nikonshooter Loc: Spartanburg, South Carolina

My astronomy club put up a list of challenging targets to image. NGC 2403 was very high on the list. For one, it is a relatively small target 20x10 arc min (compared to M31) and is about 8.5 magnitude. The 8 inch Newt was out of the question so I went with the 8 inch SCT at 2200 FL and selected the crop mode on the D800e. I have so much bloody debris and junk on my optical train (to lazy to clean up) so I used 220 flats. along with 20 darks, and 100 bias frames. I took 48 exposures at 8 minutes each. Guided (PhD2) with the same 50mm SAG which technically should not have worked....I have the 400 short tube but didn't feel like changing. At any rate I ran with an ISO of 400 as I was curious to see if my S/N ratio would improve (earlier this week - same target - I used 226 subs, shot at 3200 ISO for 120 seconds on the 8 inch SCT and the noise was fixable but more of an issue than with the longer exposure lower ISO shot posted here.) I am still learning. So far, my common sense (not a lot of it I might add) does tell me that i need more data. So...I plan to add another 48 images tomorrow night, clouds permitting....and I may add yet another 48 the following night. I think 150 subs at the above specs can produce a respectable image.

Yep, the fun is in the trying!!!

(Download)

JimH123 Loc: Morgan Hill, CA

Wow! Looking mighty good to me. Excellent job.

nikonshooter Loc: Spartanburg, South Carolina

Thanks but not ready for prime time yet. Bloated stars and detail is lacking all due, I think, to insufficient data. I think another 100 subs will really had some pop to it. It's worth a couple nights of investment. I will hold off putting on our Astronomy Club FB page or Astrobin until I get better results....well test out here first.

SonnyE Loc: Communist California, USA

Looks great, Ed.

Since it looks to be a Northward target, I'll give it a go from the Left Coast tonight. It is readily available in Stellarium.
I like Northward targets because they seem to be the most stable to me. (Although my last sortie to the South was also very good... )

Tonight is supposed to be a good viewing night here.

nikonshooter Loc: Spartanburg, South Carolina

Looking forward to seeing your work. We have clouds now (I also have a playoff volleyball game to shoot tonight - plus prepare the pics for an upload) so I will have to wait until Wednesday night, which is looking good for clouds...poor for "seeing".

nikonshooter Loc: Spartanburg, South Carolina

BTW, I didn't start imaging NGC2403 until 11:30...by then it was about 34 degrees and high enough to be above some of the cities light pollution. Also the moon was moving away towards the Southwest and less of a bother. I started at 7:00 - I got polar aligned, focused, and I calibrated PhD2. I then shot my bias frames then darks and got them out of the way - it did get cooler throughout the night but I gambled that the temp variance wouldn't make a big difference...and it didn't. When they finished it was time to center the target. I was in bed by midnight dreaming of a Trump win and a Hillary prison sentence :)

Oh look what I just started!

SonnyE Loc: Communist California, USA

Once set up and flying about, I looked up NGC 2403. Then ran the clock ahead and realized I wouldn't last long enough. I found, again, that although I can run the clock ahead in Stellarium, it won't let me "Slew Telescope To" to see when I would peek over my barricade. Poop!
My Sleepy Dog site has a block wall with tall growing ivy on it that adds privacy on the Northerly views. It also aids in stopping direct light pollution from the condo-land across the mote.
Maybe one night when I don't have Grandpa duties the next day (School run), the skies are clear, the alignment is fine, the PA perfecta, and we have a major power outage.
Well, you know... Dream Big!

...Like Orange coveralls, with shiny metallic appointments.

Europa Loc: West Hills, CA

Nice photo and dreams do come true...except for Sonny, he still has that cloud following him around.

SonnyE Loc: Communist California, USA

Stacking is over rated...

I believe I need to do like Ed and set it, and forget it, and wake up to a thumb drive full of dreams or screams.
I can always just format the thumb drive and get rid of the evidence.

nikonshooter Loc: Spartanburg, South Carolina

Funny! "One thing is for sure - to which we may all agree. No person is in a better position to negotiate their salary for the next four years than Alec Baldwin with SNL."

SonnyE Loc: Communist California, USA

The worm has turned and things are going to be interesting for sure.

Sonny stacks with time....

CraigFair Loc: Santa Maria, CA.

Very good start Ed More lights will probably bring in more detail.
And I have always been a fan of lower ISO and longer exposures.
Look forward to more of your NGC 2403
Craig

Albuqshutterbug Loc: Albuquerque NM

I've heard of this target, never seen it, but I have heard of it.. :o)
Nice job of pulling this down Ed. I know its not to your standards but its a darn good start.
Well done.

nikonshooter Loc: Spartanburg, South Carolina

Thanks....I am waiting to add some more data now. I retook darks and bias frames as the temp as dropped a good bit - will also retake flats tomorrow (they are not temp dependent) but I had to change the focus due to temp changes. I plan to start at 11:30 EST and shoot it until 4:30 - it will be about 1 hour and 20 minutes across the meridian (I will not flip). I hope to add another 30 good images - 6 minutes each out of the 50 that I take....I will go through and only use the ones that are very good. In fact....I am going to revisit the other images taken and cull those that are not loaded with detail. I have tomorrow night to do the same. Maybe then I will be able to get a good rendering of NGC 2403.

I may end up screwing things up....but my plan is to reprocess my original images, using only the very best data sets and I will be using those darks, flats, and bias and safed as a tiff file. Then I will process separately, what I take tonight and it appears tomorrow's temps are going to be about the same so the BEST images from both night will be processed with a new set of darks, flats, and bias...and saved as a tiff file. Hopefully those two files will have sufficient information so I can align in PS and blend getting only the best data from both nights. I will use Pixinsight for everything up to PS.

We shall see! ...as the fun is in the trying!