Super Wide Ha field + Milky Way Mosaic

[Atmos]

Last night I decided that I'd try another idea for removing the tilt out of my Zeiss 135mm + QHY163M setup and although I didn't, I figured out where it is coming from. I'm thinking I need a guide scope ring to hold the camera as the 85mm rings I am using, although very stable, is the cause of the issue. The ring is the perfect size of the QHY163M but the Zeiss is a faction larger so the 85mm ring is pulling the camera down and causing the tilt.

I still need to get some proper calibration frames, so far I've just used everything I took overnight and stacked them together to remove the stars and give a reasonable dark, mostly to remove the amp glow. A makeshift dark.

NGC 6188 is a two panel with 3x300s per panel.
Paw + Lobster is a two panel with 3x300s per panel.
Prawn is a single panel 3x300s.

They're nothing spectacular and there is a stitch line but it does go to show just how much Ha is in these areas when you go into the super wide fields :)

EDIT:

Link to 14 panel Ha mosaic (https://www.astrobin.com/full/357432/0/)

[strongmanmike]

Cool shots Col :thumbsup:

Mike

[gregbradley]

Impressive widefields. I like them. That setup will be worth tweaking.

I do find the larger lenses are a bit touchy to being pulled one way or the other as the mounts are not that strong.

Don't you rings have adjustment screws so you adjust where the tension hits the lens?

Greg.

[glend]

Very nice Ha Colin. You could try spacing the offending ring up slightly with a washer at the base, assuming it's diameter is ok. I have a nice DSLR bracket from TS which has height adjustment built in to the lense support and camera body, but you can accomplish the same thing with washers and correct screw length, imho.

[multiweb]

Very cool :thumbsup: You can get rid of the seams and uneven luminosity very easily in PS by using a small overlap and auto blend. I used to do whole milkyway shots (https://onedrive.live.com/?authkey=%21ACnUIS_stUVCu-s&id=6930D3AD12D5044C%211087&cid=6930D3AD12D5044C) in Ha and short FL lenses from home. It's good value when you're in light polluted areas. You should try IR (https://onedrive.live.com/?authkey=%21ACnUIS_stUVCu-s&cid=6930D3AD12D5044C&id=6930D3AD12D5044C%211402&parId=6930D3AD12D5044C%211087&o=OneUp) as well. That's fun.

[glend]

It is great to read some positive comments in relation to Photoshop. ;)

[multiweb]

It's a great program.

[strongmanmike]

Hey Col, you should take on the next level project from Eddie Trimachis fabulous effort (http://astroshed.com/hapics/milky.jpg) back in 2005...but with your 135mm lens :D

Mike

[Lognic04]

Wow, so much gas!!! :eyepop:
Awesome!!!

[Atmos]

Thanks for the comments all :)



Having seen what you’ve done with the older lens’ with their wonderfully long back focus, it has given me some more recent inspiration to do this. I’m using 85mm telescope rings at the moment as it enables a very rigid setup BUT at the moment it is pulling the camera down :/ No adjustment screws so washers will be in the works.



I think you’re right on the money Glen. I had one other thing I wanted to try as I wasn’t getting this tilt with the Sigma Art 85 but I am with the Zeiss 135. I need to measure up the size of everything but I think a thin washer or two on each bolt is all that will be needed.



Yeah the seams aren’t great and they’re probably because I’ve done gradient removal after registering the two panels together :lol: No processing so far as my sudo dark is adding some weirdness anyway.



This just happens to be the inspiration for wanting to do a 72 panel mosaic of the area ;) Want to get the star shapes right before officially starting the project.



Thanks Logan, it’s why I posted them :)

[strongmanmike]

Ah nice, go for it buddy :thumbsup:..maybe you could push it and go HaRGB that would be spectaculaaaar :)

Mike

[Atmos]

I’m already working on a RGB at higher resolution but I would like to find a way to add the Ha at lower resolution. As I’m using an unmodded DSLR my Ha at high resolution isn’t that strong to begin with.

[atalas]

Looks fantastic Colin....hope colour is coming soon:thumbsup:

[SimmoW]

Glad someone else is pursuing NB wide field like I am, it has so much potential, getting some familiar targets in context. I think I've fixed my focus issues with the old Pentax lens, hope to process a recent image soon. So I love these pics

[Atmos]

I went and just quickly chucked a bunch of frames in for combination (not PI) and it spat out the mosaic below. Very interesting with just how much Ha interconnects between everything.

These are just 3x300s stacks at the moment, I'm eventually wanting to do at least an hour to panel and with proper calibration frames as opposed to some hack job :lol:



Going to try to fix up the mechanical issues this weekend but who knows when I'll get a chance to test it. I might try to combine some of the NGC 6188 Ha with some OSC data I have and see how that goes.



If I had endless clear skies I'd love to do a full SHO 72 panel mosaic of the Milky Way! The amount of integration time would be extraordinary though. Maybe if I move to Coonabarrabran where it isn't cloudy 95% of the time ;)

[SimmoW]

I just saw that new 3 paneller in AB, it's bloody beautiful! Definitely work on cleaning up the edges and get more data, it'll be a superb excerpt! Love all the objects and...the context.

[theodog]

Looks good so far Colin, and once the bugs have been squashed it would be fantastic. Good Luck.:thumbsup:



Yep, I did.
We have a guy up here that covers the whole sky with a 135mm on a 6D carried by an EQ6 several times a night -every clear night, but it's a dedicated system.

[Andy01]

Great fields Colin,

I particularly like the Prawn, Dark Tower, Wolf combo :D



Pretty sure that's the Hammerhead I just posted at bottom left of your image Marc :thumbsup: (Pardon the hack Colin :))

[Atmos]

I've added the lower res Ha to some higher res RGB, works reasonably well although not perfectly but that is mostly due to the tilt in the Ha data.



Working on a whole Milky Way when I get the alignment issues sorted so it'll be good to see everything in context :)



Thanks :) I'm hoping to test it out tonight with an added 16mm washer to see if that helps. Otherwise I might need to open up the filter wheel and check the tightness of the bolts holding the QHY163M to the filter wheel.

Having spent a few nights at Coolah, moving north is very tempting ;)



I'm really used to seeing those objects in isolation, I almost don't recognise them in the wider field :P

[Atmos]

On my second testing night I added a washer between the rings and plate but I got my calculations wrong and I've still got tilt (but it is better).
Here is a 14 panel mosaic (https://www.astrobin.com/full/357432/0/) of the Milky Way which contains most of the big important and interesting objects scattered throughout the galactic bulge.

[kosborn]

Love it!


Kevin

[RickS]

Very cool, Colin! I have done some work on a longer FL mosaic of the Prawn/Wolf/Dark Tower but just haven't had the time to finish it.



The non-standard UI is a deal breaker for me :lol: