M42 with Sharpcap beta 4.1 and new Stretch Mode setting

[DrBobAZ]

Greetings

I thought I would post this result for M42 in Bortle 8+ and half Moon, Scottsdale AZ

https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/8660 ... p=12530982

I was using the beta 4.1 of Sharpcap

Using stretch mode '5'

This was M42, 10sec sub, 250 gain, modest total exposure of 11 minutes. It should also be good for galaxies, in that you could present the arms, without the core blowing out.

c6(f6.3)/asi294mc-pro(-10C)/az-gti(eq)/L-pro flats and darks.

Save as seen, no post-processing

I not only got faint nebulosity in both M42 and running man, but the trapezium is resolved, and one can see mottled structure in the core.

Big improvement over the previous treatment IMO.

Thanks Robin!


Comments welcome!

Bob

[Menno555]

Very nice for a non-processed capture!

Menno

[admin]

Hi,

really glad that worked - basically imaging M42 myself a month or so back and struggling to pull out the faint detail without killing the trapezium area was what made me add the stretch mode option. I have some more thoughts that might lead to further stretch improvements in future, but they will take some time to fully work out and test.

cheers,

Robin

[DrBobAZ]

Very nice for a non-processed capture!

Menno

Thanks! I really enjoy the domain of EAA, finding AP too time-consuming (and expensive!).

Bob

[DrBobAZ]

Hi,

really glad that worked - basically imaging M42 myself a month or so back and struggling to pull out the faint detail without killing the trapezium area was what made me add the stretch mode option. I have some more thoughts that might lead to further stretch improvements in future, but they will take some time to fully work out and test.

cheers,

Robin

Thanks Robin. Really appreciate what you do.

Bob

[timh]

Like it ! I think that being able to do observational EEA to that sort of quality in a Bortle 8 zone within only 10 min plus capture a half decent instant image is one of the great strengths of Sharpcap -- now enhanced in 4.1 with better stretching. Tonight I was out on a cold night teaching a newbie where things are in the sky and what objects to see -- and even looking through an actual eyepiece on a cold night. It was a nice trip back to the past but it also reminded me just how difficult it is to really see anything at all at Bortle 8 visually through a 70 mm telescope. We struggled even with M35 -- bright moon nearby. As it happens we looked at the Orion nebula -- but my word - how much more than that faint visual smudge is DrBob's EEA view that was also under Bortle 8 skies. Tim

[DrBobAZ]

it also reminded me just how difficult it is to really see anything at all at Bortle 8 visually through a 70 mm telescope. We struggled even with M35 -- bright moon nearby. As it happens we looked at the Orion nebula -- but my word - how much more than that faint visual smudge is DrBob's EEA view that was also under Bortle 8 skies. Tim

Thanks! That is precisely why I chose EAA when I re-entered the hobby after a 16 year hiatus. Back in 2000-2004 I lived in B4 semi-rural NM, and loved visual.

It took me two months in Phoenix/Scottsdale in B8+ to realize that visual was not going to cut it. EAA is the way to go for me, since I don't have the resources, patience, or time to do full AP.

That is the beauty of Robin's code. It makes very respectable images possible in a really short time.

Bob