NGC 2024 - The Flame Nebula

[Graeme]

It's been cloudy for weeks! It's been cold too, so here's my image of the Flame Nebula to warm everybody up!

Captured 18/02/20 whilst nipping in to watch NASA busy landing the Perseverance Rover on the surface of Mars.

NGC2024 sits close to Alnitak, the Eastern most star of Orion's belt which is very bright and the camera has to be rotated to make sure it is out of frame or it would wash everything out. The Horsehead Nebula is just to the South, my attempt at that one last week didn't go well!

24 x 300 second exposures with the 9.25" SCT and ASI294MC camera. (For the software nerds) Set up with Celestron CPWI, captured with NINA, guided with PHD2, stacked in Deep Sky Stacker and processed in Gimp.

NGC2024-02-EL.jpg

Regards

Graeme

[HansV]

Another lovely photo!

[Graeme]

Another lovely photo!

Thanks Hans

Sharpness is lacking, the guiding wasn't spot on but I think I have a problem with dew on the inside of the OTA.

Regards

Graeme

[BobH]

Beautiful, Graeme.

I'm surprised you got clear enough skies this time of year.

[stuck]

It's been cloudy for weeks!...

Same here except for one day this week, we got good view of Orion that night - through the window. It was too cold to got outside.

Nice photo.

By the way, the latest update to Affinity Photo, v1.9, adds astrophotography features. It's on offer at the moment, 50% off, a mere £23.99

Ken

[Graeme]

Beautiful, Graeme.

I'm surprised you got clear enough skies this time of year.

The skies are clear on occasion but it's rare! We don't get the weather you have just had though. I hope you're ok.

It's been cloudy for weeks!...

Same here except for one day this week, we got good view of Orion that night - through the window. It was too cold to got outside.

Nice photo.

By the way, the latest update to Affinity Photo, v1.9, adds astrophotography features. It's on offer at the moment, 50% off, a mere £23.99

Ken

Thanks Ken, I don't think the spec of my laptop would handle Affinity but I will be bringing the garage computer indoors at some stage. I could go for the bargain and install it later. Do you use it?

Regards

Graeme

[stuck]

...I don't think the spec of my laptop would handle Affinity but I will be bringing the garage computer indoors at some stage. I could go for the bargain and install it later. Do you use it?..

Affinity Photo doesn't require a huge amount of power so unless you laptop is really old I'd be surprised if it wouldn't cope. However, if you already have a subscription to, or a stand alone copy of, Photoshop and you are happy with that setup then, even though any Photoshop skills you have will be transferable to Affinity Photo, there wouldn't be any advantage in switching to Affinity Photo, even if it is a bargain. On the other hand, if you are looking for an alternative to Photoshop then, even at full price, I think Affinity Photo is good as you'll get (others may disagree). At the current offer price it's even better value.

I do use Affinity Photo but I'm still a looooong way from being proficient with it. I don't use it to process RAW files though. I do my RAW to TIFF conversion with DxO Photolab and the switch to Affinity Photo, e.g. for B&W conversion.

Ken

[Graeme]

It was the "Direct3D level 12.0-capable card" requirement that worried me. I might try the trial on the laptop. But I'll buy the real thing for the garage pc whilst it's discounted if it does the job.

Thanks for the heads up.

Regards

Graeme

[stuck]

It was the "Direct3D level 12.0-capable card" requirement that worried me...

I don't think that is a particularly high hurdle for a graphics card. My desktop PC does not have a separate graphics card / only has the on-board Intel graphics chipset and it runs Affinity Photo.

Ken