TheSkySearchers

Hi Everyone,

My last of three data sets from the weekend before last. I only imaged this target once before and managed only a shot of the center with the ES ED102. This scope/camera combination was able to frame the target much better.

Imaged the evenings of 9/23/21 and 9/24/21 during a 95% and 90% moon.

Sharpstar 61 EDPHII with Sharpstar 0.8 FR/FF
183 light frames at 120 seconds. About 6 hours total integration.
ASI533 MC-P with Optolong L-eNhance filter. Gain 104, temperature -10C.

I shot the Elephant's Trunk nebula at the start of each evening, then switched to this target. The 95% and 90% moon over the two nights did have some impact on this image. I was able to collect some nice data on the Elephant's Trunk at the beginning of each night before the moon rose, but the Heart could not escape!

Thanks a bunch for looking and please offer any thoughts, comments or critiques!

Very nice details!

That’s a very nice Heart Jim, regardless of the moon. Nice round tight stars and excellent detail, well done!

wonderfully done , love the tone , thx .

Pretty image Jim with lots of detail. Nicely done.

Steve

Beautiful Jim !

Very nice Jim. I am not seeing a lot of negative impact from the Moon. I like the coloring and detail.

Thinking about trying this one myself a little later in the year - It'll be a two-panel mosaic for my gear.

Bob

Wonderful image! great work, Jim!!

Great image, good details and nice composition. You could maybe remove a few star, it might make it even sharper then it is now.
Thanks for sharing.
Clear Skies
Kenneth

Thank you very much for everyone's very nice comments!

@KathyNS @ic_1101 @STEVE333 @messier 111 @John Donne @MariusD69

bobharmony wrote: ↑Tue Oct 05, 2021 3:13 am Very nice Jim. I am not seeing a lot of negative impact from the Moon. I like the coloring and detail.

Thinking about trying this one myself a little later in the year - It'll be a two-panel mosaic for my gear.

Bob

I can only think that the L-eNhance is what allowed a decent image despite the moon.

The Sharpstar has been such a joy to use. Super easy, light compact, with tight cabling and never have to worry about it running into a tripod leg! It allows a somewhat wide-field with my small fov camera.

Thanks Bob!

Ken_nneth wrote: ↑Tue Oct 05, 2021 5:34 am Great image, good details and nice composition. You could maybe remove a few star, it might make it even sharper then it is now.
Thanks for sharing.
Clear Skies
Kenneth

I will try that Kenneth, thanks for the nice comments and suggestion.

Just to share something basic that I recently learned. I noticed an issue early on with this scope when using the PI MorphologicalTransformation for star reduction. When I got the stars reduced, the smaller dimmer stars started looking like they were connecting (like small lines). Could be related to the high imaging scale with this scope/camera. It was a horribly distasteful effect. With this image, I tried reducing the Amount to a very low value (like 0.1) and using several iterations (7-10) and the reduction was much more delicate and I did not get the "lining" issue at all. Easy simple stuff.

Thanks!

Excellent image in which you've managed to resolve some good details the composition and colour are great too.

Hi Jim. A superb Heart and Fish Head Nebulae image. Excellent contrast and very enjoyable nebulosity color and details on the annotated astrobin site. Thanks for sharing this fine capture with us Jim, and keep up the great work.

Gmetric wrote: ↑Tue Oct 05, 2021 2:15 pm Excellent image in which you've managed to resolve some good details the composition and colour are great too.

Makuser wrote: ↑Tue Oct 05, 2021 6:41 pm Hi Jim. A superb Heart and Fish Head Nebulae image. Excellent contrast and very enjoyable nebulosity color and details on the annotated astrobin site. Thanks for sharing this fine capture with us Jim, and keep up the great work.

Thanks a bunch “G” and Marshall.
This data just kind came together really easy. Not much change the color at all.
Really didn’t have to work very hard on the process.
The culmination third data set of probably the best weekend I’ve ever had imaging. Three imaging and data sets in four nights. Doesn’t happen often but I’m glad I could take advantage of it even with them blasting moon

Beautiful Jim!

Pretty shot, Jim. Nice colors. You're sure making the most of that Sharpstar.

starfield wrote: ↑Wed Oct 06, 2021 12:38 am Pretty shot, Jim. Nice colors. You're sure making the most of that Sharpstar.

Thanks Steve. The Sharpstar is an awesome little scope!

Thats a super image Jim.

Wow you got some good resolution there - with an AVX! That Optolong L-enhance filter mames it look as good as mono. Great image!

Thanks Jeff @Ylem and David @Jockinireland !

SkyHiker wrote: ↑Wed Oct 06, 2021 3:29 pm Wow you got some good resolution there - with an AVX! That Optolong L-enhance filter mames it look as good as mono. Great image!

Much appreciated Henk. I really enjoy my AVX. Keep everything lubed and tight and it does the job well (well enough for me!)
The L-eNhance is magic. I almost didn’t want to image with the super bright moon. The filter did wonderfully. Thanks