The Large Magellanic Cloud in Dorado

[Octane]

Hi all,

This is from the second night at Zane Hammond's Magellan Observatory.

It's only fitting that I image this target.

Longest and deepest I've gone, at over 2 hours. Pinpoint stars right to the edge with no coma. The Nikkor 300mm F/4.5 has an ED element, and was perfect for this target.

Read and view here (http://members.optusnet.com.au/mrozycka/Magellan_Observatory/Magellan_Observatory_20061119_Large _Magellanic_Cloud.html).

Comments and critique welcome.

Warning: file is approximately 1.13 MB in size.

Regards,
Humayun

[ballaratdragons]

Wow Humayun, very impressive! And deep!!!

[GTB_an_Owl]

C'mon 'H'
you don't expect us to believe that YOU actually took those shots do you ?

I mean - have a look at the time stated on the pic

you never have your scope put to-gether by that time , let alone alligned and a target picked.
C'mon - own up - who took em? ;)

great work anyway :thumbsup: ( whoever took em)

geoff

[iceman]

Wow :eyepop: that's absolutely stunning! One of the best i've seen of this area!

Incredible work H, top stuff.

[astroboy]

Fantastic shot Humayun
Glad those late nights paid off , a couple of corrections about the equipment , the lens is a Nikkor 300 F4.5 ED and the 350D has a Baader UV-IR filter that I installed.
I have hardly used that lens but after seeing that result its about time I did , great work.

Zane

[strongmanmike]

Another wide field master piece Humayun and yes I think you should use that lens more often! :thumbsup:

BTW when I say your name it makes me think of the princess in the movie "The Mummy" :D

Mike

[CometGuy]

Humayun,

Thats a superb image with nice sharp detail edge to edge.

Terry

[h0ughy]

What a boring shot, really must be a photoshop airbrush muck up, you can see the practice sprays before he adjusted the flow;) :P !! (I am green with envy just look at the detail and features of that shot, excellent positioning too to get the most available deep sky in the shot. But that's just between me and you;) ):thumbsup:

[Garyh]

Hi Humayun,
Thats a great shot of the bar..:thumbsup:...great detail and nicely processed...one to hang on the wall!!!!
Cheers Gary

[jase]

Well composed photo Humayun. The 300mm lens is perfect for the LMC.

[spacezebra]

A massive amount of detail has been captured in this image. Fantastic.

Cheers Petra

[atalas]

Nice result H,well done.

[avandonk]

Very nice subtle colour rendition and detail Hamayun. I am afraid no matter what I do, something is lost with using LPR filters at a suburban light polluted site.
Your image spurs me again to get imaging under darker skies.

Bert.

[sheeny]

Love your work H!:thumbsup: Good stuff!

Al.

[RB]

Awesome H, just awesome.
The best I've seen.
It almost looks noisy until you realise they are actually stars........:lol:

Well done mate.

:party2:

[seeker372011]

:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[Octane]

Ken,

Thank you.

It's the longest I've gone thus far.

Regards,
Humayun

[Octane]

Geoff,

LOL!

You know the reason why I pulled this off, Geoff? It's because Zane's mount was all ready polar aligned! Haha.

Cheers. :)

Regards,
Humayun

[Octane]

Mike,

Thanks for the very kind words.

I'm becoming very intimate with Photoshop.

Thanks, again.

Regards,
Humayun

[Octane]

Zane,

Thank you for the very kind words.

It wouldn't have been possible without you!

I'll edit my original post to reflect the correct information. I already updated my web page. Thanks for that.

The lens is a killer.

Regards,
Humayun

[Octane]

Mike,

Always great to receive praise from you. Thank you. :)

Unfortunately, it's not my lens. :(

I still haven't seen that movie, but, I can imagine. Having been born and bred in Sydney, you can imagine all the possible permutations and combinations that people have come up with of my name. :)

Most of my online friends refer to me as Hummy. It just stuck.

Thanks, again!

Regards,
Humayun

[Octane]

Terry,

Thank you.

I was quite surprised myself; Zane said I may have to stop down to F/5.6, but, there was no need.

Regards,
Humayun

[Octane]

David,

I always look forward to your comments, on my posts, or others. Always a cack up. :)

Thank you for the kind compliments. :)

Regards,
Humayun

[Octane]

Gary,

Thanks, mate.

I look forward to printing it out and doing just that. :)

Regards,
Humayun

[Octane]

Jase,

Thank you. You're right, it's the perfect lens for this target.

Regards,
Humayun

[Octane]

Petra,

Thank you for the kind words. :)

Regards,
Humayun

[Octane]

Louie,

Cheers, mate. :)

Regards,
Humayun

[Octane]

Bert,

I took quite a long time in post-processing, and it appears to have come through in the final result. It may still be a little flat, but, there's always next time.

I don't know what to say, as I've never imaged from my backyard. Once my G-11 arrives, that'll change. I live in Ngunnawal in northern Canberra, fairly close to the border with NSW. There is light pollution here, but, not really that much. If it's any indication, the Milky Way was quite visible when I moved into this suburb in September.

Regards,
Humayun

[Octane]

Al,

Thanks, mate. :)

More to come!

Regards,
Humayun

[Octane]

Andrew,

I'm surprised myself that the background is pure black, there's none of that sensor noise. I took just as many flats and darks as I did my lights. It seems to have worked quite well.

Thanks for the kind compliments. :)

Regards,
Humayun

[Octane]

Narayan,

Cheers, mate. :)

Regards,
Humayun

[acropolite]

Amazing image Humayan, I agree with Mike, it's one of the best I have seen of the LMC.

[Ric]

Hi Humayun, what a spectacular image :eyepop:

I cant add much more as everyone has already said it.


well done

[tornado33]

Wow, very nice work there. I didnt know you had a modded 350D :) What sort of guiding setup did you use? Everythings sharp with pleasing, natural looking colours.
Scott

[Octane]

Phil,

Thank you for the compliment. It's most appreciated.

I had a ball processing this image.

Regards,
Humayun

[Octane]

Hi Ric,

Thanks again, mate. :)

Regards,
Humayun

[Octane]

Scott,

Unfortunately, it's not my camera. :( It's Zane Hammond's (astroboy).

There was no guiding on these images. I tried using Zane's Takahashi EM-200 but was unable to get autoguiding going as I didn't have the appropriate cables. I couldn't get two minutes without trailing so Zane suggested to use his Meade LXD55. It's an el cheapo mount, but, five minuted unguided exposures were possible!

Thanks.

Regards,
Humayun

[CometGuy]

Humayun,

Have you got a larger version you could post (say 50% res or 100% res?).

Terry

[2020BC]

Excellent H. :eyepop: I like the way the mod camera captured the S-nebula.

[Lester]

Top image again Humayan.

The rewards for long exposure are astronomical.

[Octane]

Terry,

I've just uploaded it here (http://members.optusnet.com.au/mrozycka/Magellan_Observatory/Magellan_Observatory_20061119_Large _Magellanic_Cloud_2.html) in all its glory.

Warning, file is 2.00 MB.

Note: magnitude 13.3 galaxy on the far right. :)

Regards,
Humayun

[Octane]

Bill,

Thanks, mate. :)

Regards,
Humayun

[Octane]

Lester,

Thanks, one again. :)

Regards,
Humayun

[h0ughy]

wow thats deep, even has Scotts S bend!!!

[CometGuy]

Thanks for posting the larger size in all its glory (and glorious it is!).

Terry

[Ken]

Wow great shot worth the extra imaging time. Great to see all the star colours. Clear skies Ken

[Octane]

David,

I'm glad you liked it. :)

Regards,
Humayun

[Octane]

Terry,

Thanks for the kind words.

If you like, I'd be happy to post the 100% resolution (the new one is 50%) now that I've made some room on various web space that I have lying around.

Regards,
Humayun

[Octane]

Ken,

Thanks for the compliment. :)

Regards,
Humayun

[CometGuy]

Humayun,

Please I'd like to see the 100% version :)

Terry

[Octane]

Terry,

Here (http://members.optusnet.com.au/mrozycka/Magellan_Observatory/Magellan_Observatory_20061119_Large _Magellanic_Cloud_3.html) you go.

Warning: file is 6.09 MB in size.

Regards,
Humayun

[ballaratdragons]

I know what you are up to Humayun,

your after a David Malin Award! I'm on to you :lol:

And it deserve one too :thumbsup: The longer I look, the more I see. Amazing.

[Octane]

Ken,

Haha, I wish! I haven't even been published yet. :P

There's so many other gifted and talented imagers on this forum who are a lot more worthy!

Thanks again.

Regards,
Humayun

[spacezebra]

A truly glorious image.

Cheers Petra

[tornado33]

Stunning effort there. That definately deserves to be published.
Scott

[Octane]

Petra,

Thanks again; I'm glad you liked it.

Regards,
Humayun

[Octane]

Scott,

Thanks heaps, mate. :)

Regards,
Humayun

[richardo]

Absolutely spot on image Humayun:thumbsup:
The colour you've picked up on the blue cluster located to the perifery of the Tarantula and to the bottom R/H corner is excellent as is the colour to the whole image.
As you say, this Nikkor lens you have shows its excellent quality proving it's flat field right out to the edges with pin point stars. Don't ever get rid of it, this is a keeper for life!!
Perfect combo taking in all of the LMC's FOV.

Top notch image.;)
Congrats

Cheers
Rich

[Octane]

Rich,

Thanks for the compliment. :)

Unfortunately, this isn't my lens. :( I'm on the look out for one, though.

You're right, though, it's perfect for the object.

Regards,
Humayun