MetaGuide: Tarantula Nebula in H-alpha/H-beta, with Atik 383L+ and EdgeHD 11 with reducer on CGE-Pro
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Tarantula Nebula bicolor from 3nm Ha and 8.5nm HB filters
| Imaging Optics | Celestron EdgeHD 11 with reducer at f/7 |
| Mount | Celestron CGE-Pro |
| Guiding Software | MetaGuide with dithering from SGP |
| Guiding Mode | Off-axis guiding with Hutech OAG5 |
| Imaging Camera | Atik 383L+ |
| Guiding Camera | QHY5l-ii |
| Collimation | MetaGuide |
| Focus | SGP and RoboFocus on the primary focuser - no mirror locks used |
| Exposure Time | approx 2x10x5m |
| Image Scale | 0.57" per pixel |
| Raw FWHM | Down to 1.5" in subs |
| Image Processing | Calibration and stack in custom software, only levels in Photoshop CS6 - no other processing or sharpening |
| Image Processing - Other | Channels merged in Photoshop with Ha as red and HB as cyan (green+blue) |
| Image Acquisition | SGP |
| Other Software | PECTool, TheSkyX Pro for best guidestar selection with field of view indicator (FOVI) |
| Other Hardware | Pyxis OAG Rotator for best guidestar, Telegizmos 365 cover, Long usb cable to outside setup |
| Date | Dec. 29, 2015 |
| Filter | Astrodon 3nm H-alpha, Baader 8.5nm H-beta |
Close up to show detail in center and color variation due to changing Ha/HB ratio
Monochrome version from Ha and HB data, slightly sharpened
Click for full size
Above slightly sharpened in photoshop
Maxim view of Ha unprocessed stack, with final fwhm around 1.5\"
FOVI used for guidestar selection with rotator. 8.9 mag star allowed strong signal with video at 10 fps using OAG and qhy5l-ii for MetaGuide