Answer to life, the Universe, and everything...

[Peter Ward]

42 (http://www.atscope.com.au/BRO/gallery448.html)

(click on the link ;) )

P.S.
Colour link now here (http://www.atscope.com.au/BRO/gallery449.html)

[pmrid]

But where are all the fish?

Otherwise, it's amazing, stunning, breathtaking - er - run out of superlatives.

Peter

[alocky]

Pfft. No sign of that protoplanetary disk the Hubble imaged.
In all seriousness though, what a tour de force of resolution! Check out the bow shock around the star ont the right hand side of the frame.
Nice.
Cheers,
Andrew.

[kosborn]

Outstanding! :eyepop:

[Benjamin]

Holy smokes, that is insanely detailed and rich.

[Atmos]

Took a little while to find the Trap :lol:

Really looking forward to a full RGB!

[LewisM]

How can M42 be the meaning of life when it's been done to death? :lol:

Got eye strain looking at that one - I need a 42" monitor...

[pfitzgerald]

Thank you for sharing this wonderful image Peter - we are so small and insignificant on a cosmic scale, yet we are surrounded by such epic grandeur - and we have the gifts to appreciate its beauty and the intellect it unlock its secrets. And all we have to do is look up! A great pick-me-up for a Friday (or any other day for that matter).

Paul

[Placidus]

As usual, super-sharp and crisp.

Such a feeling of solid three-dimensionality. Perhaps four-dimensionality, as it looks like it's in roiling active twisting churning motion. Makes us want to write poetry.

Best,
MnT

[Peter Ward]

:thanx:

Thank you one and all for your very positive comments.

I cropped the field quite a bit to keep it web friendly.

Conditions were such that the Alluna was delivering consistent 1.5 arc sec FWHM's across the entire field

.....easily resolving all of the trap stars (slightly magnified in the attached image)

Not sure what tonight may bring..but colour with some seriously high resolution is the eventual aim ;)

[h0ughy]

Very 3D!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Wow

[multiweb]

Nice one Peter! :prey2: I reckon tonight is even better.
Had another look swimming around. The details in the nebulosity, darker dust lanes and shock fronts is hubblesque! Quite something to look at.

[Peter Ward]

Thanks Marc. The original 4k x 4k .tiff shares many recognisable features with the Hubble image, but the 18k x18k Hubble data still makes my effort look a little like it was done using crayons..but mine’s still got “the vibe” ... I use quality crayons :D



Maybe forty-two D ? Ta.

[gregbradley]

Oh wow, that is really stunning. I knew your setup was precise but wow, that is way better than I thought.

A new standard there.

Greg.

[alpal]

Hi Peter,
superb, razor sharp pic.

"1.5 arc sec FWHM's across the entire field"
Sydney has excellent seeing conditions right now.
This is a most unusual time.
The best I ever saw in Melbourne was 2 arc seconds.
Many nights it was over 7 arc seconds.




cheers
Allan

[Peter Ward]

Thanks Alan...indeed unusual conditions, but the time I took finally optimising the optical system was also worth the effort.



Ta Greg, I’ll take that as a very big tick in the box from the man who has a penchant and means for some seriously top-shelf gear.

I actually had no intention of doing “another m42” and it was Marc’s comment about resolving the trapezium that motivated me to point the scope at it in the first place. Looking at the raw data I thought the star profiles looked remarkably tight, it was only then that I decided to stick with it.

[Peter Ward]

I've come to the realisation that M42 is quite difficult to do well, and because there are sooo many images of it, fancy telescopes rarely spend time there due more exotic subject matter that many, including yours truly, deem more worthy.

I must admit I was wrong. M42 is great!

Despite some software glitches, which caused me to lose some imaging time last night, I finally managed to get my take on this icon of the sky.

So: here is the colour version (http://www.atscope.com.au/BRO/gallery449.html)

Hope you enjoy the view, and Merry Christmas!

[willik]

Very nice sharp image Peter but what part of M42 Is it.
Martin

[Peter Ward]

The middle. :)

[Atmos]

Certainly has more of a 3D feel and dimension to it than most others on the internets. More uniquite in that respect. Then again, most images are with refractors or smaller newtonians ;)

Closer to a Hubble image than a FSQ image :thumbsup:

[Andy01]

Crackerjack image Peter - Bold, original and unique framing, stunning colour palette and sharp as a TAK (lol) - I'll rate that image 5 trapezium stars :D

[Joshua Bunn]

That sure is crisp, The colour rendition is superb!
Josh

[multiweb]

That is one superb shot Peter. Until you try to image at that FL you don't realise how hard it is to produce an image like this one with that kind of FWHM across such a large sensor. I've seen FSQ shots blurrier than that. Hat's off to you. :thumbsup:

[Peter Ward]

Thanks Marc. Imaging at 3400mm takes no prisoners that’s for sure :). Even the slightest tracking error shows up. FSQ’s are far more forgiving.

. Thanks Josh



Ta Andy. As you have gathered there is alot more field that I cropped out for effect. The 4k x 4k file looks awesome...but I’d like to re-shoot the red channel as the seeing didn’t quite match the blue and green.



LOL sometimes you just have to take the senic drive, despite the traffic. Suffice to say image resolution and perceived sharpness are not equivalent. I have a cracker Sigma Art series lens that produces tack sharp imagery....but bugger-all image scale. The really tricky bit is to get both ;)

[beren]

:thumbsup: thought the original was superb now the colour rendition,crikey, exquisite. Congrats

[ab1963]

No less than amazing,Thanks for the opportunity to have a look at both

[SimmoW]

Superb as ever Peter, real 3d look!

A bit of noise or is it Decon to the lower left? Doesn't really matter in any case!

[Peter Ward]

Ta..Yep boosted the curves a little too much there...but no decon was applied.
My web posts tend to be beta versions...stellar profiles and colours still need some work as well....then there is that pesky 2.0 arc sec FWHM red data....bugger :)





Thanks guys.

[silv]

Woah! Stunning! Cruising around it all takes ages and is of the other world kind. That waterfall of cigarette smoke fighting against the dark force... so violent!
Now I want someone who really answers all the questions and explains all things visible and invisible in the picture. Like someone here once did with Paul Haese's Lagoon M8 (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showpost.php?p=1191823&postcount=1).

Amazing image and amazing object to be viewed as imaged by an accomplished astrophotographer!

[JA]

Truly amazing Peter. I love the tiny stars and sparkles - Beautiful :thumbsup:

Best
JA

[CJ]

Wow! Spectacular!

[gregbradley]

The colour version turned out marvellously. Its such a high impact image and sets a new standard for M42 images.

Greg.

[Retrograde]

Wow. :eyepop: An amazingly detailed rendition of a familiar object.

[Peter Ward]

Ah, well, much of the turmoil in this region is due to the Vogon’s (an out-of -touch and arrogant ...race similar to the Berejiklian‘s) and their incessant hyperspace bypass construction.

According to Adams (1979) Bypasses are devices that allow some people to dash from point A to point B very fast while other people dash from point B to point A very fast.

People living at point C, being a point directly in between, are often given to wonder what's so great about point A that so many people from point B are so keen to get there, and what's so great about point B that so many people from point A are so keen to get there. They often wish that people would just once and for all work out where the hell they wanted to be.

Hope that clears up a few things for you...:D

[Peter Ward]

Thanks guys



Thanks Greg. There is some tidying up still to do, particularly the h-alpha stars which are half size of the RGB footprints. The weather report does not bode well for more data just yet....but I think that will help give it that final polish.



Ta. As I mentioned early on, bigish ‘scopes don’t get pointed to M42 that often, and looking at hard numbers, a FSQ will deliver 7 micron spot sizes, which is about 3 arc sec (assuming perfect conditions) . Alluna with FFC quote 5 micron spot sizes which equates to .5 of an arc second...so the potenital resolution is around 6x better. Just numbers, that’s all.

[Ryderscope]

Sheesh! Smooth and detailed at same time :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[Peter Ward]

Thanks very much...could be a tad smoother, but Sydney has been getting hammered with Thunderstorms ever since I took this. A mosaic to include the running man nebula might be good...:question:

[keller60]

My goodness! What an amazing M42!



It compares very well with the ESO 2.2 metre image.



Thanks for posting.

[Peter Ward]

Very kind...but time to let this one sink down the list. I won’t respond again unless you have a specific question. Thanks to one and all for taking the time to have a gander and your positive feedback :thumbsup:

[Stevec35]

I don't normally comment on Orion nebula images Peter but this is something special

Steve

[topheart]

Congratulations on another jaw dropper Peter!
Tim

[rcheshire]

Peter. I know this was posted several weeks ago but couldn't go past without comment... Gosh! Wow! Utterly Superb! A real pleasure to take in...

[Bart]

Ooops, thought I had commented on this lovely bit of work!


Yes, 42, indeed, Mr Dent!:D

[Paul Haese]

Fantastic image Peter. Perhaps the second M42 Malin winner. ;)

I really like the colour too, very similar to my image in 2014. Hence why I think David will like it.

[Fabiomax]

Simply amazing ... fantastic!
Cheers,
Fabiomax

[bananas]

Wow!! Briliant.

[marc4darkskies]

Don't forget Hubble images are copyrighted Peter! You really should attribute the image properly! :D :P .......
:eyepop:
:jawdrop:

[Peter Ward]

Well...this is embarrassing...

:thanx:

I had mentioned I would not comment further and allow my post to age gracefully (unlike myself :) )

Apart from your kind comments, it was also nice to see so many Douglas Adams "Hitch-hikers guide to the Galaxy" fans out there.

I'm now spending time on Barnard 33.

Might even do a "creative interpretation" and photoshop in a nice New Year's party-hat on the Horsie...

Then again, maybe not :D