First Light 490EX & 8-inch HyperStar

[dbmcclain]

Just got the camera, first night out, after aligning the mount with new payload, trying out the new camera. I was totally astonished by what I got. I had no idea to expect this...

Payload was an 8-inch Celestron SCT + HyperStar at prime focus for F:2.1. Camera was ATIK 490EX CFA, atop a Paramount MYT set up on the patio in my back yard. I don't own a guider, so I kept the shots to 3 minutes because of unguided exposure.

Exposure was an unguided 5 x 3 min stack + 5 x 15 sec + 5 x 1 sec + 5 x 0.1 sec (I had no idea what would work... the 0.01 sec images didn't yield anything). Put together as an HDR stack in PixInsight, and at the end of the day, I had what you see here. Processing was nonlinear stretch from 64-bit FITS format, plus Multiresolution Tranform to bring out the details in the core of the nebula, and a bit of Luminance contrast enhancement + Chroma stretch to bring out the color.

Very nice camera system! Makes pros out of all of us beginners.

:-) DM

[Jo]

Excellent image, I definitely wouldn't guess you're a beginner! 

[jcinpv]

Just got the camera, first night out, after aligning the mount with new payload, trying out the new camera. I was totally astonished by what I got. I had no idea to expect this...

Payload was an 8-inch Celestron SCT + HyperStar at prime focus for F:2.1. Camera was ATIK 490EX CFA, atop a Paramount MYT set up on the patio in my back yard. I don't own a guider, so I kept the shots to 3 minutes because of unguided exposure.

Exposure was an unguided 5 x 3 min stack + 5 x 15 sec + 5 x 1 sec + 5 x 0.1 sec (I had no idea what would work... the 0.01 sec images didn't yield anything). Put together as an HDR stack in PixInsight, and at the end of the day, I had what you see here. Processing was nonlinear stretch from 64-bit FITS format, plus Multiresolution Tranform to bring out the details in the core of the nebula, and a bit of Luminance contrast enhancement + Chroma stretch to bring out the color.

Very nice camera system! Makes pros out of all of us beginners.

:-) DM

You're doing a great job with Pixinsight, and that's a fantastic image. I don't mean to be picky, but there's a tad bit more dynamic range in that image that can be pulled out with Levels and Curves in PS CS6. And I'm sure that PI can do as much. Keep tweaking!

I've attached your image with my tweaks.

I just got my 460EX with an 8" EdgeHD and Hyperstar. I don't expect to get as much detail as you have pulled out, but I should come close.

John C
Prescott Valley, AZ

[dbmcclain]

Heh! That was the very first image I took with the 490 and the C8 HyperStar. Color balance is all wrong there. A better image can be found here:  http://www.astrobin.com/229669/C/

Not sure if I got the additional dynamic range you mention, or not. But the color has been calibrated against a decent image of M31 taken near the zenith.

Someone asked what software i use to capture my images? I normally use TheSkyX and sometimes I'll use Maxim DL. Maxim shows the immediate raw frames a bit better than TheSkyX, but the real images only come after calibration and processing with PixInsight.