse my galleries you will see what I mean, and it was more noticable in my Narrowband images. Below is one of my recent images where you can see the halo around Magnitude 3.9 star 15 Mon in the Christmas Tree Cluster / NGC2264.
I contacted Baader back in February 2019 since all of my filters were Baader, and I noticed that the Halo was present in all of my filters but significantly less in Red, but more prevalent in Narrowband filters, so the logical cause would be the filters. Baader immediately dismissed this to be the fault of their filters and suggested that my Coma Corrector be the root cause.
Not convinced that the Coma Corrector was causing the issue, I did some research online and came across a brilliant page on the Astronomik website where they claim to have resolved the majority of the Halo issue, and after reading the following line from the page I was convinced the filters were my issue:
In recent years very fast optical systems have become popular for imaging. The energy in a filter induced halo grows exponentially as the f-ratio decreases. Additional to this, the smaller the FWHM band pass of the filter, the stronger the halo.
The above line described my issue perfectly so I mentioned this to Baader who again dismissed the possibility of it being their filters and again put the blame firmly to my optical train. Again not happy, I contacted Astronomik and Eric emailed me back very promptly and offered to send me out one of their 6nm Ha filters to test. A few days ago the filter arrived and I was able to perform some testing against the Baader filter also for comparison on the same star.
Since the star in my image above was of magnitude 3.9, I wanted to find something similar, so I found star Alhaud VI and proceeded to obtain 15x300S Exposures for each filter, and here are the results:
Astronomik 6nm HA filter, 15x300S with Darks and Flats appliedBaader 7nm Ha filter, 15x300S with Darks and Flats applied
So as you can see the Baader filter shows a high amount of Halo around the bright star and the Astronomik filter does not, now if this was something to do with the rest of the optical train there would be evidence in the Astronomik filter also.
Now I agree there will be some reflection in the optical train, all that glass in the coma corrector, the glass on the camera etc, so I thought I would have a look at both images in a bit more detail, zoomed in on the stars there is what appears to be a slight halo in the same place on both images:
Astronomik 6nm Ha FilterBaader 7nm Ha Filter
So both filters show the Inner Halo which in my opinion would not be visible in an image, but again clearly the Baader filter has some reflection issues happening as you can clearly see two additional Halos. The interesting thing about all three Halos is that the central one visible in both filters has no relationship to the distances between the other two in the Baader, however the two outer Halos on the baader are the same distance apart as the middle halo is from the star, so clearly this is some sort of reflection.
Conclusion: Astronomik have done a fantastic job at eliminating Halo artifacts around bright stars, clearly the Baader filters are causing major Halo artifacts because if this was the optical train then it would be evident in the Astronimik filters also, I suspect that the Baader filters are not optimised for faster focal ratio imaging systems. I have provided this information to Baader and await a response from them.
Located in the constellation of Moneceros, this image shows both the Cone Nebula and the Christmas Tree Cluster, located around 2600 light years from earth the Cone Nebula being an emmision Nebula
Image Details:
101x150S in R
101x150S in G
101x150S in B
101x300S in Ha
Total capture time: 21 Hours
Acquisition Dates: Jan. 9, 2019, Jan. 31, 2019, Feb. 3, 2019, Feb. 14, 2019, Feb. 15, 2019, Feb. 23, 2019, Feb. 24, 2019, Feb. 25, 2019, Feb. 26, 2019, Feb. 27, 2019, Feb. 28, 2019, March 24, 2019, March 25, 2019, March 26, 2019, March 28, 2019, March 29, 2019
The NBRGB Script in PixInsight was used to blend the Ha into the RGB Image
101 Darks, Flats and Flat Darks were used in the frame calibration
Equipment Details:
Imaging Camera: Qhyccd 183M Mono ColdMOS Camera at -20C
Imaging Scope: Sky-Watcher Quattro 8″ F4 Imaging Newtonian
Guide Camera: Qhyccd QHY5L-II
Guide Scope: Sky-Watcher Finder Scope
Mount: Sky-Watcher EQ8 Pro
Focuser: Primalucelab ROBO Focuser
Filterwheel: Starlight Xpress Ltd 7x36mm EFW
Filters: Baader Planetarium RGB and Ha
Power and USB Control: Pegasus Astro USB Ultimate Hub Pro
Acquisition Software: Main-Sequence Software Inc. Sequence Generator Pro
Processing Software: PixInsight 1.8.6
Getting the best FWHM in your images is something that I have struggled with when imaging a whole night. As the temperature fluctuates, so does the FWHM in your images, this was a problem I had with my images at the beginning of the season. I looked around and the only focuser I could find was not a stepper motor focuser, so it didn’t offer predictable results. Since I am using the stock focuser for my Sky-Watcher Quattro 8-CF (and it’s a solid focuser at that), I did not really want to change focuser mid-season, so I did some research and landed upon the PrimaluceLabs Sesto Senso ROBO Focuser.
Now my expectations here were pretty low since I tried an electronic focuser and tried to use some sort of Auto Focus routine without any length of success, but when the Sesto Senso arrived I was excited as I looked at it and thought to myself that this would do the job.
Out of the box the Sesto Senso is very solid, good quality feel to it, and came with a bunch of different adapters for different focusers, one specifically for my Sky-Watcher Focuser too. I read the installation instructions a couple of times and set to work on upgrading my scope.
Installation Installation was fairly easy and straight forward, I removed the slow focusing knob off the focuser and attached the adapter for the Sky-Watcher that came with the Sesto Senso, so within 30 minutes it was successfully fitted. And I can still manually focus with the fast focusing knob on the other side of the focuser:
After all the physical installation was done, I then needed to install the software on the observatory PC, since I image using Sequence Generator Pro, I proceeded to install Sesto Software and the ASCOM driver so that SGPro could talk to the focuser, again this was relatively simple to do. Once this was completed it was important to load up the Sesto software and perform a calibration so that the Sesto Senso knows where the most innner and outer focus positions are.
Setting the Focus Control module in SGPro was a breeze, for this I used a Focusing Mask to get a rough focus and set that point for all of my filters, now the following setting are what works for me really well, but basically:
I use 20 data points to achieve focus.
Step size between focus points is 20
Focus frame is 10 seconds for all filters, this is to get a better normalised focus frame, I was finding 5 seconds was too short and gave un-predictable results.
I set it to re-focus after a temperature change of 3.0 Degrees C since the last focus.
I re-focus on any centering action which is useful if you use a mirrored telescope like me.
Sequence Generate Pro Auto Focus settingsYou can see here that my start off point is 50146, so it will go 10 points either direction of this point at 20 steps per point
I have now been using the Sesto Senso for a few months now and it has not failed me, I maintain a good FWHM value throughout the night and it an awesome piece of kit, well done Primaluce Labs. Is there anything that I would change about it?
Only one thing…….It requires separate power, which in all honesty I can understand why but if I could run the power through USB that would be a bonus.
One problem I have with the Auto Focus routine in SGPro is that in the image sequence, since my filters for LRGB are all parfocal, but my Narrowband filters are not, I only wish to focus on a filter change if it’s going from LRGB to Narrowband to LRGB or Narrowband to Narrowband, unfortunately SGPro doesn’t have that intelligence in the sequence, I am trying to persuade Jared to have that in there to make life that bit more simple.
Anyway I hope this review inspires you to consider this awesome piece of kit, it’s certainly helped me!
This object is a little tricker for me since I only have a 3-3.5 hour window per evening due to trees and the house blocking my view, this is also the first image that I used the drizzle function within PixInsight to be able to provide a detailed up close version of the image, I was very happy to have captured the brown “Globules” within the nebula to
Crescent Nebula in SHO NarrowbandSame object but with a 2x drizzle function in PixInsight applied
Image Details: Red Channel – SII Data – 89x300S Green Channel – Ha Data – 64x300S Blue Channel – OIII Data – 109x300S
101 Darks, Flats and BIAS Frames used
Equipment Used:- Imaging Camera: QHY183M Mono ColdMOS Camera at -20C Imaging Scope: Skywatcher Quattro 8″ F4 Newtonian Guide Scope: Skywatcher Finder Scope Guide Camera: QHY5L-II Mount: Skywatcher EQ8 Pro GEM Mount Focuser: PrimaluceLabs ROBO Focuser Filterwheel: StarlightXpress 7x36mm EFW Filters: Baader 7nm Ha, SII and OIII Acquision Software: Main Sequence Software Sequence Generator Pro Processing Software: Pixinsight 1.8.5
After much waiting, I finally have the RGB Data to go with the luminance layer, a new learning curve was the HDR Compose process in PixInsight, I used this to include the 300S Exposures I had previously that were burning out the core.
Equipment Used:
Imaging Camera: Qhyccd 183M Back Illuminated ColdMOS Camera at -20C
Imaging Scope: Sky-Watcher 8″ Quattro F4
Mount: Sky-Watcher EQ8 Pro
Guide Camera: Qhyccd QHY5L-II
Guide Scope: Sky-Watcher 90×50 Finder
Filter Wheel: Starlight Xpress Ltd 7x36mm EFW
Filters: Baader Planetarium LRGB + 7nm Ha
Image Acquisition: Main Sequence Software SGPro
Image Processing: PixInsight
Image Details:
101x150S in LRGB, Total 16.83 Hours
25x300S in LRGB, Total 8.33 Hours
25x600S in Ha, Total 4.16 Hours
Total exposure time: 29.32 Hours
BIAS, Darks and Flats subtracted
Target: M81 and M82 in Ursa Major
Acquisition Dates: Feb. 11, 2018, Feb. 12, 2018, Feb. 16, 2018, Feb. 23, 2018, Feb. 24, 2018, March 13, 2018, March 14, 2018, March 15, 2018, March 16, 2018, March 19, 2018, March 20, 2018
