M57 - HaLRGB

I was able to get a little more Ha last night as well as some LRGB so have a first run at a complete image. Not thrilled with the Luminance data - I think my focus was a bit off, but I had to use it to get the center star since it was not in the Ha data so the overall Luminance channel is mostly the Ha with a little Lum just on the ring itself (thanks to layers and masks) ... RGB binned worked well to make the most of the few hours I had left after that last night to at least get some decent color. Rain predicted for the next week straight so it might be a while til I can do more on this.

 

Getting a little coma on the edges so I need to adjust the distance on the setup, but the center stars look ok (other than iffy focus) so it should be an easy fix once I pull out the caliper to measure and adjust. I did do some custom star-work to fix a few of the more bloated ones from the clouds on the Ha channel and then some deconvolving and sharpening throughout. Basically, this data needed a lot of fixing, but wasn't originally going to be imaging this target, was just playing with the OAG so I didn't take the time I normally do to focus precisely and spacing and all - lesson learned.

 

Imaging Scope: Celestron CPC800XLT

Imaging Camera: Atik 314L+

Guide Camera: StarlightXpress Lodestar

Filters: Astronomik Ha, L, R, G, B

 

Integration details:

Ha: 7x1800s, 3x1200s = 4.5 hrs

L: 12x600s = 2 hrs

R,G,B: 12x300s, 2x2 each = 3 hrs total

Total time: 9.5 hrs

Done