The Witch Head Nebula

[jmx]

Only 28 minutes of exposure time on this (14 x 2 minute). My PC decided to reboot during the exposures due to windows auto-updates (DOH!), which killed my shooting. Anyway, you can still make out the face staring at the bright star Rigel.

I'd normally wait until I got a better shot of it (with an hour or two of data), but since halloween is nearly here I'll just have to post what I have.

Taken 10/16/2009, Canon 50D, Skywatcher Equinox 80 400mm@f/5, cgem mount
http://jmx.ls1howto.com/pics/200910_ic2118_28min_100kb.jpg

[VIGER]

Bravo!

[jhuse]

Awesome! Has a 3d feel to it IMO.

[Celestron]

WOW , very nice ! I've always wanted to do this but this takes alot of exposer time for a proper shot like this one of my friend Bud Guinn : Witches Head (http://www.budguinn.com/gallery22/v/nebula/IC-2118-color-balanced-redu.jpg.html?g2_imageViewsIndex=1) and his first Witches Head (http://www.budguinn.com/gallery22/v/nebula/IC2118-10-25-08-framed.jpg.html?g2_imageViewsIndex=1)

[jmx]

Yeah, it takes a bit more than 28 minutes really, hehe. I'm going to try shooting it again sometime this winter. It + Rigel just _barely_ fit into frame at 400mm, but I feel like a witchhead photo without Rigel doesn't work as well.

I've sinced turned off XP autoupdates. :D

Anyway, other photos from last weekend should come out better (like the orion neb I posted 2 days ago). I'll post more once I process them. Hope there's some good data!

[Celestron]

Yeah, it takes a bit more than 28 minutes really, hehe. I'm going to try shooting it again sometime this winter. It + Rigel just _barely_ fit into frame at 400mm, but I feel like a witchhead photo without Rigel doesn't work as well.

I've sinced turned off XP autoupdates. :D

Can you actually see the witches head in the scope ? I've never really tried but with my C8 you couldn't see both in the same FOV anyway .

[jmx]

Can you actually see the witches head in the scope ? I've never really tried but with my C8 you couldn't see both in the same FOV anyway .

I again never put an eyepiece in the telescope the whole night, but I use the camera viewfinder to look at what I'm shooting in many cases, and this time, there was nothing in the view aside from Rigel. This nebula is pretty dim.

To frame the shot I had to use 30 or 60 second test exposures at ISO 12800 to see where the witches head was, relative to Rigel, then in the viewfinder I put rigel where I wanted and started taking the normal shots.

[Celestron]

I don't think my XSi will go higher than 1600 ISO . And you shoot these in RAW ? How is the graininess ?

[jmx]

I shoot in RAW, yeah. JPEG is just a bad way to start out, as you're throwing data away right after you capture. Plus Canon sensors are 12 bit or 14 bit, and JPG only stores data at 8bit, so you'd lose minor details to quantization.

Graininess is what it is, that's what all the light frames and dark subtraction are for. Average out that noise. Why do you ask, do you use the in-camera noise reduction for your jpegs?

[Celestron]

Why do you ask, do you use the in-camera noise reduction for your jpegs?

No i use Canons software DPP if i need it . I have the camera set to RAW now but haven't taken any shots yet . Do you ever use RAW+JPEG settings or does your camera have that also ? If so why the extra jpeg ?

[jmx]

I shoot RAW+JPEG, so that I can get nice quick previews in windows once I dump all the files to my hard drive. Plus, I always shoot in raw+jpeg, day or night. Depending on the photo, sometimes I go with the 14bit RAW data (for example, brightening up a shadow in a daytime photo), and othertimes I just use the JPEG (for when the shot came out perfect straight out of the camera), but I always have both there just in case.

I suggest you just get a gigantic memory card and start working with RAW+JPEG all the time. I'm not sure if your camera is 12bit or 14 bit, but either way its more than 8bit, which is all you were getting before.

[Celestron]

I'm not sure if your camera is 12bit or 14 bit, but either way its more than 8bit, which is all you were getting before.


14-Bit according to Canons Website : SPECS (http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=ModelInfoAct&fcategoryid=139&modelid=16307#ModelTechSpecsAct)

BTW I just noticed that the XTi has been dropped from Canons line-up so now my camera is #2 from the drop off list :( , i've only had it a few months new :mad: .

[NaKiD EyE]

amazing shot!

[MintMark]

Honestly, I didn't know that was there until I saw this thread :)

I'll have to try it when it comes round in the sky... I hope I'll be able to pick up something there.

Thanks for sharing the picture.

[troypiggo]

Great work - love the composition - she looks hypnotised by Rigel :)

[DSLR AstroMod]

To frame the shot I had to use 30 or 60 second test exposures at ISO 12800 to see where the witches head was, relative to Rigel, then in the viewfinder I put rigel where I wanted and started taking the normal shots.

Why struggle? :p
Get yourself EQMOD, I promise you'll never look back, alignment pointing model is accurate down to arcsecs and no more struggling to centre your target.
Trash the handset, never to be used again, and you can use a rumblepad if need be which is much more natural.

Your'e reading to rock n roll within minutes, go on try it!

[jmx]

Why struggle? :p
Get yourself EQMOD, I promise you'll never look back, alignment pointing model is accurate down to arcsecs and no more struggling to centre your target.
Trash the handset, never to be used again, and you can use a rumblepad if need be which is much more natural.

Your'e reading to rock n roll within minutes, go on try it!

"Framing" and "centering" are two totally different things. I still have to rotate the camera and move things around a bit to fit it all in how I want, I'm not sure how EQMOD could help.

As it stands now, the mount centers objects on the first try every time. Does EQMOD allow me to frame things up somehow?

[Dusty]

Good work on a very difficult object.
The witch head is dim and needs a lot of exposure.
And yes it can be difficult to frame properly.

You've done well.

[DSLR AstroMod]

As it stands now, the mount centers objects on the first try every time. Does EQMOD allow me to frame things up somehow?

I use EQMOD with CdC. CdC allows a camera/ep fov display overlayed on the map, you can also set the orientation of your camera relative to equatorial or ALT/AZ coords. Framing then becomes a lot simpler , yes.