Hi guys

This started out as a quick run at the end of an imaging session while I waited for Jupiter to rise.. I saw M8/M20 was rising, only about 25-30deg at the time but I set up a run and went back to bed for a couple of hours until Jupiter was up higher.

It's only 42mins worth of exposure (7 x 6 minutes), but i'm really happy with how it turned out. I took a lot of time in processing this image, with a lot of selective processing, selective high pass filtering, selective levels and curves, etc. I feel like i'm finally starting to get the hang of this DSO stuff.

I used Jase's beautiful image to guide me to know when I'd done enough processing

Unmodded Canon 350D + ED80 + WO 0.8x reducer. Guided with PHD + DMK. Darks with ICNR, flats calibrated in ImagesPlus.
Unfortunately the WO was not square or something, so there's horrible elongated stars in the corners.

M20 (Trifid) and M8 (Lagoon) Nebulas (Click the image to see the full size).

I really can't wait to give this another go at the SPSP star party, when it's rising higher, under very dark skies, and I can give it loads more exposure time.

Thanks for looking.

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Mike
. mikesalway.com.au - Astronomy and Photography by Mike Salway
. IceInSpace - The Australian Amateur Astronomy Community
. My Bio | My Jupiter 2007 Gallery | My Image Gallery

Mike,

Beautiful shot! There is great detail in the bright areas of the nebula but the dark areas show up well too. Very, very nice!

--Andy

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Observatorio de la Ballona

Now that's the best type of subject field to go after with a DSLR on a 80ED, lot's of interesting items in a wide shot, yet still sized large enough to see.
Good job.

Robert

(By the way, you may find Gendler's/Cannistra's suggestions on LRGB processing. using your interpolated L layer, to be advantageous in keeping the saturation up in the brighter portions of the nebulas)

And M21 as well. Excellent for a unmodified camera. It may be the refractor needs a field flattener to fix the corners. At the reproduced scale you have to look for it to see it. Just don't mention it!

Rick

What elongation? A fantastic image and just perfect for your ED80. Once again you have brought out that marvelous dense field again. Thanks for sharing.

Kind regards
Matt

Very nice!
-Veeger