vertical cross

[raymo]

50x 40secs 38mm @f/4 ISO 800. Nano tracker.
raymo

[xelasnave]

Great capture Raymo.
We need more of the story...create tension...the clouds were coming but I still managed...that sort of thing☺
Alex

[raymo]

My eyes are that bad I can't see the clouds, that explains why I have to ditch so many subs. and my brain is that bad I can't create any fictional scenarios.
:D:D:D.
raymo

[mynameiscd]

Spot on star colour as well.
I normally pull a few lines from a Stephen King book to get more drama.
Cheers
Andy

[mental4astro]

Raymo,

Not too bad for a blind and brain-dead astrophotographer... :rolleyes: :P

There is one spot that lies within this photo that is truly astounding, yet I've never seen any pics dedicated to it - the northern edge of the Coal Sack and encompassing Mimosa. I've marked it in the pic below of yours.

237905

What is so dramatic about this area is that the northern edge of the Coal Sack is its sharpest edge, but it is also very fibrous with cascading tendrils of dark material, swirls, and background stars playing peek-a-boo through the dark nebula. The Jewel Box sits immediately north, with its brilliance and colours, along with other smaller open clusters surrounding it. And of course there is the brilliant Mimosa. All of this set upon a very mottled background Milky Way.

A few years back, I arrived late to the IIS Astro Camp, and it was sunset by the time I had my camp settled. The night is gorgeous and clear, and I wasn't in the mood to set up my big dob after the busy day. So I set up my little 4" refractor armed with just the one eyepiece, a 30mm 82° bruiser, which gives a huge 5" true field of view. I did two sketches that night, one of Omega Centauri (the field it sits within is sooooo blooming busy! and no one seems to know about it as they are so focused on the GC), and this very area of the Coal Sack that I've been talking about.

You might like to investigate taking a pic of this very same region. I really think it is a totally unexplored composition that I'm sure will be a technical challenge with the subtleties involved. Below is my sketch that I did at the IIS Astro Camp. Note with the sketch that it is orientated left-to-right because of the diagonal used with the refractor.

Alex.

[raymo]

Cheers Andy.

Alex,
As for several reasons I decided to sell all my main AP gear, I am now limited to fairly short lenses using my little Nano Tracker, so wouldn't be able to do such a small area justice, but will try with 250mm lens when the sack is high enough, will be very short subs with that long a lens though. Might have to use 6400, or even 12800, with lots of subs to try and subdue the noise. Oops! Love all your sketches, not
a talent that I have.
raymo

[xelasnave]

Hi Alex
I have tried to photograph the Jewel Box and part of the Coal Sack but could not bring anything out...but will try harder next time.
Alex

[raymo]

Alex [xelasnave] Here's a couple of different Jewel Boxes to be going on with until you post your own, and a couple of the Pendant Cluster [also known as The Gem Cluster] which I personally prefer to The Jewel Box.
raymo

[Startrek]

Raymo
Theses are brilliant images,so much detail and very sharp
You must be very happy with your set up
Cheers
Martin

[raymo]

Cheers Martin, they were taken years ago with an 8" Newt.
raymo

[mental4astro]

Gorgeous set of pics, Raymo :)

Alex, the main problem with photographing the Jewel Box/Coal Sack duo is the images are incorrectly processed, hence washing out the subtle details. Stems from not knowing what is there in the first place, so much of the detail is lost. The dark nebulosity for instance varies greatly in opacity, from very opaque to gossamer like puffs of smoke, and the structures vary too from pillars to fibrous curtains. Once you know that these structures are there, only then do you adjust your processing to suit. Not know this and your processing will not show these. Many, if not most photos are similarly unbalanced in their processing because the author does not know what is there.

Another example of this is The Eye of Omega Centauri. Most visual observers are very familiar with The Eye, but photos always has it burned out. May well be that it is unavoidable with photography, due to the nature of time exposures, though I also wonder how many times a photographer has noticed this Eye, didn't know what it was, thought it some sort of aberration and then "removed" it...

Capturing dark nebulosity I'm sure is one on the more technically challenging elements in AP.

Alex.