Ara Shoreline 2 panel mosaic

[Placidus]

Brilliant full moon, but crystal clear and good seeing (1.8 to 2.0"), so "Let's do it!", they cried.

The left half of the image is old data reprocessed. The right half is from last night.

Total exposure: H-alpha (green) 7 hrs, OIII (blue) 10 hrs, SII (red) 11 hrs.

There are many more stars on the right hand side of the image. When we look at images by other folk, this seems to be real and solid.

We see a faint and ghostly blue tracery of complex OIII shock fronts and bubbles, marking out the figure of a dancer, with the head surrounding the main bright cluster, and the hem of the skirt at the bottom of the image.

Immediately left of the ballerina we find the multiple stems of a dark mallee gum, or perhaps brown-black ink diffusing through water.

The bright moon has messed up the very faintest areas around the edges on the right half, so don't waste too much time puzzling over those. We were overjoyed to avoid cabin fever and go up to the observatory.

Image scale 0.55 sec arc/pixel.

Original image here (www.photos.smugmug.com/Category/Star-Forming-Regions/i-3P3BbTP/0/O/D%20Ara%20Shoreline%20Mosaic%20Ha%2 07%20OIII%2010%20SII%2011%20hrs.jpg )

Best,
Mike and Trish

[Atmos]

Lovely amount of detail showing up in there MnT, love it! I do wonder if it would be possible to do a gradient red removal on the right part of the image? Gradient running from right to left. It may destroy colour balance though.

Your software scripts are certainly doing their job! There appears to be quite a number if OIII shock fronts scattered throughout the centre of the image, very interesting!

[strongmanmike]

Excellent image guys and the colours look lovely with heaps of 3D detail :thumbsup:

Here is where I see the dancer :D

Mike

[gregbradley]

That's a ripper of an image. Its the only image of this area I have seen that shows those bubbles in the O111.

I like the colour balance you've gotten and that touch of light magenta/pink is a pleasant view.

Mike S do you see images of pretty girls in most astrophotos???

Greg.

[Placidus]

Thanks muchly, Colin. We think the best way to tame the gradient is to gather much more SII on a night with less moon.




Thanks for your kind words, Mike. That's the right spot, and your annotated version of the photo is definitely an improvement.



Thanks, Greg. We're pleased with the OIII bubbles. They're consistent across three well-separated observing sessions now. The Committee struggled over the magenta blush, and eventually decided it was ok.



Perhaps only in ones from Euchareena. It's the fresh country air.

[DJScotty]

Mnt an amazing image.
The details are superb. Colours are great. I agree with Greg about the red.
I love the hole in the clouds to the left side of the ridge
Scott

[Maurice]

Nice result M&T.
Your image shows the incredibly complex nature of this area.
Those OIII 'bubbles' really make the image work for me.

Cheers
Maurice

[RickS]

Another excellent image, M&T :thumbsup: Love the detail and scale.

[multiweb]

Superb colors Mike. :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

[alpal]

Hi Mike and Trish,
It's looking very nice indeed.
it made me check out Mike's one again.
http://www.pbase.com/strongmanmike2002/image/134900874/original

cheers
Allan

[atalas]

Seriously good work guys&gals....outstanding detail:thumbsup:

[strongmanmike]

Well generally...yes fairly often...except I always struggled to find one in this image (http://www.pbase.com/strongmanmike2002/image/60449061/large) :shrug:...

Mike

[Placidus]

Scott, Maurice, Rick, Marc, Allan, Mike,

Thank you very much for the kind and encouraging words (and context). Adds greatly to the fun.

Best,
Mike and Trish

[SimmoW]

Sorry for swearing, but that's F%##%n amazing M&T! Such detail

[topheart]

Sharp and beautiful!
Thanks,
Tim

[Placidus]

Thanks, Simmo, thanks Tim!

[Camelopardalis]

Wow, what a cracker M&T :thumbsup:

[Placidus]

Thanks muchly, Dunk!

[Rex]

Another stunning image Mike and Trish. The detail you produce with your rig is astounding. Love the suttle colours also.

[Placidus]

Thanks, Rex. Delighted you like it.

[stevous67]

A fantastic image, with the OIII regions making it truly excellent.

Well done.

Steve

[Stevec35]

Great 3D effect and luscious colour guys. There have certainly been some nice pictures of this area lately.

Cheers

Steve

[Placidus]

Thanks muchly, Steve. :)



Thank you Steve. It's a very obliging and photogenic patch.

[Slawomir]

Really beautiful and inspiring image M&T :thumbsup:

I was hoping to image this very object this year, but my mount has been playing and it is now getting late to capture sufficient amount of data. Maybe next year :)

[Placidus]

Thanks, Suavi.

At this end, the mount is behaving, but the sky isn't. Yet another month with crystal clear sky over full moon, then unlimited rain predicted as we approach new moon.

[Atmos]

That's why you need a portable scope, you can chase the clear skies :P