NGC 3293 Gen Cluster

[Startrek (Martin)]

Captured the gem cluster last night fighting with passing coastal cloud for a couple of hours plus jetstream at 40kt

Only managed 21 x 3 minute subs out of 30
15 x darks
ISO 800
PHD2 guiding ( guiding was ordinary due to seeing 1.30 to 1.70 arc sec error )
Dithering trough BYEOS
More subs would have exposed a bit more nebulosity
Canon 600D was running at 27 deg C the coolest it’s been since November last year

[raymo]

Nice Martin[not you, the picture, though you probably are too.]
Only thing I see, which I'm sure you're aware of, is the composition.
raymo

[xelasnave]

Wonderful image Martin.
I wish I could produce such great quality.
Well done.
Alex

[blink138 (Pat)]

great pic that!
pat

[Startrek (Martin)]

Thanks so much all
Raymo
I did crop 15% of the original but I get what your saying ( centering both the cluster and the neb cloud would look a bit better
Alex
Very kind comments
It’s a shame my 6” newt is going back to Sydney next week permanently to struggle through all the light pollution
My new 8” f5 and EQ6-R is ready to pick up Bintel next week and will find its new home down here at Narrawallee
I think it will be another learning curve with the 8” though
Pat
Appreciate it

[Paulyman (Paul)]

Wow. I’d heard dithering was good for thermal noise but your image shows just how good it is. Once I have my dec axis behaving a bit better I can’t wait to try dithering.

[rcheshire (Rowland)]

And image flatness... very nice.

[mental4astro (Alexander)]

Oh WOW!

This is getting really interesting this little focus on the Gem cluster!

I wonder how much more spectacular things can get with this hidden treasure that's having it's time in the spotlight.

How extensive the nebulosity is that surrounds it. How much magnification it can take and reveal of the cluster itself.

I'm loving this!

Alex.

[Startrek (Martin)]

Thanks all
A special mention goes to Raymo for posting an old close up image of this cluster last week which gave me the motivation to give his object a go
I’m glad I did as it exposed much more than I realised.Theres so much Nebula in and around the cluster but couldn’t get enough data to really bring it out. And the neb cloud in the distance is huge with a beautiful pinkish red haze
I’m definitely going after this one again with longer subs , more dithered subs and darks

It is a “Little Gem” pardon the pun

Thanks again

Cheers

[mental4astro (Alexander)]

Looking around this area on Sky Safari, that nebula to the right is NGC 3324, aka the Gabriela Mistral nebula. It's so named for the resemblance to the Chilean Nobel Prize winning author. You can see the face in this pic of Martin's turning the image up-side-down - the face is then looking downwards.

I wasn't aware that this was the location of this intriguing nebula. It's an outer edge of the Eta Carina complex.

This thread and theme just gets better and better!

Lucas recently posted his own pic of this nebula, and the Gem cluster features in it too, along with the lace-like dark and bright nebulosity in this whole field:

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/s...59#post1419159

Alex.