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Old 24-04-2008, 04:55 AM
Dennis
Dazzled by the Cosmos.

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Moon, Antares, M4 and NGC6144 – HDR photo mosaic

Straddling the midnight hour of 23rd/24th April 2008, from Brisbane, the Moon slowly glided between the heavenly attractions of M4, NGC6144 and the brilliant star Antares. Due to the immense brightness range of these celestial objects, it was impossible to capture their splendour in a single photo. However, I was able to show what this thrilling cosmic spectacle might have looked like, by producing a photo mosaic from 4 panes covering the stellar background from the previous week, and a photo of the Moon taken just after 1:49am on the 24th April. The size of the original stellar background mosaic is 6048x4923 pixels.

Background star field details:
Vixen ED102S F9 refractor with Canon 40D DSLR camera at prime focus.
The 3 panes spanning M4 to NGC6144 were made up of 10 exposures of 30 secs at 800 ASA.
The Antares pane was 5 exposures of 30 secs at 800 ASA due to being interrupted by twilight, the result of a late start one morning!
Background photos captured over the period 17th to 21st April. Aligned and stacked in ImagesPlus. Processed and stitched together in CS3.

Moon details:
Takahashi Mewlon 180 at F9.6 using x0.8 Flattener/Reducer with Canon 40D DSLR camera.
A composite of 2 photos, exposure of 1/50 sec, 100 ASA on 24th April 2008.
Photos stitched together and processed in Photoshop CS3 with a colour saturation boost to reveal the subtle colours on the Moon. This processed Moon was then positioned against the stellar background using The Sky 6 Professional set for the 24th April 2008 at 1:50am AEST (GMT+10hrs).

So, if your eyes had a sufficiently large dynamic range, this is what you might have observed, if the clouds had cooperated that is! Yawn, off to bed now for some zzzzzds.

NOTE:
1st file is 1600 pixel at 177Kb
2nd file is 1280 pixel at 144 Kb

Cheers

Dennis Simmons
Attached Thumbnails
Click for full-size image (Moon-M4-Antares-NGC6144-1600c.jpg)
176.7 KB406 views
Click for full-size image (Moon-M4-Antares-NGC6144-1280c.jpg)
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  #2  
Old 24-04-2008, 05:15 AM
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iceman (Mike)
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oh wow, that is one of the best images I've seen. Absolutely incredible, Dennis! Really spectacular.

The planning and persistance paid off. Such a 3D feel to it.

Congrats. I can't wait to see this on LPOD or APOD.
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Old 24-04-2008, 06:48 AM
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sheeny (Al)
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WW!!!!!

Superb, Dennis!

Al.
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Old 24-04-2008, 06:59 AM
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Double wow
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Old 24-04-2008, 07:15 AM
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Duuuude, that's brilliant! Feels like I can pluck the moon right out of that picture!!! Very 3D. Awesome!
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Old 24-04-2008, 08:16 AM
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Great work Dennis!

Cheers,
Stephen
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Old 24-04-2008, 08:17 AM
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Absolutely gorgeous Dennis, well done.
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Old 24-04-2008, 08:28 AM
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Beautiful image Dennis, better send that one in to AS&T. You should submit that for the David Malin awards.
Entries close at 5:00 pm on Wednesday, 11 June 2008
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Old 24-04-2008, 09:31 AM
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Agreed on both fronts, would look beautiful in print.
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Old 24-04-2008, 09:40 AM
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Matty P (Matt)
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Amazing image Big D!

I hope to see it printed a mag soon.

Very well done.
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  #11  
Old 24-04-2008, 09:46 AM
Dennis
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Thanks for the nice comments everyone, it certainly was a bit of a marathon effort and at times I almost hit the wall! I ended up missing one bit of the background mosaic as the panes overlapped in a staircase layout rather than a strip, as I didn’t pay attention to the coordinates of the centre of each pane. When I cropped the background Über mosaic, one tiny corner was ahem, missing!

Fortunately, I was able to grab a few exposures on the night and add the segment in, although it had a tough gradient with the Moon so close.

I’m pleased that the weather cleared up in Brisbane for the event, although I did have a Plan B which was to include an almost similar Moon captured on 26th January 2008.

Cheers

Dennis
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Old 24-04-2008, 11:11 AM
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That is just amazing Dennis. Its hard to believe they are photos! I can only guess at the amount of work that went into this.

Again well done!!
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Old 24-04-2008, 12:07 PM
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fantastic results Dennis!~ you the main man!!!
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Old 24-04-2008, 12:51 PM
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Well done Dennis! I'm glad you managed to capture the event when it happened and didn't need to use a moon from a different night.

Wonderful to see!
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  #15  
Old 24-04-2008, 03:32 PM
Dennis
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Hello,

Thanks! Here is a crop from a single frame showing the closest approach as viewed from Brisbane. Exposure of 1/50 sec at 100 ASA at prime focus of Mewlon 180 F12 with Canon 40D.

Cheers

Dennis
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Click for full-size image (Moon-Antares-close-approach-crop.jpg)
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Old 25-04-2008, 07:53 AM
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Fantastic shots Dennis. I haven't seen anything like this before. Must have been a lot of work.

Peter
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  #17  
Old 25-04-2008, 08:26 AM
Dennis
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Thank you!

I think that the 2 critical success factors in producing this piece of work, in terms of applying technology to the task, were;
  • The use of Remote Live View on the Canon 40D to help frame and focus the Moon on the notebook computer, and…
  • Photoshop CS3 for post capture processing.
Without these powerful technical aids, I’m not sure if I would have been foolhardy enough to attempt the mosaic!

I attempted this previously without these aids and the difference is that the Canon 40D and CS3 worked for me, whereas previously (Sept 2006), I ending up working (slaving!) for the DSLR and processing software.

Cheers

Dennis
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Old 25-04-2008, 08:51 AM
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alan meehan (Alan)
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dennis simlpy breathtaking well worth the effort,thanks for reminding us we still have anight sky .2 weeks of rain still down here
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Old 25-04-2008, 09:09 AM
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Ive never looked through this part of the forums but i,m sure glad i picked this image to view 1st well done......must look here more often...cheers kev
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Old 25-04-2008, 10:56 AM
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That is truly a stunning result

A fine work of art Dennis. You just have to submit it for publication worldwide.
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