TheSkySearchers

Sounds crazy, but I have a bunch going on this week, so I am just going to leave this as “a big work in progress”.

I realized earlier that I had used 180 second darks to process this image. The lights are at 120 seconds. Woops!

Last night was my first chance to try out my newly Ha moddded DSLR and I really feel it was definitely a good move to mod the camera.

Anyway, here is my rawish version of M33 from last night.

Very windy and poor seeing.

About 1.5 hrs of 120 second lights at iso 800
Wrong darks (180 second)
Old bias frames
Quick mid-histogram flats

I hope to add more data (and new darks tonight!).
Note: this is the same image I posted in my thread this morning viewtopic.php?f=24&t=5150#p43518 except I tweaked the blue level in PS Elements.

Thanks for looking!

BTW, Startools 1.6.382 Rocks!

Jim

Very nice Jim! Glad to hear the mod worked out so well.

SkyHiker wrote: ↑Mon Dec 02, 2019 6:57 pm Very nice Jim! Glad to hear the mod worked out so well.

Thanks Henk,

I believed that you were one of the “thumbs up” responses to the Ha mod thread that II posted.

Big time response in sensitivity and Ha. Kinda had me wondering last night with the red light frames. I think that you even commented “you’ll have boatloads of red”.

Compared to last year, unmodded and unguided and with almost no experience, this is what i collected after about an hour of 60 second exposures.
Granted, I have picked up a few things since then, but boy do I have a long way to go!

Thanks,
Jim

If this is a "rawish image" I can't wait to see the final image! Looking great already. Thanks for sharing, Jim.

Looks great Jim!

Hankmeister3 wrote: ↑Mon Dec 02, 2019 11:17 pm If this is a "rawish image" I can't wait to see the final image! Looking great already. Thanks for sharing, Jim.

Thanks Henry. By rawish I mean I was really just testing the camera hoping that I would collect some decent data. The calibration files are not good and the darks don't match the exposure time, but I processed the batch just to see what "come out".

Looking like the mod will be a keeper!

I am shooting more light frames of M33 now. Another poor seeing (windy) evening, but clear enough and I will take what I can get. I will worry about the darks another day.

Thanks for your comments!
Jim

STEVE333 wrote: ↑Tue Dec 03, 2019 1:02 am Pretty image Jim. The mod really brought out the red "knots" in the arms. Congratulations on getting your camera modified. You won't regret it.

You may want to look into using some filter to limit the red response to wavelenghts beyond the Ha wavelength. This will help prevent "blurring" caused by the extended red beyond the Ha not focussing properly. I successfully used an IDAS LPS-D1 filter for this purpose for a few years. It also helped with my Light Pollution.

Have fun.

Steve

I am having fun Steve and thanks for your nice words.

Collecting more data now. I have already collected 18 images at 120 seconds (matching the dataset from last night). I really like Standard Time! Shooting for a total of four hours (that will be a new record for me).

The filter sounds great and I do really need to limit the reds beyond Ha. I have another project going on right now. My son and I are building a new desktop to process images with. New AMD Ryzen 8 core cpu with a big graphics card. Got the cpu, graphics card, and power supply in today. The main board, case, and ram will be in before the end of the week. Perfect timing since my son leaves for Navy OCS next week.

Little steps!

Bigzmey wrote: ↑Tue Dec 03, 2019 1:05 amLooks great Jim!

Thanks a bunch Bigz! Having a blast. 41 degrees F outside (cool for Mississippi) with Jack hanging with me. Of course, I am watching the action right now from the inside pc getting ready to get an ice cream cone.

Jim

That's a very nice image of M33 Jim, the mod on your dslr was a wise investment. World of difference from your original image, brought out some nice H-alpha.

Wow, the mod has made a big difference. Very nice, Jim!

Thanks buddy!

Trying to get another couple of hours in tonight before the weather turns and the moon burns!

Jim

Very nice, Jim!! Looking forward to seeing your final image.

Great capture Jim. Glad to see that your camera mod worked out.

jerrysykes wrote: ↑Tue Dec 03, 2019 12:46 pm Very nice, Jim!! Looking forward to seeing your final image.

Thanks a bunch Jerry!

I collected an additional two hours of exposures last night.

Super smooth imaging session last night.

I want to process the image on the new PC. Still waiting on some parts to come in Friday.

Thanks again!

Jim

Awesome! Well done, Jim!!