Astrophotography: 33 hours on the Cocoon nebula!!

[@MazzifLOL]

40 hours is the new 8 hours! Love the process on this.

[@DSOImager]

Lol, isn't that the truth 🤣 Thanks!

[@chridignan9178]

Amazing image and super-helpful as ever. 33 hours of clear skies would probably take me 3 months+ here in the UK! Thanks James.

[@DSOImager]

Thanks Chris! Hoping you guys in the UK get a stretch of clear nights soon.

[@SimonsAstro]

Great video James, cracking Cocoon nebula mate👍 I can’t believe how many iterations you can get away with, with Blur X!! Great job! Clear skies!

[@DSOImager]

Thanks Simon!

[@LogansAstro]

Great image James. Nice to see the Cocoon up close and personal as it's often imaged in more wide field to show the dusty tail and you don't get to see the level of detail in the Cocoon itself like you have shown here. Glad to hear you are getting a bit of rain after so many clear nights with the drought and all. They have been predicted dry conditions here for months 😏 but if gets an "drier", I'm going to have to start building an Ark!!!🌧🌦🌧

[@DSOImager]

Thanks Logan! If you end up building an ark, make sure its big enough for 2 of every telescope, mount and camera! :)

[@LogansAstro]

😂😂

[@avt_astro206]

Beautiful pictures James! Love the Details!

[@DSOImager]

Thank you Avanteesh!

[@Si-fp2ij]

I love this image James Definitely don’t think you overcooked it More data is my new mantra! 😂 Cheers Si

[@DSOImager]

We have a saying in my local group. The answer is always "moar!" 🤣

[@Si-fp2ij]

@@DSOImager like it 👍🏻🤣

[@dumpydalekobservatory]

Lovely image James I must get round to imaging this target again sometime & putting in more time.

[@DSOImager]

Thank you Tich!

[@petesastrophotography]

Lovely image James. The Cocoon nebula is something I still haven't imaged yet. I completely agree re integration time, I came to the realization that while improving your processing skills is key, it only gets you so far, you eventually need more data to get a better end result. We have so few clear nights here in Scotland that I went for a dual apo rig for my latest build so I can capture twice as much data per night. If money was no object I'd probably go for a triple or quadruple setup, but you have to draw the line somewhere!

[@DSOImager]

Thanks Pete! Definitely a legit strategy for dealing with the limited clear nights. What scopes/camera's are your rigs built around?

[@petesastrophotography]

@@DSOImager The scopes are Stellamira 90mm ED Triplets and the cameras are ASI2600mm with Antlia 2" LRGBSHO filters. I felt this was a bit much for my EQ6-R mount so went with a Skywatcher CQ350 as it has a much higher payload capacity. There are a couple of pictures on my Astrobin page.

[@DSOImager]

@@petesastrophotography Just checked it out.. that is one heck of a rig. Very nice :)

[@AZ4Runner]

Great Image James!!

[@DSOImager]

Thanks Jason!

[@OlliesSpace]

Hey James - This was a really nice image and very much enjoyed the dust around the outside. I hear you in the tug of war with these, I find myself doing this. Looks like you have plenty of saved up processing to do. :)

[@DSOImager]

Thanks Ollie! I have enough to keep me busy for a bit. hopefully this raining stretch doesn't last too long :)

[@gerassimos3229]

Wonderful work! Hadn't thought about running BTX on a starless image. I usually apply it before star removal but it seems like a great idea and will def give it a go!

[@DSOImager]

Thanks! This trick also lets you use BTX on other objects, such as planets and the sun. :)

[@mif1118]

Splendid image, James! I personally would have gone with the next-to-last BlurX image iteration. The version you took looks a bit too "artsy" for my taste. Nevertheless you made a beautiful image at the end - as always. And as always, I envy your clear skies! I have not seen a star in the last three weeks where I am located. sigh...

[@DSOImager]

Thanks! I'm still having second thoughts on which btx version I went with but decided to move forward. The nice thing about saying projects in PI is that if I decide to reprocess, I can go back to that point.. instead of having to start from scratch. With the clears skies we've had post spring.. I have to admit.. I'm feeling a bit spoiled :)

[@elbass0]

James, you mention that your guiding was off for quite a few images. Have you tried tossing all of those out and only stack the best images to see if you get a less soft result?

[@DSOImager]

I did. i tossed around 300 subs :) I could probably thin it down a bit more.

[@josephluciani5531]

Love your workflow tutorials, they are simply fantastic! Do keep doing these.

[@DSOImager]

@@josephluciani5531 Thank you Joseph. Plenty more on the way :)