Mars visits the Blue Horse Head, Antares and Rho Ophiuchus Region

[AstroJason]

Hi all,

Here is one of the final images I got from my last trip to Bretti a couple weeks ago. My intended target with this was originally the Blue Horse Head Nebula, but there is just so much going on in the area that I could not help myself in trying to frame it all in.

Captured on the 23rd September 2014, it was setting fast. Only managed 90 minutes on this but will definitely target it again next year with much more time.

A much higher res version can be found on my flickr page here. (https://www.flickr.com/photos/59004995@N04/15713420695/)

One interesting thing I noticed is that Mars had left a mini "star trail" as the exposures passed. If you zoom in on the version on my flickr you will notice it looks blurry when compared to say, Antares. I didn't expect to notice something like this with just 90 minutes worth of exposure (30 x 3 minute exposures).

Taken with my usual set up but at 144mm.

As always, feedback is appreciated and thanks for looking.

Cheers,

Jason

[strongmanmike]

Wow, what a beauty Jason, very cool :thumbsup:...can really see why Antares means "rival to Mars"

Mike

[Rod771]

Yes, that's very nice. That was a very productive trip to Bretti. Well done Jason! :thumbsup:

[nebulosity.]

That's real nice Jason. What is your trick for showing up the dust so well? I have imaged pretty deeply in this area before but struggled to lift the dust from the star fields like you have in your image. :thumbsup:

Cheers
Jo

[rogerg]

Very nice shot :thumbsup:

This reminded me that I must publish a similar shot I have with M8, M20 here ....

[Camelopardalis]

Beautifully composed mate, well done :thumbsup:

[RickS]

Nice image, Jason! Must be a nice dark site.

[Rex]

Beautiful shot Jason. One of my favourite areas.

[Peter Ward]

Ab Fab. :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

[Ross G]

A beautiful photo Jason.

Great detail and colours.

Love the composition.

Ross.

[AstroJason]

Thanks Mike. I forgot Antares is known as the rival to Mars. Makes me glad I captured them in the same frame here.



Cheers Rod, yes I managed to capture a few targets on my list. Running out of data to process now though. Time for the next trip.



Thanks Jo, there is a bit of processing involved in bringing out the dust. A lot of subtle curve and levels adjustment layers. But mainly very subtle Screen Mask Invert helps bring up the dust.



Thanks Roger. Always nice to see the winter targets popping up on here during summer.



Cheers Dunk. Glad you like it mate.



Cheers Rick. Yeah Bretti is super dark. No light domes in any direction.



Thanks Rex, yeah love this area. Has to be the most colourful area in the sky.



Cheers Peter.



Many thanks, glad you like the shot mate.

[Andre27]

Great image , well done.

[glend]

Nice shot Jason, Bretti just keeps giving. Sadly now its below the horizon all night long - I had hoped to target it in a couple of weeks on the return to Bretti. Do you have any new targets like this on your 'list' for the next session?

[SpaceNoob]

Stunning image, well done. :)

[Leonardo70]

Wonderful Jason, thanks for sharing !!

All the best,
Leo

[AstroJason]

Thank you Andre, glad you like it.



Cheers Glen. Yes, Bretti does keep on giving, its a fantastic dark sky site, looking forward to getting back out there again soon. I think you will have to wait until next season to get a good amount of data on this area. I do have a few more targets on my "list" but I like to keep them as a surprise! So you'll just have to wait and see what they're going to be. :thumbsup:



Cheers Chris, it took me a while to get this image to a level where I was happy with it. Glad with how it turned out in the end.



Thanks Leo, glad you like the shot.

[multiweb]

Great processing. You've certainly brought up a lot of dust. Great field. :thumbsup: