Vela SNR mosaic

[Paul Haese]

This is the latest image out of Clayton Observatories. Over the last couple of years I have been collecting data on the Vela SNR. At present I have collected enough data for a two panel mosaic. This mosaic contains 82 hours of data so far.

The actual field is extremely large, so much so I doubt I will ever get the entire field imaged at this resolution, but it is good fun to try. The field so far sits across the centre of the SNR and to one side. I invite you to swim around and discover the bubbles and knots of gas.

click here (http://paulhaese.net/VelaSNRMosaic.html) for larger resolution image.

[Atmos]

Very nice Paul! As long as you can get a panel done per year you'll get there eventually :P

[RickS]

A very ambitious project, Paul, and a great result so far.

Cheers,
Rick.

[gregbradley]

It looks wonderful. There are some very fine details in the gas tendrils.

Greg.

[astronobob]

Struuuth Paul - every 6 months or so there is always one image that stands out above the rest - And This is definitely one of them !!

You Must Finish this ! ! ! Lol

[Placidus]

Absolutely spectacular Paul. Fine detail and vast expanse all in one image. A beautiful image too: the colour and level of contrast are perfect.

[topheart]

Awesome!
Cheers,
Tim

[marc4darkskies]

Very impressive Paul! A beautiful vista for sure and well worth the effort! :thumbsup::thumbsup:

But why so dark? Admittedly, I'm looking at it in a fairly bright room right now, but after a short play in PS it really pops!

[Paul Haese]

Thanks guys for the comments. It's something I'll work on for the next few years.



Yeah good point Marcus. It was a little clipped so I think I have addressed this now. It looks more vibrant than before too. Thanks for pointing that out.

Small image attached to show difference.

[marc4darkskies]

Much better! :thumbsup:

BTW, my tweak was stars only mask->invert mask->moderate curves->75% blend. :)

Again, a great image!

[Andy01]

Top stuff Paul - one for the Pool room when finished :thumbsup:

[Martin Pugh]

Paul

you have certainly sacrificed FOV for resolution here with this camera/scope combination. So I am not surprised it will take you a very long time to complete the mosaic. What is the resolution of this system?

Regardless, some great detail and I was going to comment on the clipping but you appear to have fixed that.

Good job.

Martin

[Shiraz]

that's a cracker image Paul. startling detail and colour - love it.

[Rigel003]

Magical image, Paul. Well worth the time and effort.

[Stevec35]

Very nice Paul. I wish I had the patience to undertake a project like this.

Cheers

Steve

[SimmoW]

Magnificent image+effort Paul!

[Ryderscope]

Sheesh! Very impressive Paul.

[Phil Hart]

wow.. 80 hours on two frames. i think you're right.. there aren't going to be too many more panels on this one ;)

what's the aspect ratio of the individual frames? even with two frames side-by-side the aspect ratio looks quite wide, especially accounting for some overlap between the two.

great result. very nice to pan around and the sharpness/resolution looks great at 50% view.

Phil

[Paul Haese]

Thanks guys for the comments and taking the time to make them.



This system has a resolution of 2.10" per pixel.






This is cropped in an odd way Phil. I had some rotation from the previous panel and so I had to crop out several hundred pixels vertically. Hence why the aspect ratio looks wrong. My wife thinks it will looks good as a block mounted wall hanging. I might have to have an experiment to see if that works.

[atalas]

:thumbsup:Splendid Paul!amazing complexity:thumbsup::thumbsup:

[Phil Hart]

Ah yes. Sounds like the nature of doing mosaics near the pole on equatorial mount. Hard to avoid that issue unless you have a camera rotator. You've certainly got the resolution for a big print though.

Phil

[cazza132]

Wow! :eyepop: Looking good!
I am a believer that mosaics are better than throwing weight of data at a single panel at times. Say - a 2x2 panel mosaic with one quarter of the data thrown at each panel. Each panel looses SQRT(4) = 2 SNR for the same amount of time, but if you have 25% overlap you crop the bad corners anyway. Another thing - the stars are much smaller in the final image. Also, you can be slightly more aggressive with noise reduction, given the extra resolution (which can be selectively done).
On the other hand, gradients and trying to colour match panels can be a pain in the arse. $%#& I know! Airglow variations being one of the biggest culprits for me.
The most important thing is that each panel gets the same treatment with exposure and processing.
Do you plan to run more panels? Looks like a good project with awesome results already!

[dylan_odonnell]

Wow Paul. I keep looking at this region now and then and thinking to myself that it looks great, and difficult! So wide, so faint. Definitely a long term project. Looking great so far!

d