You should try this area in straight RGB...there are a wealth of rich hues that get lost with the Ha processing...maybe next time you're in the neighborhood!
You probably noticed there is a lot more response on the Cloudy Nights site. That's my normal hangout...I'm trying to cut down a bit on the different groups, but I still like to come back here...kind of like home
My only suggestion (you know there had to be one ) would be a little less aggressive blurring the the surrounds. There is an abrupt difference between the center sharpness and the surrounding region.
Yes, the background was left a little high, although it's not very noticeable on most monitors. I tend towards that direction rather than leaving it too dark. I hate to cover up all those faint background galaxies!
Here's a little different view of M57. I used the RGB data for all of the color, and used Lum and Ha filters for Luminance. I was very surprised at the color of the outer shell!
I'll start out by apologizing for not being around here as much as I'd like...I've been stretching myself a little thin. I thought I'd try to catch up with what I've been up to.
I'm pretty excited about my current setup. I've been having more fun than a man should. I bought a modified 10" f/5 Newtonian from DBA Astronomy which has incredible optics and a few optimizations for Astrophotography. I tell you, this thing rocks!!! I use a Baader MPCC coma corrector with it, and I get a super flat field eve with the Rebel XT!
I'm using a Tak NJP, and it's a superb mount....the best I've owned. With the polar scope alignment only, I can do 2 minute unguided images pretty easily.
Still using the SX SXV-H9 and the Hutech modded Canon XT.
For a while, I played with a homemade 12.5" f/4.5 I bought off of Astromart. While it was quite nice, it was a bit much to handle and had a lot of flex.
Anyway, you can take a look at my DSO page. The top line-and-a-half are images taken with the 10" Newt in tha last month. All the details and full res are there. http://www.ricksastro.com/DSOs/Date.shtml
Below is a summary of them, including a couple taken with the Rebel (M13 & wide field M51)
You're a guy after my own heart. While I have some high end equipment, my goal is to always have my setup be an overacheiver. The goal shouldn't be to get your stuff in S&T, but to make the most out of the setup you have. Getting a little recognition is nice, but once the hobby becomes about outdoing someone else other than yourself, it ceases to be fun.
Sweet setup, Jake...it looks like you've got it running very well...
That's one nice image! As far as backgound noise, about the best way is to put a coldpack on the camera. This was discussed in the Digital Astro a while back. Especially being in a desert area, this will lower the overall noise of the system.
I, personally, don't need one tonight, as it's about 15F out and I"m imaging with my XT...very low noise, very cold fingers!
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