Here's another one, well it is Summer...

[Mickoid (Michael)]

This is about the only object bright enough to capture that rises above the gum trees of my suburban front yard this time of year. Just 12mins of integration on this one using a combination of 5, 30 and 60 second subs. 5 darks and 5 flats applied, processed in DSS and PS. Quite happy with the outcome considering the short exposure and light pollution. The seeing was reasonable. Next investment - a coma corrector!

8 inch f 5 Newtonian, modded Canon 550d with UV/IR cut filter on an unguided HEQ5pro mount.

[Gavin1234]

Great colour Mick. Nice and natural.

The core is pretty much perfect too.

[ChrisV (Chris)]

Nice Mick, like the core.

You must be getting some clear skies down there. None up here over the new moon and I've been on holidays at home. So rebuilt my stepper focuser, made a cover for my newt (to stop light coming in the back), cleaned its mirrors, and sorted out SGPro (I like the autofocusing and meridian flip!). Still no clear skies. But enough of my whinging.

[Imme (Jon)]

Beautiful Mick....excellent effort for 16 min!

Coma corrector will make a big diff from my experience, flattens everything out and provides sharper/focused signal across the image.

[multiweb (Marc)]

Beautiful shot! Well done indeed.

[assbutt94]

That looks great! Nice core detail. What did you use to combine the different exposure lengths? DSS of photoshop?

[Mickoid (Michael)]

Originally Posted by ChrisV

Nice Mick, like the core.
Thanks Chris, its always a test trying to bring out the detail and maintain a natural look.

You must be getting some clear skies down there. None up here over the new moon and I've been on holidays at home. So rebuilt my stepper focuser, made a cover for my newt (to stop light coming in the back), cleaned its mirrors, and sorted out SGPro (I like the autofocusing and meridian flip!). Still no clear skies. But enough of my whinging.

Has been some good clear nights down here at last. It's frustrating when you finish modifying your equipment and want to test it out and the weather is lousy.

Originally Posted by Gavin1234

Great colour Mick. Nice and natural.


The core is pretty much perfect too.

Thanks Gavin, glad you like it.

Originally Posted by Imme

Beautiful Mick....excellent effort for 16 min!

Coma corrector will make a big diff from my experience, flattens everything out and provides sharper/focused signal across the image.

Actually 12mins but who's counting! The seeing was pretty good that night, it makes such a difference, especially from light polluted skies. Yes, the coma corrector will make cropping my images a thing of the past!

You've been a bit quiet lately John, are you working on something at the moment that you have yet to post that will soon stun us all in awe?

Originally Posted by multiweb

Beautiful shot! Well done indeed.

Thank you for the praise.

Originally Posted by assbutt94

That looks great! Nice core detail. What did you use to combine the different exposure lengths? DSS of photoshop?

Thanks, I used Layers in Photoshop. I've tried using all the different exposure times in DSS and it didn't do as good a job on it as a manual blend in PS.

[Imme (Jon)]

Originally Posted by Mickoid

Actually 12mins but who's counting! The seeing was pretty good that night, it makes such a difference, especially from light polluted skies. Yes, the coma corrector will make cropping my images a thing of the past!

You've been a bit quiet lately John, are you working on something at the moment that you have yet to post that will soon stun us all in awe?


Thank you for the praise.

Hahahahaha.....no mate, my busy time of year at the moment so flat chat at work. Between that and Christmas I haven’t had time for hobbies!

[rcheshire (Rowland)]

Great job Michael. Very well done.

[xelasnave]

That is a cracker Michael.
You are really doing great.
alex