Corona Australis region (+ dustbuster repro 15/5/13)

[RobF]

Nothing special for all those that have snapped this field before, but I've never been able to have a decent go at it before with the much tighter field of my Newt.

This is the best of about 5hrs taken from the wonderful dark (and windy) skies at Leyburn outside Brissy over the weekend just gone, and my first chance to stretch the legs of the FSQ. Always wanted to have some decent "dust data" and this is a decent start to play around with and learn more on the processing side. Had hoped to shoot this with the reducer to get a bit more FOV out of my APS-C sized chip, but still grappling with adaptors, so F5 was the go in the end.

Tak FSQ106ED @ F5, QHY9, NEQ6
LRGB 70:30:40:55 (roughly half 5min, half 10min subs, all unbinned)

Larger zoomable version here (https://picasaweb.google.com/UserRobF/RecentWork#5877834616736230642)

[Octane]

Congratulations on your purchase, Rob. I know you've wanted one for ages! :)

Amazing beast of an instrument, huh? :)

H

[astronobob]

Thats one tank of a scope Rob, great to see in good hands producing this mighty fine image, mighty Niice work mate :thumbsup:

[batema]

Lovely image Rob and yes I want one of those scopes too. It must be a new adventure being able to image those objects you have done with the newt.

Mark

[naskies]

Nice work, Rob! Glad you got the calibration issues sorted out in time for some nice data.

[RickS]

A lovely Corona, Rob, and a great first light. Welcome to the FSQ club :)

[jjjnettie]

:) Congrats on the scope.

[Ross G]

A great looking photo Rob.

Sharp and so much detail.

Nice colours and composition also.

Ross.

[Paul Haese]

Very nice image Rob. Good colour and detail is nice also. Well done.

[David Fitz-Henr]

As per other comments Rob; very nice colours and detail! A great start for your new FSQ :thumbsup:

[Stevec35]

Everything looks fine to me Rob. That's a great image!

Cheers

Steve

[multiweb]

Super shot Rob. Having fun with that Tak. :thumbsup:

[ozstronomer]

Great image Rob lots of dust there.:thumbsup:

I'm glad you were able to find some dark skies for that new scope.

[Larryp]

Lovely image!

[lacad01]

Wow super sharp and great details, nice one :thumbsup:

[gregbradley]

That's a very classy image Rob. One to be proud of.

Greg.

[Bender]

Very nice shot Rob,

"I love it when a plan comes together"


martin

[RobF]

Yes Humayun, its been on the dream list for along while and I'm not getting any younger. If people like you didn't keep raving it would be easier to keep my hands over my ears though! :P




Thanks Bob. Be good to see you put up that promising Cent A when you're happy with guiding etc. Had great fun checking out the bobservatory and the good ole Leyburn hospitality! :)



Thanks Dave. It really did help my guiding to tweak the DEC tracking after you got me thinking. Loved catching up again - all that enthusiasm is contagious :thumbsup:



Hmmmph - don't know why you had to set that dream FSQ rig up nearby at Astrofest last year Rick. Had a lot of fun processing this one. Smallish chip in centre of big flat field from very dark skies made it a lot easier than usual.



Thanks Jeanette. The kids aren't old enough to understand what "no inheritance" means yet. :D



Thanks for looking Ross. Had hoped to get a little more data, but very thankful for what I got.



Appreciate that Paul. I knew it was looking good when I starting pushing the Lum data and the dust started to come out cleanly. Pretty excited at that point :)



Not sure if I'm relieved to finally have a decent run with it David or frustrated at having to wait for another new moon (probably both ;))



Thanks for checking it out Steve!



Have to get automated focus going Marc. Certainly having fun and looking forward to hunting some wider neb shots as the weather improves :evil:



Was worth the drive in the end Geoff, and good to meet so many of the Leyburn "locals" this time too.



Thanks Laurie!



Most appreciated Adam, thanks for looking



Very pleased in the end Greg. Thanks for the encouragement :D



Thanks wingman - and for putting up with my grumps while getting the run set up properly. I'd be happy to do extensive trial runs on the EQ8 for you if need be when it arrives :cheers: :whistle:

[RobF]

Missed clicking the reply box Mark - I was a bit worried whether to bin the RGB and how fast the data would come in being used to 8 inches but as I hoped the pristine skies are such a big help. I learned a lot from young Dave about sky glow, transparency etc while chatting. Widefield SLR shots a whole new way of objectively judging conditions and they were pretty damned good. I'm hoping the FSQ will keep me challenged for years to come (not alone dollars for mounts, cameras etc would be good have :D)

[Dennis]

Stunning image Rob, I love the fidelity of the globular and the turquoise hues in the full size F11 version.

Cheers

Dennis

[Tandum]

Not to shabby mate :)
Do you have to refocus very often?

[RobF]

Glad you enjoyed Dennis and thanks for your kind words.
I've had a go at bringing out the dust a bit more tonight. Wonder if people think this improves or detracts? Larger version of the repro here (https://picasaweb.google.com/UserRobF/RecentWork#5878158478375927666)



Thanks Robin. Focus wasn't a problem actually - probably because I didn't check it after getting it set :lol:
Seriously, I've only just started to sort the hardware/PC connection and have a LOT to learn re focusmax curves etc. Still doing it manually with Bhat mask and the manual Robofocus controller. It wasn't a given that the weather was going to behave and I knew this area was faint so I worked on getting as much data as I could before having to hit the sack around 4am and approaching meridian flip rather than rechecking focus.

[Octane]

That's even better than the first rendition.

Corker!

H

[RobF]

Thanks Humayun.
I'm suffering dark sky addiction already :jump2:

[jase]

Excellent Rob! The repro with what appears to be greater improvement in contrast really makes for a stand out image. You've managed the dynamic range well. With the raising of the black point, the colours have really popped. The FSQ combination is working well for you. I'm looking forward to seeing more of your work.

Don't hold back with FocusMax as it will save you precious time under the stars. The more time you can put toward collecting photons as opposed to checking focus, the better.

[strongmanmike]

Great result Rob, really looks like dust - cool :thumbsup:

Mike

[RobF]

Most appreciated Jase. The noise is coming through a bit more in the 2nd but I'm just pleased to be able to get that "dust on stars" effect for first time.

Will definitely be putting in some time to get focusmax singing along with automation if possible before the next dark sky outing. More engineering and toy time required. Hmmm. Moon is out tonight..... :evil:



Thanks muchly O' keeper of the Great Orion! Aaarrrrchoooo!