H-alpha, H-beta SHG and continuum comparison -- May 16

[thesmiths]

The conditions this morning were favourable then started to deteriorate (clouds, wind, heat-related turbulence). I started with H-alpha and the results were very nice. By the time I got to H-beta, the resolution was noticeably lower. I thought about doing CaK but the conditions were too variable. So instead, I took the 106mm / 720mm SHG off the mount and put on a Skywatcher 90mm / 910mm. I used Baader AstroSolar 3.8 film, an Astronomik L1 UV/IR filter and a Baader 8.5nm H-beta CCD filter. I think the results make an interesting comparison. Click on the image to see at larger scale.

H-alpha SHG (left), H-beta SHG (middle), Continuum non-SHG (right). SHG images taken with 106mm aperture, 720mm focal length APO triplet. Continuum taken with 90mm aperture, 910mm focal length Evostar.

160523-Ha-Hb-L.jpg (1.62 MiB) Viewed 993 times

H-alpha: 2.3ms exposure, gain zero, ROI 3304x150, 289fps. Stack best 11 frames of 22 scans.
H-beta: 1.0ms exposure, gain zero, ROI 3304x100, 386fps. Stack best 9 frames of 22 scans.
Continuum: 6.0ms exposure, gain zero, ROI 5496x3672, 7fps. Stack best 25% of 265 frames.
ZWO 183MM camera, FireCapture, AS!3, ImPPG, Photoshop Elements.

Here are full-scale versions of the H-alpha and H-beta SHG images (the mosaic above is at reduced resolution). Open in a new tab and click on the image to see all the details.

H-alpha SHG, 106mm aperture, 720mm focal length.

160523-Ha-3-stack11.jpg (1.7 MiB) Viewed 993 times

H-beta SHG, 106mm aperture, 720mm focal length.

160523-Hb-5-stack9.jpg (1.92 MiB) Viewed 993 times

[Montana]

Just incredible

Alexandra

[thesmiths]

Just incredible

And now you've seen how the sausage is made

[thesmiths]

For dramatic emphasis, here's a version of the H-alpha rotated by 90 degrees, cropped and inverted. Click on the image to better see the fine details.

H-alpha SHG , May 16.

160523-Ha-3-stack11-rotate-crop-invert.jpg (754.23 KiB) Viewed 949 times

[KMH]

Wow! Great results and an interesting comparison.

Kevin