Ophiuchus Nebulosity

[cazza132]

This is a work in progress of the Ophiuchus region. Additional Ha to be incorporated. Just love this area of the sky! Mars and Saturn an added bonus :) A bit rough with blown out stars and M4 colour, etc. but getting there.

Canon 6D (full spectrum modded) + 135mm Zeiss f2.0
Astronomic XL-Clip filter ('L' filter)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/130830021@N02/26426798741/in/dateposted-public/
and a tighter crop around Rho Ophiuchus
https://www.flickr.com/photos/130830021@N02/26466989346/in/dateposted-public/

[Andy01]

That's just beautiful Troy, looks so 3D - another Malin candidate for sure :)

[strongmanmike]

This was one of those images that when it opened I said two words, one starting with "f" and the other with "m" :D Lovely deep 3D looking field perfectly processed.

I am keen to get back into some wide field imaging myself by the end of the year and I am looking to mate my PL16803 (which has been sitting idle for nearly 3 years :rolleyes:) with something and I have been considering FSQ's, VIXEN 100 F3's, Televues etc or a good camera lens...you have just upped the chances of getting a good camera lens :thumbsup:

Mike

[cazza132]

Thanks Andy and Mike! Mike, how big is the sensor on the PL16803? Can you mount Canon lenses on it? If so, the Zeiss 135mm f2.0 APO is truly a rocking lens! Has quite a long focus through that helps for finer adjustments, but if you're aiming overhead, the focus may slide. I use rubber bands to solve that problem. Using straight luminence at f2.5, you will blow out the background sky at 180s. Even shorter for a monochrome cam. So you bang out heaps of short (90s) subs. The lens is so dangerously sharp that it tears a 20mp bayer senser to shreads - even with the AA filter in front of the bayer colour filter array. It would resolve 100mp+ if those pixels were available :D It would find a good mate with a good monochrome sensor if there's room for the filter wheel!

[Joshua Bunn]

Awesome work Troy, love the wisps of dust and colour saturation!

Josh.

[troypiggo]

I'll echo Andy and Mike's comments. Lovely rich 3D feel. Awesome.
PS - this must be a mosaic? How many panels?

[RickS]

Lovely image, Troy. A bit more dark and brooding than the usual Rho Ophi.

[topheart]

Awesome image!
well done.
Tim

[Kunama]

Fine....Mesmerising (probably not the words Mike was mouthing !) beautiful image Troy.

[Atmos]

Fantastic! That lens is a real performer!!

Oh and I'll take that PL16803 off of your hands if you're not planning on using it any time soon Mike :P

[rmuhlack]

Superb !

[strongmanmike]

Great stuff Troy, cheers for the info :thumbsup:...Zeiss huh? hmmm?

Mike



Oh...close Matt, close...:D



He he, yeah bet you would Colin :lol: :thumbsup:...might be good to swap out the 16803 sensor for a KAF-50100 actually.. 6 micorn pixels hmm? :confuse3:

[Decimus]

Absolutely stunning, beautiful image, Troy.:eyepop: (You have also persuaded me to go ahead with my plans to buy the gorgeous Zeiss Otus 55mm, F1.4 lens, which can be mated to either a Canon or Nikon lens). There is nothing like a premium Zeiss optic. But all credit must go to your skills as an astrophotographer; this has to be one of the finest images I have seen on this site. Congrats! :thumbsup:

Cheers,
Richard

[RobF]

:bowdown: :cheers:

[billdan]

Stunning Troy the best I've ever seen of that area. Wow you sure put in a lot of work to create that masterpiece.

Really impressed by your dedication to the art.

Cheers
Bill

[amyth91]

That is stunning work :) I will be imaging the same region soon, but without the full spectrum 6D. I do have astronomik UHC filter, which should be helpful. Can i ask, how did you reduce the stars to get that smooth nebulosity ? and how much total exposure time is it ?

[Phil Hart]

It is superb Troy. I'm not done with this region yet either :-) Sounds like an epic pano project you're attempting - 200 panels! You've clearly got an impressive processing workflow going to be able to merge it this well. I am amazed!

There are two issues mounting lenses to sensors - one is the back focus required, the other is the image size the lens will form.

The 16803 sensor is 36mm * 36mm with diagonal of 52mm. It's unlikely the Zeiss will do much more than the diagonal of standard 35mm format which is 43mm. Same will be true for just about any lens designed for 35mm.

The flange focus distance for the Zeiss like any Canon EOS/EF lens is 44mm. There aren't many mono CCD and filter wheel combinations you can fit in that space, given that you also need an EOS adapter in there.

Jason Jennings (http://cosmicphotos.com/equipment.php) is using an Apogee camera at least partly for the minimum back focus required.. just 26mm. The same CG16070 camera body (http://www.andor.com/pdfs/specifications/Apogee_Aspen_CG16070_Specifications .pdf) also comes in a 16803 version. That would leave you 18mm for filter wheel plus EOS adapter. Pretty tight! But possible? But you'd be wasting your time as the lens won't work well with sensor that size. You really need medium format lenses for bigger sensors.. I've got a Pentax 6*7 format lens currently paired with a QHY9 but waiting for the day I can afford 16803 or similar to go with it!

Phil

[strongmanmike]

Thanks for that Phil, exactly what I was thinking ie. Pentax 6X7 lenses, they are just not well corrected for colour, great for NB though.

I'm likeing the look of the Vixen 100mm F3 (https://www.myastroshop.com.au/products/details.asp?id=MAS-046E)actually ;)

Sorry Troy, I'll cut the off topic banter there :help:

Mike

Mike

[rustigsmed]

sublime work Troy!
love this area of the sky.
all the best

russ

[plantnerd]

Lovely conlour and depth how many hours of exposure?

[gregbradley]

Oh my god, that image is totally amazing. One of the most impactful images in recent history here. Spectrum modified 6D sounds like a hot buy. Prices are coming down as a new 6D is likely soon.

I have read about that Zeiss 135 APO lens. Its got quite a following and is often raved about. I have several Zeiss lenses now and they are all a cut above.

I have used the following lenses successfully with Proline 16803, CFW 4/5, FLI adapter:

1. Pentax 67 165 2.8, 75 4.5, 300 4 (non EDIF but the ED version is the better). I also had a FLI PDF focuser in that image train which made focusing a snap.

2. Nikon 50 1.8G, Nikon 180 2.8

I have used Canon FD lenses on an SBIG STL which has a 44mm diagonal. The worst case scenario is you may need to crop with the Canon EF lenses on Proline. I am not sure what the flange distance difference is between FD and EF (I believe EF is shorter) but the difference between Nikon and Canon flange is something like 4mm. The Nikon adapter was very tight onto the filter wheel with nothing to spare so perhaps the flange distance could be an issue. I would be willing to test that if you want. I have an EF 24-70 4L and 70-200 4L but no adapter (only the Nikon one). I'll see if I can rig something up.

Greg.

[deeplook]

Very nice Troy, very nice. This region is just a little bit over the horizon at our latitude, so its great to see such an amazing image.

Markus

[Retrograde]

That is amazing. :eyepop:

[Ross G]

A beautiful photo Troy!

Amazing colour and sharpness.

I love the composition.

Ross.

[cazza132]

Thank you all for the kind words :thanx:

Mike, Phil and Greg - has been an interesting read. I was not aware that the 16803 sensor was so large! The Vixen does look interesting - and fast!

amyth91 - this area would come up ok with a unmodded 6D. Since a normal 6D transmits only about 25% of the red light of the hydrogen alpha emission band, the red nebulae won't come up as much. The Astronomic UHC will give you quite a strong green colour cast, so it would recommend shooting this without the filter. The blue horse head, the river to Rho Ophiuchi and many other goodies would come up nicely with the 6D :)
Photoshop was used to shrink stars.
The total exposure time is difficult to establish because it is a multi-panel mosaic, but I have included the panel shot details in the description. Some areas were covered more than once. Rho Ophiuchi was covered and stacked 4 times.

[Peter Ward]

What a delightful result....it will no doubt do well at this years CWAS. :thumbsup:

[Geoff45]

Delightful smooth nebulosity, nice colours, good composition--amazing!
Geoff

[astronobob]

Excellent imaging and processing, I really like this field and this extra deep view is just astounding, beautiful sight indeed :thumbsup: :thumbsup: