Cygnus - Sadr Region

From the Crescent Nebula to the Sadr Region

I have had this camera for over 5 years and have yet to really discover it's full potential. I have been focusing more on how to squeeze the most out of it. I decied to lower the ISO from 1600 to 400, add some solid guiding via the C8 and QHY guidecam as well as ad bias calibration. I'm quite pleased with how the end result came out! It is minimally processed after all new darks, flats and new bias frames added to the stacking in DSS.

Solved annotation: http://nova.astrometry.net/user_images/3747039#annotated

Included in this region are the following:

 

SAC        20h18m50.13s        +40°47'40.1"        OC        Cr 419        m: 5.40        sbr:        Dim: 4.5 x 4.5 '        pa: 90        class:IV 2 p        desc:13''-pB;pL;nRi;sC; 16* mags 11..13 at 100X;Compact but not rich;N of Struve 2666;14 * to 13 mag        Const:CYG                

SAC        20h24m39.81s        +38°35'48.5"        OC        M 29        m: 6.60        Name:NGC 6913        sbr:11.00        Dim: 7.0 x 7.0 '        pa: 90        class:III 3 p n        desc:Cl;P;lC;st L&S;About 20 stars mags 8...        Const:CYG        

SAC        20h17m16.00s        +37°41'38.4"        OC        IC 4996        m: 7.30        Name:Cr 418        sbr:        Dim: 6.0 x 6.0 '        pa: 90        class:I 3 p n        desc:Cl;st 8...13;        Const:CYG        

SAC        20h23m56.37s        +40°50'47.2"        OC        NGC 6910        m: 7.40        Name:OCL 181        sbr:        Dim: 8.0 x 8.0 '        pa: 90        class:I 2 p n        desc:Cl;pB;pS;P;pC;*20.12;H VIII 56;In Gamma Cyg nebula and Cyg OB9        Const:CYG        

SAC        20h04m34.97s        +44°13'19.2"        OC        NGC 6866        m: 7.60        Name:OCL 183        sbr:        Dim: 7.0 x 7.0 '        pa: 90        class:II 2 m        desc:Cl;L;vRi;cC;H VII 59;50* mags 10...        Const:CYG        

SAC        20h21m09.54s        +38°45'43.7"        OC        Berk 86        m: 7.90        sbr:        Dim: 8.0 x 8.0 '        pa: 90        class:I 3 p n        desc:13''-pF;pS;nRi;nC 19* mags 10..13 at 135X;        Const:CYG                

SAC        20h12m04.83s        +35°54'31.3"        OC        NGC 6883        m: 8.00        Name:OCL 148        sbr:        Dim: 15.0 x 15.0 '        pa: 90        class:I 3 p n        desc:Cl;pRi;** inv; r Gamma CYG        Const:CYG        

SAC        20h12m51.36s        +38°24'32.0"        Nb        NGC 6888        m:10.00        Name:LBN 203        sbr:        Dim: 20.0 x 10.0 '        pa: 90        class:E        desc:F;vL;vmE;** att;H IV 72;Crescent Neb;Wolf-Rayet * invl        Const:CYG        

SAC        20h24m01.79s        +41°45'47.2"        OC        Cr 421        m:10.10        sbr:        Dim: 6.0 x 6.0 '        pa: 90        class:III 1 p n        desc:13''-pF;pS;nRi;lC; 22* at 135X;        Const:CYG                

SAC        20h25m32.86s        +40°13'49.5"        Drk        LDN 889        m:11.00        sbr:79.90        Dim: 90.0 x 20.0 '        pa: 90        class:4 Ir        desc:;Wide lane in IC 1318 following Gamma Cyg        Const:CYG                

SAC        20h27m24.59s        +43°48'51.5"        Drk        B 346        m:11.00        Name:LDN 906        sbr:79.90        Dim: 10.0 x 4.0 '        pa: 90        class:6 K        desc:;In patchy area 2.8 deg preced and 1.5 deg south of Deneb        Const:CYG        

SAC        20h14m14.21s        +40°19'33.7"        Drk        B 343        m:11.00        Name:LDN 880        sbr:79.90        Dim: 10.0 x 5.0 '        pa: 90        class:5 Ir G        desc:;1.7 deg preceeding Gamma Cyg        Const:CYG        

SAC        20h29m09.20s        +39°58'54.5"        Drk        B 347        m:11.00        Name:LDN 889        sbr:79.90        Dim: 10.0 x 1.0 '        pa: 90        class:5 Ir        desc:;Narrow streak 1.2 deg foll and 20' south of Gamma Cyg        Const:CYG        

SAC        20h11m01.42s        +41°16'28.9"        C+N        IC 1311        m:13.10        Name:OCL 173        sbr:        Dim: 5.0 x 5.0 '        pa: 90        class:II 3 r n        desc:30 pF * in eF neby;small cluster;Neb Descr=60'x20' emission neb in sev parts near Gamma CYG        Const:CYG        

SAC        20h26m45.02s        +40°03'51.2"        Nb        IC 1318        m:14.90        Name:Sh2-108        sbr:        Dim: 45.0 x 20.0 '        pa: 90        class:E        desc:Gamma Cygni Neb;L patches of F nebulosity;Portions of neby surround Gamma Cyg;elong generally E-W        Const:CYG        

Full steps:

Guided in QHY at f/10 on 8" SCT on CGE mount with PHD2

Imaged piggy back on 200mm f/4 Canon lens.

Camera is stock Canon 60Da with LP filter.

Shot 26 x 5min subs with EOS Utility

Stacked and calibrated in DeepSkyStacker (DSS)

Processed in Photoshop:

Levels and Curves

Topaz Noise reduction

Saturation adjustment

Slight sharpening with Google NIX

Assembled menu'ing and text overlays in GIMP

My widefield Horsehead, Flame, Running Man and Orion Nebulae

I tried something new that I have not done before and that was to piggy back my 200mm lens with the Canon 60Da camera onto the 14".  I had planned on guiding but the coldness of mid 20*F kept me from that extra bit of setup.  I found that the 200mm at f/4 and 1600ISO on the 60Da did pretty well up to 2min unguided and even roughly aligned.

Here's a 1900x1200 HD version that will fit your screen pretty well http://i.imgur.com/4hYb6LM.png

Here's the monster full res version of 5200x3400, from the camera's resolution!  http://i.imgur.com/OUeiMQU.jpg


Next time I will try guiding but I think there might be a portion of my finder in the lower areas of the frame that is reflecting some light into the lens.  I'd like to look at resurrecting my old 6" with 4" guide scope onto a new mount for these types of shots as it is VERY fun and rewarding to use a one-shot color camera on nebula.  Nextime I will work harder to mask the brighter areas of the Orion Nebula too, as it's a bit washed out in some areas.

Thanks for looking,

Mike

A very **UNFAIR** comparison of CCD to DSLR!

This is a very **UNFAIR** comparison of CCD to DSLR!  It's unfair because of the following.

Differences

1. Taken on different nights
2. Guiding methods - 50mm finder guiding on DSLR and OAG for CCD
3. Coma corrector on CCD, NOT used on DSLR
4. 2x2 binning on the CCD, native iso6400 on DSLR

Similarities

1. Same telescope, +Akule my custom 35.6cm f/4.5 Newt
2. Similar processing routine

Also of note, the image scales are quite different and were somewhat difficult to line up.  I got 'close enough' and stopped getting precise alignment.  I don't think this a valid or fair comparison but a nice contrast to both style of cameras.

Here's a three frame animation comparing.

1) RGB via the DSLR only

2) Lum via the CCD and no filters at all

3) A standard LRGB combination of the filterless CCD as lum and the one-shot color as RGB.

Here's the DSLR ONLY

Here's the filter-less CCD 'lum' shot only

Finally the LRGB combination

Perhaps it not even a comparison at all, but the lack of clear skies and poor planning had me running over the same objects within a week's span or so and having used different cameras got me hankering for a comparison even it wasn't like for like

Hope you enjoy and feel free to comment or critizice!!

A refreshed Little Dumbbell - M76

I had previously shot this target on the same telescope ( +Akule  ) last year but used a DSLR.

Here's my more recent effort with a CCD.

Astrobin has the full 1:1 resolution


The full 1:1, HD (1920x1080) resolution for your desktop wallpaper 

Now for the somewhat unfair side by side CCD vs DSLR

The DSLR, a Canon 7D is on the left from last year.  The new SBIG STF-8300M is on the right.

What is really unfair is that the integration times are MUCH different.

Still to me, there is a HUGE difference and I wouldn't want to use a DSLR as my main camera for this type of work.

The most fun was that I was inside playing games while the image was taken using Sequence Generator Pro and monitored via teamviewer.  The clouds started to pass but the guiding held up so I kept going!