NASA APOD - Star Cluster Omega Centauri in HDR ( NGC 5139 )

[mikeoday005]

Could not wait to tell people that I was just notified that my image of Omega Centauri will be published as a future NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day ( APOD ) - my first ever :)

I will update the thread when they publish.

[AstralTraveller]

:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

Congratulations! Nice shot. What are the details??

[mikeoday005]

Thanks David.

Notes from my flickr image ...

A deep look at Omega Centauri ( NGC 5139 ) - by Mike O'Day

This image is an attempt to look deeply into the mighty Omega Centauri star cluster and, by using HDR techniques, record as many of its faint members as possible whilst capturing and bringing out the subtle colours of the stars, including in the core.

Image details:
( from nova.astrometry.net )
Size: 58.6 x 39 arcmins,
Centre: 13h 26 min 50.4 sec, -47deg 28' 39.1''.
Orientation: up is -89.9 East of North ( ie. E^ N> ).

Telescope: Orion Optics CT12 Newtonian ( mirror 300mm, fl 1200mm, f4 ).
Corrector: ASA 2" Coma Corrector Quattro 1.175x.
Effective Focal Length / Aperture : 1410mm f4.7.

Mount: Skywatcher AZ Eq6 GT.
Guiding: TSOAG9 Off-Axis-Guider, Starlight Xpress Lodestar X2, PHD2 .

Camera:
Nikon D5300 (unmodified) (sensor 23.5 x 15.6mm, 6016x4016 3.9um pixels).

Location:.
Blue Mountains, Australia.
Moderate light pollution ( pale green zone on darksitefinder.com map ).

Capture:
9 sets of sub-images with exposure duration for each set doubling ( 1s to 240s ) all at ISO800.

Processing:.
Calibration: master bias, master flat and no darks.
Integration in 9 sets.
HDR combination.
Pixinsight

May 2017

[RickS]

Congrats!

[Andy01]

WooHoo!, Onya :thumbsup:

[mikeoday005]

Thanks Rick

[mikeoday005]

Thanks Andy

[gregbradley]

Congrats Mike. The handling of the core is way better than normal and the resolution shows individual stars with spaces in between. Haven't seen that before.

Greg.

[mikeoday005]

Thank you Greg, much appreciated.

Here is a higher resolution version on Flickr ( slightly different processing than the version I think they have chosen - slight colour shift away from green and a few more faint stars ):

https://flic.kr/p/Ur1ueo

[gregbradley]

Yep its a beauty. Also I think the colouration is quite accurate as the recent posting by Rick shows how it could be processed.

I look at my own best version and whilst its very detailed etc I have tended to go down the blue colouration. I'll have to reprocess it now
keeping in mind these globs consist mostly of old yellow stars with outer blue stragglers.

Greg.

[mikeoday005]

Cheers Greg.

[topheart]

Wow!
Very good!!

Cheers,
Tim

[Peter Ward]

An APOD always looks good on the CV.

Well done :thumbsup:

[SimmoW]

That's great, go Aussies! Lovely return for effort/exposure times!

[mikeoday005]

Thanks guys, much appreciated.

[Bart]

O.M.G! That's the stuff! Love the flicker version way better than the one in this thread. :thumbsup:

[DJT]

Congrats on the APOD. Stunning stuff.!

[Retrograde]

Yes - fantastic image and a well deserved APOD.
Congratulations!

[mikeoday005]

Thanks guys, much appreciated.

[mikeoday005]

Final version sent to APOD ( not sure which one they will choose to use )

Medium size ( 2732 x 1859 ): https://flic.kr/p/VSeCiX

Small size ( 1175 x 800) attached below ...

[strongmanmike]

This final version looks rather good Mike, well done :thumbsup:

Mike

[Spookyer]

Great work Mike:thumbsup:

[mikeoday005]

Thanks Guys

[codemonkey]

Very nice, Mike, as already said, the IIS version doesn't do it justice due to file size limitations, but the flickr versions are very nice indeed. Good work!

[Slawomir]

Splendid image, congratulations Mike :thumbsup:

[JA]

Congratulations Mike :thumbsup:

Best
JA

[Decimus]

A stunning image of Omega Centauri. Fantastic work, Mike.

Cheers,
Richard

[mikeoday005]

Thanks guys, much appreciated. I can't wait to see it published :)

[troypiggo]

Boom! It's up! Congratulations :)

[alpal]

Nice achievement:

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html

[mikeoday005]

Thanks guys, much appreciated.

You saw it before me Troy!

[mikeoday005]

NASA APOD 11th July 2017: https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap170711.html

Full size image ( warning quite large - 4620 x 3720 ) : https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/1707/OmegaCentauri_ODay_4620.jpg

:stargaze:

[RobF]

That really is an exquisite pic - amazing separation to the core.

My first striking impression of the low res pic was what I thought I "saw" with averted vision in my old trusty 4.5" Newt a LONG time ago. No blown out core :)

[DJT]

Congrats again on the APOD. That's an excellent image:thumbsup:

[mikeoday005]

Thank you guys.

I actually don't know what Omega Centauri looks like through my scope ( or any scope for that matter ). When I purchased my first large telescope 3 years ago I looked through it once and then put my camera on it and I have never looked through my new CT12.

[DJT]

Shame on you! Omega Centauri is one of those objects you can show to people through an eyepiece and just blow them away.

Get a big Dob to look through whilst the images are churning away..much fun

[mikeoday005]

Yes well, I am quite cosy in my rolling-shed observatory and it is very cold out there :)

[mikeoday005]

Re-processed using my new approach to light pollution removal. It means that I can go-deeper and still maintain the colour balance...

Large version:
https://flic.kr/p/WupNxf