The Milky Way in Ha

[gregbradley]

I am deep into a mosaic project. I have gotten 4 panels of it so far. The Ha
of this mosaic is what I am showing here. I have colour data for the first 4 panels although I think I will reshoot a few of them as they were a bit too heavily moon affected.

Proline 16803, Astrodon 5nm Ha filter using a Pentax 67 75m F4.5 lens autoguided on top of an AP1600 at my dark site. Good seeing but a part moon. I hand focus the lens.

http://www.pbase.com/gregbradley/image/165846972/large regular size

http://www.pbase.com/gregbradley/image/165846972/original large size

I found it very interesting that there is such a large Ha area around Rho Ophiuchi which doesn't show up normally and also that large nebula above it. I am not 100% sure but I think its Gum 14 which I also have an AP Honders image of.

Greg.

[Atmos]

That looks fantastic Greg!!
I am planning on doing a similar project when I get a new scope for it :)

Love it!

[gregbradley]

Sounds great.

It shows a lot of structures not normally imaged so it makes a good reference image for things worth exploring for an imaging target.

Greg.

[Atmos]

Planning on getting a Samyang 135mm F/2 but still need to get a new counter weight shaft so that I can balance my mount with such a light weight on the scope end :)

You've given me a nice reference image however.

[gregbradley]

I have the Samyang 135 2 on my bucket list. From what I read and have seen its an excellent lens. But being a Samyang I would buy from a store with a good return policy.

[RobF]

This is inspiring stuff Greg. Seems to be going great so far! :thumbsup:

[DavidTrap]

Nice work Greg - a definite bucket list image I'd like to make!

DT

[gregbradley]

Thanks Rob! I am not sure how many panels I will end up taking. I am taking this piggybacked to my CDK17 on an AP1600 at my observatory so I can't get totally all the way down to the horizon although I was surprised I was picking up some landscape early on the evening so perhaps wider than I think.



Thanks David. Widefield Milky Way shots make a lot of sense for us in Australia as most of the world does not really get to see the whole of the Milky Way.

[Retrograde]

That's amazing Greg - super stuff!

[RickS]

Very cool, Greg!

[graham.hobart]

that is superb Greg:eyepop::thumbsup::thumbsup:
graz

[marc4darkskies]

That's excellent Greg! :thumbsup: Get the colour right and this will be a killer image!

[Placidus]

That's manificent, Greg !

I can recognize many old favourites, but there are also many fascinating bits that I don't recognize, including what looks like a large supernova remnant at bottom centre.

A gorgeous image.

[Octane]

That is seriously awesome. Classic framing, too.

I had no idea there was that much hydrogen around the Blue Horsehead, too. Wow!

Well done!

H

[strongmanmike]

Wow, what a vista Greg, nice work, looking forward to seeing what you finish up with :thumbsup:....look out Troy and Rogelio ;)

Mike

[Slawomir]

Looks great! There is so much going on in the MWG. One day when I get a permanent obsy and more imaging time, I may start exploring less familiar corners of our galaxy.

[gregbradley]

Thanks for that. I intend to extend it next new moon.



Cheers Rick.



Thanks Graham. Not bad for a $125 telescope eh? (the Pentax 67 75mm lens cost me something like that).



Yes the colour will be more difficult. I need to reshoot a couple of subs and extend it more.



Yes I thought the same thing. I have seen that feature before in other widefield Milky Way shots I have done. I don't know what it is. I may take a closer up shot of it next new moon.



I was surprised by that as well. Ha makes the Milky Way look very violent I think.



Hehe thanks Mike.



There seems to be endless imaging targets when you see it widefield like that.

Greg.

[cazza132]

Nice work there Greg! Yes, there is loads of Ha around Zeta, Rho and other crew. The Sharpless Ha stuff Sh2-1, Sh2-27 (Zeta Ophiuchi big red blob), Sh2-9 (next to M4 globular). And the big loop around the head of Scorpius - they have shown up on my DSLR Ha work - and you have it in this image. Looks awesome in a wide context against the Milky Way. Love the composition - you just squeezed in the great red blob (zeta) which is very important. I cannot believe that the zeta nebula hasn't been nailed before as a target. Anyone? Awesome work :thumbsup:

[gregbradley]

Thanks very much Troy and thanks for the explanation of those items. Yes I did see these turning up in your recent Sagittarius and Rho mosaic, lovely work, I am an admirer.

Greg.

[DJT]

Wow, that's a great piece of work. Loads of play with there for future targets!

Well done!

[gregbradley]

Thanks David. I hope to extend it over the weekend.

Greg.

[rcheshire]

Greg. I would be happy with Ha alone. Looking forward to the finished product.

[Joshua Bunn]

Lovely vista Greg.

[gregbradley]

Thanks Roland. I'll be adding to it over the weekend so hopefully it will be even more extensive. I know what you mean as the Ha has the most detail.

Greg.

[gregbradley]

Thanks Josh. There is so much to see in the Milky Way.

Greg.

[topheart]

Hi Greg,
Wow!!
This image has really taught how much Ha there is in this area....as per the earlier posts.
I can see an amazing image coming out of this.
Well done!!
Cheers,
Tim

[gregbradley]

Thanks Tim. I like these widefields from time to time. I am at my dark site now (its freezing) and plan to extend it from tonight onwards.

Greg.

[multiweb]

Love it! :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

[gregbradley]

Cheers Marc. There's so much going on in the Milky Way.

Greg.

[Stevec35]

Looks great Greg. Sharp and full of detail.

Cheers

Steve

[Placidus]

We keep coming back to this image. It is a superb shot, beautifully deep.

Andy Campbell has just posted a very detailed close-up of part of the SNR (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=159392) at 6 o'clock. He identifies it as RCW 114.

[Martin Pugh]

Terrific mosaic thus far Greg and Troy's comments made me take a second look.

Should make for a fabulous image.

cheers
Martin

[SimmoW]

I too keep coming back to this, bloody superb Greg! I predict this'll win something for you, if you are into that kind of thing.

And what's going on with this latest fad of mosaics? Everyone's doing em, makes me feel silly for getting a 1000mm fl scope :lol: :lol:

Good job I have an adapter for my asi coming along for my Pentax 645 lenses..

[gregbradley]

Thanks Steve. I am doing some more as I type.



Thanks Andy. That helps.



Cheers Martin. As usual mosaics come with their own problems. The first set had a 1/3rd moon and now no moon. But I'll get there. Frost on the lens from a particularly cold night etc.



Thanks very much Simmon. These lenses make for a very simple and easy to use setup. Its more a matter of finding out which lenses are good for this and match your camera.

Greg.

[atalas]

Fantastic Greg....look forward to seeing colour added :thumbsup:

[gregbradley]

Thanks Louie. I have been shooting some replacement colour plus a new panel over the weekend. So I have the data now.

Greg.

[LukasKlunter]

Great pics! I really like space. The astronomer in me likes the colour of the Milky Way. Unfortunately, human eyes can't see that (http://sizzling-hot-play.com) colour at night.

[gregbradley]

Thanks Lukas.

I have colour data for all these now plus 2 more panels (although I wonder if I have oriented one of them properly). So a fairly large processing job ahead of me but worth the effort.

Greg.