The Elephant's Trunk

I shot the Elephant's Trunk Nebula last night. This is my second time trying to shoot it, the first time was with a dslr and an 80mm scope. I had a lot better luck this time with an ASI183MM Pro and MN190 scope.

Total integration time was 4 hours. I really need to get an electric focuser so I can get my stars tighter.

20, 300 sec H-Alpha
15, 300 sec SII
13, 300 sec OIII

This was shot with the following:

Skywatcher MN190, 1000mm F5.2 Maksutov Newtonian
EQ8-R Pro
ZWO ASI183MM Pro
Skywatcher 72ED Guide Scope
ZWO ASI120 MC-S Guide Camera

Serious setup it seems. Well worth the image, for sure.

Have a pic of the setup, for the curious?

Sure thing!

Not TOO serious, about $4000 total. There are many who have tens of thousands of dollars in their equipment though.

I'm sure. And where does the camera go...i.e. how does it attach to the scope?

Thanks for the image, btw. Nice setup.

inthedeck wrote in post #18902594
I'm sure. And where does the camera go...i.e. how does it attach to the scope?

Thanks for the image, btw. Nice setup.

The camera is that big round red can. It goes where the eyepiece usually fits on a scope. The camera is a mono camera and uses a filter wheel to shoot R,G,B and narrow band filters, which when combined give a color image.

The camera thermally cools the sensor to -40 degrees C below ambient temperatures so the images are much less "noisy" than a non cooled camera would be.

Gotcha. And here, I thought you used a DSLR type machine to shoot the pics. Haha. Cool stuff!

Amazing photo!

Thanks for the gear photos and explanation.
Some day I'll try astrophotography, but for now I'll get some binoculars and learn the night sky.

Looking forward to more of your photos

Amazing. Thanks for the post.
Now, in TOTAL ignorance, are those colours as the naked eye would see this through a powerful telescope?

I often look at celestial images and see hords of colours but wonder how much is true as opposed to enhanced for the viewer.

avondale87 wrote in post #18902653
Amazing. Thanks for the post.
Now, in TOTAL ignorance, are those colours as the naked eye would see this through a powerful telescope?

I often look at celestial images and see hords of colours but wonder how much is true as opposed to enhanced for the viewer.

While we wait for the OP to respond, here's a related article you may find interesting...

https://www.dpreview.c​om …olorize-pictures-of-space

Perfectly Frank wrote in post #18904006
While we wait for the OP to respond, here's a related article you may find interesting...

https://www.dpreview.c​om …olorize-pictures-of-space

Many thanks. Very interesting.

Awesome shot!
It cools down to -40C or -4C?

40C below ambient temperature.

So if it's 20C outside, it should cool to -20C.

Magical shot! dreamy ~~~ what did you use to process?