Imaging Near Scorpio

Last night, we went to Canyon of Eagles to so some imaging on members night of the Austin Astronomical Society.

First, I tried retried the region around Antares that I had attempted last month. Using the new 200mm zoom lens, I took a series of 10 min frames.  I was disappointed in the SNR of the final image.  I was not able to stretch the image much before it was swamped by "hairy color noise."

Antares and Rho Ophiuchus nebulae.  Canon 60Da, EF 70-200mm/f4L.
12x 10min @ 150mm, f/4.5, ISO800

I am wondering if I should force the camera to do dark subtractions on every frame at the expense of twice the imaging time.  I am also reconsidering building a cooler box for the camera in order to take images in the Texas summer as the temperature last night stayed in the mid 80s.

Danielle imaged the Pipe Nebula with a 400mm lens. She did not have a guider that evening and the 6 minute frames were a bit long for the PEC of the Atlas mount.  She processed the frame with the least tracking error.

Pipe Nebula in Ophiuchus.  Canon 450D, EF 400mm/f5.6L.
1x 6min @ f/5.6 ISO400

At the end of the evening,  I attempted the region around the Lagoon Nebula (M8) using the same imaging parameters as the Antares shot. I am glad I did as this image processed much better.  I assume that this is simply because this target is much brighter.

Lagoon (M8) and Trifid (M20) nebulae.  Canon 60Da, EF 70-200mm/f4L.
12x 10min @ f/4.5 ISO800