27 panel SMC mosaic finished!!

[tilbrook@rbe.ne]

Hi,
Well I’ve finally finished my mosaic of the SMC!!:clap::party:
Here's the large version.
http://www.pbase.com/comets2/image/152708496
Still only 25% of original which is nearly 2 gig's in jpg!!

Ended up with 27 panels, these consist of 60 minute and 30 minute panels, a total of 22.5 hours.
Subs were 5 minutes at ISO 1600.
Equipment used.
8” F/4 astrograph , baader type coma corrector,. HEQ Pro 5 mount, orion mini guider.
Camera.
Unmodded Cannon 1100D.
Panels stacked in Deep Sky Stacker.
Panels stitched in Microsoft ICE.
Processed in Photoshop 7.
Next time I'll plan mosaics out, so I don't need as many panels!:rolleyes:
Cheers,
Justin.

[Larryp]

Looks fantastic, Justin-great work!

[LewisM]

Great job! A really spectacular, finely executed image!

I was looking up at the LMC and SMC last night, thinking about it myself. Now I chicken out ;)

[strongmanmike]

Congratulations Justin something to be justly proud off :)

Mike

[gregbradley]

Great work. I am a big fan of mosaics.

Greg.

[LightningNZ]

Awesome! :D Looks on my screen like you could boost contrast and vibrancy a little more yet.

Are you going to turn it into a poster?

Cheers,
Cam

[jase]

Kudos Justin! Great image indeed. Perhaps a few minor tweaks as suggested by others would improve on the result (saturation mainly I suspect). I admire astro-imagers that stick to the game plan and complete the mission. Certainly not a small undertaking with 27 panels and I know how it feels when planning comes undone with gaps between panels as you experienced in a previous progress post. Not a fun situation. The resolution and wide expanse is a visual treat with so many clusters on display. Top work. I sure hope to see you tackle similar projects again.

[Ross G]

What a beautiful photo Justin.

A great project, well executed.

Looking forward to more mosaics from you.

Ross.

[batema]

Great work and it looks fantastic.

[Forgey]

Fantastic work Justin!

[MortonH]

Wow. Fantastic.

[Stevec35]

Great work Justin! I have a lot of admiration for anyone who can do a mosaic this big.

Cheers

Steve

[jjjnettie]

Congratulations. It's a lovely image.

[Lee]

Excellent work Justin.
(you'd have my vote for IOTW)

[Phil Hart]

Awesome project Justin. Great effort and result looks sweet.. another one I need to check out closely at home.

Phil

[tilbrook@rbe.ne]

Thanks Laurie!



Thanks Lewis!

Seriously, go for it!
You have a sweet setup, I'd love to see a mosaic.



Thanks Mike!

Always good to have your encouragement.




Thanks Greg!

Yours are always an inspiration.



Thanks Cam!

Yep, I played around quite a lot with saturation, thought it was too much and backed off.
I'll post another version, I'd like opinions, been looking at this too long.

I have a friend who owns an art gallery, he has a printer capable of doing large posters, hopefully he can turn it into something worth hanging on the wall.




Thanks Jase!

Good to have your input, yep obviously need to boost the saturation.
I was getting quite frustrated towards the end, imaging more and more panels.
Originally I thought 12 panels, no hope!!
I must admit, I'm already thinking of the next mosaic.



Thanks Ross!



Thanks Marc!



Thanks Paula!



Thanks Morton!



Thanks Steve!

The stitch program ICE made it a lot easier, probably wouldn't have attempted it otherwise.



Thanks jjj !



Thanks Lee!

Must try out your suggestions on panel alignment on the next one.




Thanks Phil!

Certainly a challenge!
Still a bit to learn about processing such a large image.

Cheers,

Justin.

[jsmoraes]

Very good work. Very beautiful image. Too much details: all clusters and nebulas. I love it. Congratulations. The effort of 22 hours resulted much worth. :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

[johnnyt123]

All i have to say is that is ridiculous.. in a nice way...
and shouldnt be humanly possible....!!

Well done on the achievement.

[tilbrook@rbe.ne]

Thanks Jorge!

Glad you like it!



Thanks Johny!

Only possible because of the people that write the amazing software!

Cheers,

Justin.

[tilbrook@rbe.ne]

Hi,

Just an updated image with more saturation.

What do you think??

Thanks in advance for feedback.

Cheers,

Justin.

[marco]

:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thum bsup:
Justin, you did a great job there, I admire your patience in stitching so many panels together..

Regards
Marco

[DJT]

Congrats on finishing the mosaic, Justin, it's a great result :thumbsup:

[tilbrook@rbe.ne]

Thanks Marco!

ICE deserves the credit for the stitching, fantastic program.



Thanks David!

[SkyViking]

Wow that's a nice view indeed, and what an effort! You've achieved an awesome result. The resolution and FOV is great and shows off this galaxy in all its glory.

[Shiraz]

what a cracker of an image it turned out to be - really like both versions. Congrats. Regards Ray

[tilbrook@rbe.ne]

Thanks Rolf!

Yes, I love the resolution that can achieved in mosaics.
Think I'm hooked!



Thanks Ray!

Cheers,

Justin.

[Astroman]

Terrific Job, Justin, well worth the effort

[multiweb]

Woohoo! Well done. :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

[RickS]

That's a great accomplishment, Justin, and a really nice image. Well done!

[tilbrook@rbe.ne]

Thanks Andrew!



Thanks Marc!



Thanks Rick!

Certainly a challenge but an enjoyable one.

Cheers,

Justin.

[glenc]

That is an excellent image Justin. :thumbsup:

[rustigsmed]

Congratulations and awesome work Justin!
It looks fantastic, love the resolution.
When are you going to get that canon modified!!?

Cheers

Rusty

[tilbrook@rbe.ne]

Thanks Glen!



Thanks Rusty!

Going have to buy a modded camera, I had a second 1100D which I modified but I stuffed two of the plastic cable retainers and in it won't work now!:mad2:

Cheers,

Justin.