NGC2070 ‘Tarantula Nebula’
By Anton Winter
I recently modified my Canon 550D DSLR for dedicated astrophotography use, by replacing the internal IR cut filter with an Astrodon replacement that allowed more H-Alpha wavelengths. I thought it would be a good test of the modification by revisiting the Tarantula Nebula that I first photographed on my Orion ED80T Carbon Fibre telescope after I got it. While I have also improved my imaging abilities over the last 7 months, the modified camera was able to pick up much more detail and the resulting image is a significant improvement over the first one I took.
This shot was captured from my suburban backyard on 6th December 2013 and made up of only 65 minutes worth of data. The sub-exposures were made up of the following:
- 10 x 1 minute
- 10 x 2 minute
- 7 x 5 minute
Gear and processing info
- Imaging Camera: Modified Canon 550D with an Astronomik CLS Clip In filter & Orion Field Flattener.
- Imaging Scope: Orion ED80T Carbon Fibre
- Guide Scope: Orion 80mm
- Guide Camera: Orion Starshoot Autoguider
- Mount: HEQ5 GOTO
- Guiding: PHD
- Image capture: Nebulosity3
- Stacking and pre-processing: PixInsight
- Minor curve adjustments: Aperture3