Corona Australis from Queensland Astrofest 2013

[firstlight]

Well, this is another object that I had avoided doing as it has been captured by so many so well I didn't think I had anything to contribute.:shrug:

Once again I am happy with the result, plenty of colour and now my current wallpaper on my iPhone :)

Containing NGC 6723, 6726, 6728, 6729, and probably others. NEQ6, Williams Optics 110 Megrez, WO type 2 0.8x field flattener, fl 524mm, Modded Canon 450D, 24 x 300 sec 800 ISO (2 hours total), darks and flats. Stacked in Deep Sky Stacker, processed in PixInsight, layer masks with Photoshop CS5.

[batema]

Beautiful shot Tony. Lovely colours.

[Larryp]

Lovely image

[RickS]

You're an imaging machine, Tony :) Another nice one!

[Ross G]

A great looking photo Tony.

Nice composition and colours.

Ross.

[firstlight]

Thanks Mark, Laurie, Rick and Ross. I'm only using a few basic steps in PixInsight, and trying not to overcook it. After posting, I was wondering if it was too garish... the blues seem a bit too vibrant so maybe the saturation is a bit too high.

[firstlight]

I'm not too sure if "Imaging machine" is entirely accurate, Rick. If by that you "Rolls and Canhardly" (rolls down one hill and can hardly get up the next) then I'd have to agree with you :lol:

[adpstore]

Nice job Tony.Thanks for sharing such an beautiful view with us :)

[acropolite]

Nice imageTony, colours look good to me.

I'm curious as to what caused the vertical spike at the bottom of the screen.
I have a similar artifact on an image I took of M31 and I've seen it as well on other peoples images. Oddly I only got the spike on one imaging run (M31).

I cloned mine out with PS. :confuse3:

[firstlight]

Thanks Adp.

Hi Phil, I haven't checked yet by I suspect that it is a bright star just out of the field of view... Yep, looks like gamma Coronae Australis. Next year I'll try rotating the field 90 degrees.

[TimberLand]

I would have to agree with Rick.

You are an imaging machine. The tech and weather gods were pleased with you at Astrofest. Just how do you perform a ritual to keep them happy.

Great image again.

Justin.

[firstlight]

If the weather wasn't the best we have had for the Astrofest this year, I certainly don't know when it was better. No rituals, just studiously avoided looking at the weather sites to avoid drawing attention to it ;). If you recall the weeks leading up to Astrofest it was pretty messy and cloudy. We just got the sweet spot for the 10 days I suppose.

I tried to concentrate on a few objects with set exposures and ISO. For the most part I was successful, but I lost it when the mornings were clear and I had a go at M42 and the Horsehead. I also didn't manage my darks very well, although this image worked. Added to this was the fact that I couldn't sleep later than 08:00. Maxing only 3 hours sleep a day for the entire camp turns the brain into mush, which makes th results I have achieved a little surprising. :shrug:

[jsmoraes]

Impressive image! Plenty of small details ! You have all rights to be very happy with result. :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

[firstlight]

Thanks Jorge, I appreciate your comments. :thanx:
I had to drop the quality of the jpg to 25% to get it under the size limit as well.

[mithrandir]

Tony, you could reduce the size rather than the quality. CdC says (in order by RA) NGC 6723, IC 4812, NGC 6726, NGC 6727, NGC 6729, and Be 157

[firstlight]

Yeah thanks Andrew, however I don't like looking at postage stamps myself :D. While the quality is not spectacular, it conveys enough detail for reasonable display in the forum as opposed to a higher quality image that is too small to see the increased detail. BTW, the size is already reduced to 25% or thereabouts.

Thanks for the catalogue numbers for the objects in the field. CdC = Cartes du Ciel? Should have thought of that one... Starry Night and Sky Safari wasn't that clear on what objects were there.

[alan meehan]

Top shot Tony nice colours good processing
AL

[strongmanmike]

3 hrs/day? awesooome = a perfect star party :thumbsup:

Quite a nice Corona Australis...considering the long clear nights :lol:

Mike

[mithrandir]

How well an image survives compression depends on what is in it. It's usually the dust that suffers.
Yes, Cartes du Ciel. It's not trivial to get the objects with CdC - it wants a plate solved FITS so I did that with astrometry.net. astrometry.net only provides a couple of objects otherwise I could just use the list it provides in the solution, but it can generate a list of all the HD stars in the image - real overkill. CdC was quite happy to give me about 700 objects located within your image - more if I increased the magnitude limit.
I haven't tried importing images into Starry Night Pro, or guiding a scope with Sky Safari Pro.

[h0ughy]

well done Tony - you are indeed an imaging machine

[firstlight]

Don't you start! I've a long way to catch up to you, David.

[firstlight]

Thanks Alan



Loved the long nights, however the brain turns into mincemeat and you fall asleep on top of the laptop:lol: