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EtaCarina in Halpha
This is an image I acquired while in Chile during a week's vacation in March 2010. Now that I have learned more about processing (and purchased more up-to-date software) I decided to reprocess the image over the last week or so. (Perhaps I should have labelled it as a 2011 image?)
The object was imaged using my Takahashi FSQ106N, my Apogee U16M ccd camera with an Baader Ha filter, plus a K-W Telescope Kwik Guider. This system was riding piggy back on Steve Barnes' 12"RC, which is permanently mounted on a Paramount in a Skyshed roll-off buidling situated in northern Chile.
Six sub-exposures, each 10min long were taken. These frames were calibrated, aligned, stacked, and DDP'd in MaximDL5Pro, then sharpened, curves, etc in PS CS3. Finally the image was tweaked using Noel Carboni's Actions for Photoshop.
I am pleased with the level of detail in this image, especially given that it qualifies as being "undersampled" at 3.5 arc seconds per pixel. :-)
Your feedback and suggestions would be greatly appreciated. :-)
Comment
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Comment by Derek Baker on June 2, 2011 at 7:54am
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Hey Mark. Thanks for the nice comments! :-) BTW nice pun in your comment! :-)
Hey Trevor. Thanks! I do like the look of B&W astroimages, and they're a heck of a lot easier to process! :-)
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Comment by Marc Basti on June 1, 2011 at 8:33pm
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Chile, you lucky dog! That pic is a beauty, great souvenir. Marc
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Comment by Trevor Woodrow on May 31, 2011 at 11:41pm
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Love the b/w...tons of detail. Nice work.
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Thanks Steve! Much appreciated! Yes, it was a fantastic trip. Actually it's the second time I have gone. It's not a cheap vacation, but once you've seen the southern skies from a dark site, you are hooked for life! On top of that, the skies are almost always clear, so you know that if you go to the trouble of lugging equipment down there and setting it all up, you are likely to get at least 5 or 6 nights out of 7 being clear. :-)
In 2008 I just took a few camera lenses and a modded Canon 20D, and did some imaging and a lot of observing. By 2010 I had gotten the Tak & U16M, so I actually packed them in a couple of big Pelican cases with the guider, tools, etc for check-in luggage. My personal belongings, medications, etc were for carry-on luggage.
The Tak I have is an FSQ106N, not the latest and more compact version, so bringing it as carry-on would have been a hit or miss proposition. It was actually a lot to lug around - bordering on too much for just me actually - but everything made it there and back in good condition. I am totally itching to go down there again to do more imaging/observing....the only thing holding me back is my bank account! lol! :-)
Thanks again for the kind and encouraging words Steve. Take care. :-)
Derek
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Comment by Steve Coates on May 31, 2011 at 6:14pm
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That must have been a sick trip!! Very nice detail you've got in this image. How was it traveling with your Tak? Welcome to the site...I think you're going to fit in nicely around here...
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