Astrophotography is a series of techniques that implies many skills (DIY, hardware, software, equipment, processing knowledge…) and also lots of patience to give room to yourself to improve your images year by year.
My trip into astrophotography has allowed me to start as a beginner using a second hand DSLR and a newtonian telescope. Many months of practice made room to invest in a new mount, camera and telescope. As the time went by I also did a longtime learning in the processing techniques.
This image comparison is a good sample on how, under the same sky (Bortle 3/4) you can get really different results according to new equipment and processing experience.
This exercise aims to motivate the newcomers to acquire their own images, from their backyards or their dark sky favourite places. In my opinion, the image you create from 0 is the best prize for all your effort. No matter the quality of the result, it is your own deep sky image. I wish you all good luck and clear skies.
Image Details
2021 image:
Hα: 36×300″
[OIII]: 28×300″
[SII]: 17×300″
RGB: (8,30,30)x120″All images at 120Gain -15ºC bin2
Calibrated with 50 flats, 50 darks, 50 biasTotal exposure: 9h01′
Average darkness: 21 mag/arcsec2
Image resolution: 2.12”/pixel
2016 image:
Lights: 12×600″
Non cooled camera (outside temp: 3ºC).
Darks, Flats, Bias.
Total exposure: 2h
Average darkness: 20.90 mag/arcsec2
Image resolution: 1.05”/pixel
Equipment
FSQ85ED telescope vs GSO 8″ newtonian
Mesu200 mount vs Neq6PRO
ASI294MM Pro camera with ZWO EFW 8 pos vs Canon 450D mod
Guiding with ASI174MC and ZWO OAG
Baader filters vs non filters
Software
2021:
SGP, PHD2, APP, PIX, LR, PS, TPZ.
2016:
DSS, PIX.
Aleix Roig, August 2021.
Prades (Tarragona, Catalonia – Spain).
This image has become very popular on Instagram (my account @astrocatinfo ) reaching 4 million accounts in only 7 days with a comparision between the 2016 image and 2021 image of this nebula. The image on sale here is the high quality 2021 original image.
The original image is NOW on sale by an NFT’s AUCTION. The starting bid is 1.547566 ($4987.05).