The carina nebula

[Peter Ward]

I have been optimizing my Alluna RC16 imaging system for some time and am now getting some very gratifying results from the system.

Sorry, no snappy title. I'll let the image speak for itself.

Personally I think it is the best deep sky image I have obtained to date.
Of course it's also my favourite object: Eta Carina (one must not diverge from "the program" :) )

What makes the image special for me is the sense of depth and intrinsic resolution. Pristine stars stretched out to the very boundary of my KAF16803 CCD....measuring just a few microns out to the edge of this chip is no mean feat. The gear simply delivered superb raw data with a minimum of fuss...Also there are no dark-decon doughnuts to be seen around the stars here. No de-convolution filter was applied!

It's an H-alpha RGB blend: I've tried to keep the colours as accurate as possible. The web image is displayed with some cropping at just over 50% resolution.
Anyway...enough waffle from me.

The link is here (http://www.atscope.com.au/BRO/gallery378.html)

[DJScotty]

Wow Peter. That's an amazing image.
That's all I can say
Scott

[Atmos]

You've certainly picked up a lot of amazing detail Peter. Stunning image that's for sure!

Out of curiosity, how much did the Ha add compared to without it? Curious as to how much in picked up in the region via RGB with a 16" scope :)

[gregbradley]

Yes, you are right to be proud of that image. Hat's off to you, quite an accomplishment. All the more spectacular from the suburbs.

Greg.

[RickS]

Impressive detail, Peter!

[multiweb]

Ooo... that is spectacular. I was waiting for that one :) Definitely need to build a new cool wall for this one. :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

[Ausfitter]

Wow that is amazing

[Paul Haese]

Superb image Peter. Detail is very sharp and colour is pleasing. It is significantly sharper than my image. I think you need to do some short subs to capture the homunculus thought. Well done. :thumbsup:

[graham.hobart]

Ye Gods that's Good!!

[jase]

Splendid Peter! I've been monitoring your results with the Alluna. This image is a testament to its capabilities. The 4" aperture imaging train distinguishes this OTA from the competitors. May as well take this opportunity to congratulate you on the forthcoming APOD too.

[Peter Ward]

Thanks Jase. This image would have been very difficult to obtain without having a 4" dedicated corrector....I have yet to use the compressor! And thank you on the APOD...I've not mentioned this publically, but looks like the cat's out of the bag :thanx:



Ta muchly.



Thank you Paul...I did infact do a few short subs on the homunculus but it looked rather weird in my efforts to show the details while still preserving the brightness of Eta...I went with the latter



Thanks!



Thank you Marc...I guess you had a hunch I'd be tinkering in that part of the sky :)



Ta...I rather like the string of bright edged globules extending from "the finger" to the right...the last one in the chain is rarely shown clearly...I now call it "the slug" :)



Thanks Greg. I am humbled by the fact many of the "heavy hitters" seem to have chimed in on this one. Working from "the burbs" is still a pain, but short of moving everything to Chile...what can you do? :)



Ta..there is about an hour and a bit of H-alpha. One hour each other channel.



Glad you like it :thumbsup:

[topheart]

No need to move to Chile.

Congratulations - the best rendition I have seen.
Regards,
Tim

[marc4darkskies]

Hmmmm... I was wearing socks a second ago! Quite amazing detail Peter. You can lose the hideous copyright though.

Marcus

[Peter Ward]

:lol: OK you win. Copyright watermarks now removed



High praise indeed. Thank you :thumbsup:

[Andy01]

That's beyond good, it's stellar (pardon the pun!)
Benchmark image and one for the rest of us mere mortals to aspire to.
..and you shot that from the 'burbs? OMG :bowdown:

[Peter Ward]

Thanks Andy.

Brighter objects like Carina are not too much of a struggle. It's the faint fuzzies that are a real challenge.

I can now also officially reveal it has made today's NASA APOD (http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap160527.html)

[RB]

Congratulations Peter.
A worthy accolade for this stunning image.

RB

[Retrograde]

Congratulations Peter - a worthy APOD indeed.
Can't remember seeing as much detail in this object before - a superb result.

[Somnium]

Wow, what an image Peter. i have no idea how you resolve that fine detail from Sydney, incredible. it is a shame that the APOD image has the watermarks on it though.

[gregbradley]

Congrats on your NASA APOD. Well deserved.

Greg.

[h0ughy]

wow, on the 48" it is breathtaking - so much to see, its a superb and sublime image. the detail is unreal!! I do agree with Paul H's comment about the homunculus , but that's coming from a simpleton ;)

[troypiggo]

Well deserved accolades. Truly the stand-out image of a popular target. Fantastic.

[Peter Ward]

Thank you. As for the homunculus...sorry. I have to "respect the light"..it's way brighter than the surrounding structures, so I left it that way.



Thanks Greg...it's been a long time between drinks for sure :thumbsup:



Start with large chip on a superb 'scope, add some good seeing and AO to taste.....but sorry...I'm happy with the watermark for the wider audience.
(in case you missed it, the linked page on IIS is no longer watermarked)



Ta..I like think I've highlighted features that were always there...sometimes it's hard to see the forest for the trees :)



Again, many thanks.

[Placidus]

Quite astonishing, Peter. The detail in the Fickle Finger and in the more famous Herbig Haro jets is enough to make one weep.

[Bassnut]

wow, thats stunning Peter, very well done, soo sharp, best ive seen. And congrats on the APOD, most deserved.

[Regulus]

If you just think of all the superlatives in the English language, that's pretty much how i felt when I followed that link.
Brilliant photo.

Trevor

[Peter Ward]

Thank you Trevor.



Ta Fred. No wide-field-wussing for this one. Narrow field rules! ;)



You are too kind. While I was pleased with the "mystic-Herbig-mountain" just above Trumpler 14...I hope the tears were not due to any tragedy on my part ! :)

[batema]

Truly amazing image Peter. Can you tell me how long the subs were and total imaging time. Congtrats. Wonderful.

[Ryderscope]

Congratulations on the APOD Peter. Definitely a deserving acknowledgement.

[Rod771]

Unbelievably awesome!!! Very sharp, congratulations on a fine image, Peter! :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

[alpal]

Hi Peter,
the best Eta Carinae I've seen posted on Ice in Space - by far!

Congratulations on the APOD.

cheers
Allan

[Phil Hart]

Definitely a stunner Peter. You got the gear and you know how to use it!

I'm with Marcus on the watermark.. glad you've published the clean version. ;)

Phil

[Peter Ward]

Glad you liked the image...again too kind :thumbsup:



Thanks Rod !



Yes.

Just kidding :) I use 20 minute subs....I am in "the 'burbs" after all (but I still pine for the Fjords :) )



Thank you indeed.



Ta... I hope this image explains its enchantment for yours truly....so much going on..shock fronts, pre-superonva's, ionized clouds...Nature can be remarkably surprising and beautiful! :thumbsup:

[Peter Ward]

Your tip o'the hat is very much appreciated Phil. :thumbsup:

[gvanhau]

At first I said to myself oh, another Carina....
But looking at the high res image, it's really an outlier...
Congrats, Well deserved APOD.

[Slawomir]

A spectacular image Peter! Congratulations on the APOD :thumbsup:

Really looking forward to your next image :)

[codemonkey]

Daaaamn. That's incredible, Peter. Great work, and congrats on the APOD!

[Shiraz]

Excellent image Peter - top shelf and definitely worthy of APOD.

[Peter Ward]

Glad you like it :thumbsup:


Not sure if I'd go that far, but it doesn't look too shabby on a 4k screen :)



Ah, that would make two of us...maybe another M8 :eyepop::lol:



Thank you...like everyone else I've imaged Carina (in my case, probably too many times :lol: ) at around 1200mm.

And you are right...they all start to look vanilla after a while. I'm finding at around 3300mm the Universe is much more interesting, fine structures appear that often give a fresh perspective....hence I promise to do more
along these lines soon.

Imaging with the Alluna has it's challenges...I literally have 1-2cm to spare
in dome aperture..any mis-alignment and the telescope is looking inside the dome...which has happened a few times now when I trust the automation too much :rolleyes:

It's also very sensitive to the seeing...but I'm happy to say...when the seeing is good it produces sublime data that even a hack like me can perform a little wizardry with :thumbsup:

[multiweb]

No argument from me.

[Stonius]

I like how you can just make out the homunculus amidst the glare. Nicely done! :-)

[Peter Ward]

You have a keen eye...it was indeed intentional :)



:lol: Maybe I should take requests?

Many thanks to all who have responded on this one...it's quite overwhelming and a good motivator for yours truly to explore similar options :thumbsup:

[Paul Haese]

I have been back to this a few times and looked over the image a lot. This is my prediction. If you enter this in the Malins, this looks like the overall winner to me. Sure its a well imaged target but it surely has to be the sharpest image of this target ever submitted. Not to mention the colour being very pleasing. Anyway just my thoughts.

[alpal]

Hi Paul,
It's incredibly sharp -
maybe the best picture ever taken in Australia?
It must have been a lucky night with sub arc second seeing?

cheers
Allan

[Peter Ward]

Very kind of you, but I don't think I'd go quite that far :thanx:



Thanks Paul. I wouldn't at all be upset with your prognostication :) but the Malin's are so hard to predict. :shrug:

I will say this much, widefield and often very colourful DSLR vista's are often stunning or very pretty...but as there so many of them, I felt a void was being created in...dare I say "traditional"... long focal length, high resolution deep-sky images.

Getting tight, high-resolution stars is no trivial task and I hope images like this gain some popularity in the future.

[Atmos]

*wonders if he can do it with his 5" refractor* :lol:

[Paul Haese]

I submitted nearly all long focal length this year, with only one image being wide field. It will be a tough competition for sure and now that wide field and narrow field are together once more it will be all the harder to win.

Incidentally what speed were you guiding with on the AOX? There are a few bright stars in that region and finding a bright guide star can be a problem sometimes but not there I think.



Hmm certainly very sharp but can it be the best picture taken in Australia? With a few really sharp images myself and knowing there are few others out there with really sharp images of various targets it might be hard to call. Personally I would not like to say its the best but it certainly is a very nice image and one I would be very happy with myself.

[alpal]

Hi Paul,.
can you show me a link where say the keyhole nebula is sharper taken from any Australian telescope?

Only the CHART 32 image from Chile can beat it - from any image I can find.
see here:
http://www.chart32.de/images/phocagallery/galleries/nebulae/etacar_sho_c200.jpg

I wonder what Peter measured as his FWHM?

cheers
Allan

[Paul Haese]

I thought you meant any image taken of any object. You did say the best picture taken in Australia. Hence my comments.

[alpal]

Make it any deep sky object then except -
it's hard to compare unless you use the same object.

[Peter Ward]

I recall it was fairly fast...8-10 Hz for RGB and 3-5 Hz for the H-alpha ...or there abouts...I didn't record the actual numbers.

[andyc]

Well that full-res view triggered a sharp intake of breath! Saw that you'd got the APOD (many congrats, nice to see an APOD from Sutherland Shire!) but was blown away by the details you've got once I had a good look, especially around the Bok Globules. A really special image :bowdown:

[AstroJason]

As many have said, APOD well deserved. That is one incredibly detailed shot, Peter. Amazing stuff that!

[Peter Ward]

Thanks gentlemen...again the feedback on this one has been quite amazing.

Rather than thank you all individually from here (unless you have a specific question) I'll put this one to bed now .... going to the "top of the pops" just needlessly takes up bandwidth at this point.

Clear skies!

[Octane]

That is quite simply one of the finest images ever posted on this site, perhaps /the/ finest image ever posted here.

I've been procrastinating building my observatory and seeing this makes me procrastinate more; what's the point? :)

Congratulations on the APOD, too!

H

[Flugel88]

Wow Peter the detail is insane very immersive.
The natural colour even with Ha added is superb.

[IanP]

Peter, this is well deserved NASA APOD, congratulations !!!

[alpal]

Hi Octane,
I want to build an observatory too - one day
but I will try not to let this put me off.
Peter is using extremely expensive equipment & adaptive optics.

When you see what Oleg Bryzgalov is managing to do in the Ukraine
it will give you inspiration.
He is using a 10" Newt. with an observatory.
see here:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/olegbr/7542197182

Of course Rolf Olsen is doing extremely well too without spending megabucks:

http://www.rolfolsenastrophotography.com/


One problem is that a Newt. doesn't give you enough back focus to use adaptive optics easily.

cheers
Allan

[DJT]

What a gorgeous image. The detail is awesome. Gotta love an iPad,

Kudos to those with the biggest and bestest toys. It takes some passion for this hobby to want to commit to that level in order to produce stunning images like this.

Well done :thumbsup:

[Octane]

Hey Allan,

I've been doing this for over ten years now and I'm lacking motivation. :)

I've got an FSQ and an STL with no likelihood of any bigger/better toys for the foreseeable future. Multiple mortgages kills those prospects!

If I can get started on digging a hole in the ground in the backyard, I might progress. :)

I met up with Rolf a couple of years ago in New Zealand. I regret not being able to make it to his home to see his observatory.

H

[Peter Ward]

There are a number of "heavy hitters" on IIS that put me to shame on the capital equipment list, so the point of pointing out I "use expensive gear" is a little lost on me. No silver spoons here...my first telescope was a Royal 2.5" refractor.

But, sure, the gear I currently use is not cheap...but nor are long focal length Canon L-lenses, a decent boat, up-market car or second wife :) (I am blessed there ! ).

The up-side for me is: the running costs of my observatory, as opposed to most of the former, are effectively nil. Apart from the occasional clean plus evicting the occasional arachnid squatter, the equipment simply needs no attention.

I use top-shelf gear for two reasons.
Time: my imaging sessions are very limited so I want the stuff to work flawlessly, rather than have to fight it.

Specification: Companies like Asto-Physics build to a specification, rather than a price...and while this has a corresponding cost.... image perfection is guaranteed...the rest is up to the user.

You can get fantastic results with a less costly but well considered system. Indeed, Rolf Olsen is an excellent role model. While I've said it before, I'll say it again: spend-up big on the mount. The best optics on the planet will be useless on a mechanical bowl of jelly.

All the above notwithstanding, the best decision I've made to date was to get an observatory. It doesn't have to be a dome. A roll-off roof shed will do fine (that said my Observatory is now in its 25th year..i.e cost $280 per year)

A permanent mount makes so much of a difference!

You can be up-and-running in minutes, day or night. It's a no-brainer in my book.

[rustigsmed]

wowee! congrats on the APOD peter, you have some seriously sharp features coming through whilst still looking relatively 'natural'.
looking forward to what else your new system can get up to !

Rusty

[Peter Ward]

Thank you Rusty :thumbsup:.....sadly...while a new installment would be cool, the new-moon forecast for Sydney is :cloudy::rain::rain::rain::rain:

[Decimus]

I was away on holiday and so I missed your post of this absolutely stunning image of Eta Carinae, Peter. :eyepop: Congrats on capturing such a superb view of this gorgeous nebula (that I looked at for the first time through my new APM 152 last Tuesday - it was razor sharp and exquisite, earning a few oohs and aahs).

Fantastic - well done!

Cheers,
Richard

[Peter Ward]

Congrats on the new 'scope. :thumbsup::thumbsup:...(and thanks for your kind comments)....but now we know who is to blame for this wild east-coast weather! :lol:
:rain::windy::rain:
:windy::rain::rain::windy::cold:

[SkyViking]

That's amazing Peter! I'm quite sure that's the best Eta Carina image I've seen. The resolution is stunning and congrats on the APOD too, well done.

[Peter Ward]

After 15 minutes of fame :) I was happy to let this one slip slowly to the bottom of the IIS list...but ...

High praise indeed from NZ's premiere-Danish-astro-imager

:thanx:

[Atmos]

Purely as a bit of fun I thought I would give a direct comparison of what aperture, focal length, mount, telescope, seeing and AO makes :P Oh and don't mind the blue halos, hoping a blue filter which doesn't let quite so much UV light through will combat the 60%+ QE of the ICX694 :P

Peter's Keyhole (http://www.atscope.com.au/BRO/gallery378.html)

My Keyhole (http://www.astrobin.com/full/251584/0/)

Mine is 10x120s RGB (1 hour total). I have 5 hours of Ha from my previous telescope setup that I tried adding into it but it was TERRIBLE, it did not blend (http://www.willitblend.com). As this was just a bit of fun I didn't put in the time to get the stars to play nice.

After seeing Peters fantastic effort I did get to wondering how a tiny setup in comparison would do. You can see quite clearly that my stars are not round at the moment, I think that may have been a balance issue on the night, either that or I didn't have enough settling period in PHD, not sure. After I cropped and registered my images against Peter's I did a FWHM check. Mine was basically twice that of Peter's JPEG so that gives some indication as to the resolution difference between the images.

If I have had had better tracking (round stars) it would have sharpened it up a fraction more but ultimately it was just an fun exercise. Yes, gives me aperture fever :P