Centaurus A from Coonabarabran

[Ross G]

Hello,

Finally got to Coonabarabran last New Moon...first time since October last year!

The landscape might have been burnt but the sky was as beautiful as ever.

I stayed 3 nights and got two and half clear nights of imaging, capturing a number of objects.

This is my first, a wide view of Centaurus A.

The photo is here http://smu.gs/10jbpr5

Thanks for looking.

Ross.


TELEVUE NP101, 101mm F5.4 REFRACTOR
QHY8L OSC CCD
WO 66mm GUIDESCOPE
ORION STARSHOOT AUTOGUIDER
SKYWATCHER EQ6PRO MOUNT
PHD
DEEPSKYSTACKER
PHOTOSHOP CS2

[tilbrook@rbe.ne]

Superb wide field Ross!

Nice processing and great star colour.

Cheers,

Justin.

[DavidU]

A great looking image there Ross. Love the star colours

[bushman]

Beautiful shot, great stars, one of my favourite objects.

[alpal]

Hi Ross,
You also picked up a few other galaxies -
very impressive from a small scope.
Coonabarabran must be a great place to image. :)

cheers
Allan

[Larryp]

Lovely image, Ross:thumbsup:

[E_ri_k]

Beautiful :) Lovely glow around it!
Erik

[Rod771]

Very nice Ross

Well done mate :thumbsup:

[multiweb]

As stated before the highres rendition is worthy of an APOD. Colours, details and processing are top notch. One of the best widefield of the area I've seen to date. :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

[peter_4059]

Great image Ross. Colours are excellent.

[atalas]

Hi Ross

I was so thrilled when you told me you picked up an NP101 and this is why!welcome to the next level mate and congrats on a lovely piece of work.

[Bart]

Nice shot.

Don't think its an APOD though. Galaxy halo is the wrong colour and the galaxy itself is weak in the halo.

[multiweb]

:confused2: Tought crowd... :lol:

[gregbradley]

Beautiful shot Ross. Lovely star colours and I like the subtle processing.

There's no substitute for dark skies and good seeing eh? My dark site observatory/get away had a bushfire recently as well, luckily I had mowed a fire break just before on a very hot day and was happy I didn't put it off!

Greg.

[DJT]

Beautiful image, Ross. The colours are great. Nicely done.
:thumbsup:

[RickS]

Lovely image, Ross!

[Geoff45]

Great image Ross. Colours look pretty spot on. Nice to see the surrounding halo.
Geoff

[Ross G]

Hi Justin.
Glad you like. Trying to get the colour correct is always such an ordeal.

Thank you.



Thanks David.
Glad you like it.



Hi Matt,

It's also one of my favourites. I would love to photograph it with a longer focal length scope one day.

Thank you.



Hi Allan,

How is your imaging going?

Clear nights at Coonabarabran are amazing. Probably similar to the mountain that you go to.
They really help compensate for a small scope.

Thank you.



Hi Larry.

Glad you like it.

Thank you.



Thanks Eric.
I think there is a lot more glow than my photo shows. I would like to be ablt to double or triple the exposure.



Glad you like it Rod.

Thank you.

[Davey]

Lovely shot. Great star colour too.
Note to self must try harder with star colour
Dave

[Ross G]

Hi Marc,

Thank you for the high praise.

From some one like you it means a lot.

However, I have a long, long way to go before I am anywhere near the level of an APOD.....I wish! Thanks for being kind though.



Thank you Peter. Glad you like, especially the colours as it's always the hardest part of an image to get right for me.



Hi Louie,

Thank you. Your approval means a lot. My confidence always kicks up a notch when you like one of my photos.

This was the first outing for the new telescope so I was a bit apprehensive.

We missed you at Coonabarabren.



Hi Bart,

I fully agree. As I said to Marc, I have such a long way to go before I'm even within sight of the quality of an APOD. I always have problems with colours. In this photo, the halo came out very red. I tried toning it back, but my Photoshop skills still need improving.

Thank you.

[Ross G]

..I aim to please...



Hi Greg,

Thank you. I'm glad you like it and very happy that you like the processing. Learning Photoshop has been such a mammoth task for me and I know I have only scratched the surface.
Capturing the data is so much easier!

Yo were so lucky with the bushfire....look after those scopes!



Hi David,

Glad you like it.

Thank you.



Thanks Rick. Glad you like it.



Hi Geoff,

Thank you. Astrophotos are still such a "hit and miss" affair for me. Especially with the colours.

[jsmoraes]

Very impressive the shape of dark lane around galaxy. I never saw alike.

[ourkind]

Beautiful! And that's what dark skys is all about :thumbsup:

[LucasB]

That is a beautiful shot Ross! Love the field and star colour. Thanks for posting.
Lucas

[alpal]

Originally Posted by Ross



Thanks Ross,
I haven't done any imaging since January but I am now free to
do as much imaging as I want.

I have been 4 times to Mt Baw Baw which is about 5,000 feet above sea level
where as Coonabarabran is about 1,700 feet.
There are however some flood lights on Baw Baw in the distance
which puts a gradient on images from that direction.
Mt Baw Baw does also have a problem from wind gusts.
I suppose you need a dome at that altitude?
The real advantage is the seeing:
from Melbourne - Jupiter often looks like a fuzzy ball with 2 lines through it
but from Baw Baw it comes in sharp & clear on the highest power eyepiece.

Would you be able to tell us more about Coonabarabran?
I appreciate those who drive long distances to get the best sites.

cheers
Allan

p.s.
a shot I took with just my DSLR & kit lens from Baw Baw -
- the Southern Cross is nearly lost in the myriad of stars -
the sky is magnificent:

http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii119/alpal2002/IMG_1769_6.jpg

[E_ri_k]

I look forward to seeing it!

[Ross G]

Thanks Dave.
Getting the colours correct is never easy.



Thanks Jorge.
I noticed the dark lane, but I don't know if it is real or just my processing.



Thanks Carlos.

Yes, a dark sky makes all the difference.
Shame we have to drive so far from Sydney to find it.



Hi Lucas.

I'm glad you like it.

Thank you.

[iceman]

Beautiful image, Ross. The star colours are excellent.

[pvelez]

Tremendous shot Ross

Pete

[sjastro]

Very fine image Ross.

Steven

[allan gould]

+1 from me and all the comments above as well. Missed this one somehow.
Allan

[Ross G]

It's on top of my list next "dark site" opportunity I get.

[Ross G]

Hi Allan,

That's a great looking Southern Cross photo. Sharp and nice colours. It really looks like a great dark site.

Coonabarabran is very good. The only down side is the 6 hour drive from Sydney.
We stay at a motel west of the town on the road to Siding Springs so it is very dark.
The motel has a huge cleared area surrounded by sheltering trees. In it's hey day this was a football field and small golf course. It's now a great imaging filed giving views over the whole sky, with a ring of protective trees.
The best part about it is that your motel room is only 100m from where you image so you can run a power cable and have somewhere to make a coffee or have a snooze during the night.
The owners are very "astro" aware so all lights are out by 10pm and non astro guests are kept seperate from the "astros" whenever possible.

Now that you are free to do more imaging, you should come up to Coonabarabran next we are there.

[Ross G]

Glad you like it Mike.

Thanks for the kind comments.



Thanks Pete.



Glad you like it Steven.

Thank you.



Hi Allan,

Thank you.

Glad you like it.

[alpal]

Hi Ross,
that's a long way to go - 6 hours!
Mt Baw Baw is 2.5 hours for me.
Sounds like Coonabarabran is well set up for imaging.
I might go there when I get my system sorted.

cheers
Allan

[David Fitz-Henr]

That's an excellent shot Ross; love the wider field context of this image as well, yet good detail showing in the galaxy as well! Stars are nice and tight across the frame with good colour too :thumbsup::thumbsup:

[Ross G]

Hi Allan,

Yes, 6 hours is a long way, but the dark skies are worth it.
Sydney is so bright that you probably have too go that far to not see its glow.

You are lucky that your dark site is only two and half hours away.

[Ross G]

Hi David,

I'm glad you like the photo.

Thanks for the encouraging comments, it means a lot.

Ross.

[SkyViking]

That's a fine image there Ross, nice to see it in such wide field context. And you've preserved the star colours well, great work :)

[jase]

Don't know how I missed this one... A real stunner, Ross. Looking forward to seeing more.

[Ross G]

Thanks Rolf, glad you like the photo, especially the colours as they are always such a difficult thing to get right for me.



Hi Jase.

Thanks for the kind comments.

I do have a few more photos from this short Coonabarabran trip. Just trying to get the time to process them.

[RickC]

beautiful image Ross, star colours are spot on and the detail you have achieved in the galaxy with a 100mm scope is very impressive

Richard

[Ross G]

Hi Richard,

Thank you for your kind comments, I'm glad you like it.

Yes, the telescope has worked well for its first outing...fingers crossed!

[Stevec35]

Nicely done Ross. Great star colours.

Cheers

Steve

[Ross G]

Thanks Steve,

Glad you like it. Correct colour is still my downfall.