Pterodactyls

[Placidus]

A tiny part of the Vela SNR, around RA 08:29 Dec -43:50, chosen by Trish as looking particularly interesting.

Field approx 30' arc on a side. Thumb shows North up.

H-alpha 11 hrs mapped to yellow, OIII 10 hrs mapped to blue, then palette rotated 20 deg toward red, for a nod toward slightly more natural colours.

(To recover original channels, set the PhotoShop hue slider to +20).

The H-alpha emitting regions and the OIII emitting regions are very disjoint, almost as if they represent two separate unrelated objects.

Of particular interest are four extremely sharp, extremely long needle-like shock fronts, one almost pure OIII, two almost pure H-alpha, and only one showing much co-location.

The full size image is here (https://photos.smugmug.com/Category/Supernova-Remnants/i-dkN6qxJ/0/O/Part%20of%20Vela%20SNR%20Ha%2011%20 hrs%20OIII%2010%20hrs.jpg).

The general effect is exactly what it is: a close-up of a tremendous, recent, chaotic explosion.

A mess of pterodactyls, pteranodons, nonspecific dragons, and perhaps one dolphin all engaged in disreputable and tatty combat.

(Another part of the Vela SNR that we did last year (https://photos.smugmug.com/Category/Supernova-Remnants/i-PNRQSML/0/O/Pismis%204%20and%20SNR%20Dragon%20H a%205%20OIII%2010%20SII%209.jpg) has one really good dragon).

Getting any imaging at all done this month has been a challenge. Scalding hot nights, terrible seeing, scudding cloud, screaming winds wanting to rip the shutters off the observatory dome. But for this image (taken over three nights spanning full moon) seeing wasn't too bad.

[strongmanmike]

Nice work guys, looks a little dark on my screen but look at all those little tid bits everywhere :eyepop:....and I can haaardly detect the decon :thumbsup:

Mike

[Atmos]

The whole of Vela is just a fascinating object, whether in small portions or as a whole wide field.
Nicely done MnT :)

[Bassnut]

Gee, thats excellent Mike&Trish sharp as and suitably forboding.

[Placidus]

Thanks, Mike! Intentionally dark because not so many photons came in the front. If we make it completely black, then it really looks like leathery wings. :)



Thanks, Colin.



Hi, Fred! Glad you like it.

[RickS]

Good choice by Trish. A very cool FOV. Reminds me of some sections of the mighty Veil Nebula. Well done, guys!

[Stevec35]

Very nice guys. An interesting field with lots of fine detail.

Cheers

Steve

[Placidus]

Thanks Rick. The veil nebula is magnificent but thoughtlessly located. It is sad that apart from those two huge ones, and the sensibly sized Crab, most SNR's are very small. Perhaps it's because the sun is in a relatively quiet leafy neighbourhood, which is why we're still here and not blown to bits. All makes the Vela and Veil SNR's very special. Guess one day there will be a third one, courtesy of Eta Carinae.

[SimmoW]

Love the wave crashing up the top-right M&T! Yes one could image the area for years methinks.

[Andy01]

That's very cool guys, nice job!
I love that region too :)

Took me a while to figure out where/what I was looking at but figured it out eventually.
Interesting comparison below of the resolution between your monster scope and my piddling little 70mm on the same bit of the SNR, the 70mm is not tooo bad :rofl:

[Placidus]

Hi Simon!

Might take years at the current rate. Had a go at SII last night. Guide stars kept coming and going. Stuck head outside. Sirius was coming and going too. Couldn't see any cloud, must have been ratty thin stuff.



Well done on both counts Andy, finding the corresponding patch, and taking a great shot. Yours is the faster route. We can obviously push ours a bit harder, but we preferred to emphasize the basic structure.

[Camelopardalis]

Pretty (awesome)! Well done M&T :thumbsup:

[Placidus]

Thanks muchly, Dunk.




We had a brief 15 minute 3x3 test shot looking for SII last night. It was sparse and diffuse, and not obviously rewarding, so we thought this might have to do.

[Shiraz]

That is a really impressive image. leaving it fairly dark with sparkling bright highlights gives it an impression of depth that is very appealing.

[Placidus]

Thanks hugely, Ray. That was exactly what we were hoping for.

[strongmanmike]

Have to agree with Ray and demonstrated nicely in Andy's comparison :)

Mike