Astrophotography Imaging -- The California Nebula

Рет қаралды 1,454

Күн бұрын

My most recent astrophotography imaging session: the California Nebula! I only have 6 hours of clear skies to collect enough data for a full SHO astrophotography image for light-polluted Chicago! Will I make it?
Along the way I cover camera rotation in Telescopius and plate-solving for rotation in the ASIAir app. I rotate the camera on my RASA 8 to match the orientation for the night, and we're off to the races! My handy ASIAir Plus and Zwo EAF make quick work as I take flats and refocus for each filter through the night.
00:00 Intro
01:30 Planning and Framing in Telescopius
04:15 RASA Camera Angle Rotation
06:41 Setup Montage!
06:55 First Images
08:33 Full Session and Wrap-up
09:37 Final Image (for now)
Astrobin: astrob.in/gva8lc/0/
My Equipment:
Telescope: Celestron RASA 8
Imaging Camera: ZWO ASI1600MM Pro
Mount: iOptron CEM40
Filters: 2" Baader RGB and f/2 3.5/4nm Narrowband SHO
Guide Camera: ZWO ASI290MM Mini
Guide Scope: Orion 60mm Guide Scope with Helical Focuser
ZWO ASIAir Plus
ZWO EAF (Electronic Automatic Focuser)
Twitter: / nickjlake
Insta: / nickjlake
Astrobin: www.astrobin.com/users/bortle9/
Video shot on Nikon D800 and Pixel 4 XL
Rode Wireless Go microphone system
Astrophotography Atlas: Astrophotography Sky Atlas by Charles Bracken
Websites used in video:
Telescopius: telescopius.com/
Photographs of the universe, with galaxies, stars, nebulae, supernovas, comets, planets, Moon, Sun. Inspiring wonder about the night sky, even from the light pollution of Chicago.

Пікірлер: 34

@WindyCityAstrophotography 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for watching! I'm really looking forward to getting some more integration time on this one once the clouds clear (ha!)

@JonnyBravo0311 2 жыл бұрын

It's amazing the level of detail those RASA (and the Hyperstar) scopes pull in such a short time. Great image, Nick!

@WindyCityAstrophotography 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks very much! It never ceases to amaze me how fast it is

@DSOImager 2 жыл бұрын

Excellent video and great image. Love the colors you pulled out with this one.

@WindyCityAstrophotography 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you! Your green treatment in your videos gave me confidence.

@DSOImager 2 жыл бұрын

@@WindyCityAstrophotography Nice! :)

@astrotimetraveller4622 2 жыл бұрын

That’s a great image, well done, I guess an F2 really helps, but nicely processed, kr Ian

@WindyCityAstrophotography 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks Ian! Yes, mono at f/2 is a speed demon!

@AZ4Runner 2 жыл бұрын

Such a great image for 4.5hours..Pretty amazing IMO Nick.

@WindyCityAstrophotography 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks very much! Yeah the RASA is such a beast and that H-alpha signal was fantastic. I need a lot more OIII (actually far weaker than the SII) to really make it pop but happy for now! plus I have to get more channels on my Soul to catch up with you 🤣

@JoesAstrophoto 2 жыл бұрын

Wonderful capture Nick!

@WindyCityAstrophotography 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks Joe!

@lukesastro2380 2 жыл бұрын

Great image Nick!!

@WindyCityAstrophotography 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks very much!

@IcemanAstro 2 жыл бұрын

Wow, that a beautiful picture man!! I need a RASA now!

@WindyCityAstrophotography 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you very much, I was quite pleased with how it came out with that limited integration. Yeah, the RASA is a really fun scope!

@peterlaubscher3989 2 жыл бұрын

Lovely image - congratulations!

@WindyCityAstrophotography 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks very much!

@KopLamp 2 жыл бұрын

Really nice image! I haven't done California nebula justice up until now either. Had a go at it some weeks ago for the first time and shot a 6-panel mosaic on it while waiting for M78 to pop up behind the roofs. Also; 😲WOW, I wouldn't dare to image like you do (basically on the sidewalk?). I am in a fully secluded garden. Nobody knows I am out imaging (unless they are a subscriber to my channel 😅)

@WindyCityAstrophotography 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks very much! Yes the walkway is right there, though it is just access to the group of houses and the true sidewalk is about 100 feet farther away. Still, not ideal and I don't get to sleep while imaging. 😬

@EthansDeepField 2 жыл бұрын

Great video Nick, my last project is also california nebula, since we have almost identical equipments, looking your video is like reliving the moments I have had. I saw a little bit of halo in the final image, I'm guessing it's from the oiii channel? I also find oiii signal from california nebula is really really weak, I gathered almost 8 hours of oiii data, after some DBE and heavy stretch, I can barely see some contrast. I'm surprised you're final image looks that good in this short time. Congrats! Ethan.

@WindyCityAstrophotography 2 жыл бұрын

How fun! Yes, the Oiii channel had a bit of a halo which I actually didn't address at all in the processing. The Ha luminance layer took it down to the level you see now. In a future version I'll see what I can do with it 😄Yes, I was surprised how weak the O data was in this object. That'll be my first order of business when I'm collecting more data. I did some careful range selection and manual masked stretches to bring it out and eventually did the SHO combo once all the channels were non-linear. And then plenty of color masking 😀Probably good practice for the day I decide to image the Flying Bat and Squid!

@EthansDeepField 2 жыл бұрын

@@WindyCityAstrophotography Playing with the color is the most fun part of processing IMO, I'm in the process of making a target list for this winter, my priority is soul->rosette->horse head, flying bat is really cool too, looking forward to your result!

@WindyCityAstrophotography 2 жыл бұрын

@@EthansDeepField nice! Yes a long revisit of Rosette and Horsehead are on my list as well! Flying bat may wait until next year, but considering the Spaghetti Nebula

@rickspeedygonzales 2 жыл бұрын

Fantastic capture. Question regarding the RASA - do you prefer the guide scope towards the front of the tube, vs towards the rear?

@WindyCityAstrophotography 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks very much! For my setup that is just how it ended up so far. That way I can have the ASIAir top-mounted, though eventually I might put that on the bottom rail toward the front for shorter camera cabling. Plus the EAF isn't too heavy but it is quite long at the back so it balances that out. Overall though I don't think it really matters (plenty of RASA users getting great use out of smaller guide scopes mounted on a finder bracket at the back) and I may change it up in the future

@rickspeedygonzales 2 жыл бұрын

@@WindyCityAstrophotography thanks or the reply! I just got my RASA 8 and just waiting for the guide scope mount for the top rail. Hope I can get something like yours!

@WindyCityAstrophotography 2 жыл бұрын

@@rickspeedygonzales oh so excited for you! Such a fun scope 😀

@robertarmstrong9406 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for the video. Do you ever shot with a one shot color camera? I have the zwoasi533mc and have been thinking about a mono camera. The guys at starizona really like the one shot color cameras.

@WindyCityAstrophotography 2 жыл бұрын

I haven't, beyond a DSLR. I have definitely seen good results with a RASA, OSC and an NBZ from Bortle 9 skies, but there is nowhere near the level of detail that I can get with mono. I will definitely get one eventually (probably the 533 actually 😁) for adding data and getting RGB stars and such. But especially shooting in Bortle 9 like I am I want to take as much advantage of the efficiency of the RASA and you just can't beat mono for that

@enolmatilla 2 жыл бұрын

Hi, This flat panel you use, is hand made? Do you have any ref? I need to made one for my Hyperstar system that is like the RASA one. Greetings.

@WindyCityAstrophotography 2 жыл бұрын

Hello! Yes I bought this one on Amazon. Though it is currently unavailable you should be able to find something similar. www.amazon.com/dp/B07WG8N577/ref=cm_sw_r_apanp_moQ4D5SjZwxhV I put neutral density gels in front of the light panel in addition to the t-shirt on the embroidery hoop

@Gordonlanguam 2 жыл бұрын

Are you used to swapping the filters out ? I want to get a RASA but I’m used to my filter wheel

@WindyCityAstrophotography 2 жыл бұрын

Yes, though I usually do one filter per night. This was a fun one to do in one go, and for RGB imaging during a dark sky outing I will swap during the night.