Crux to Carina

[Peter Ward]

Some results from the Mudgee Star Party...

My Sigma 105/F1.4 finally got a work-out under dark skies.

What superb glass!

The link here (http://www.atscope.com.au/BRO/gallery465.html) is a crop from a 50 pane mosaic I managed on Saturday night. There was some scattered cloud, but the skies were sublime.

Web resolutions don't do the data justice ;)

If you right click the image and "save as" you'll discover the data has been uploaded at 4K resolution. I actually had to blur the brighter stars, Akira Fuji style, as the data looked a little too sharp when reduced from its original 11,000 pixel wide panorama.

Hope you enjoy the vista.

[croweater]

Wow , amazing image Peter. I don't think I've ever seen so many stars. So sharp and small. Great colours too. Cheers, Richard. :thumbsup:

[multiweb]

:eyepop: Superb field Peter. :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:
When was that star party? We got mostly rained on at SPSP. Saturday first half was good though. Managed 3h.

[Atmos]

Really nice Peter! Mosaics really do make such great images :)

[Peter Ward]

Mudgee is held the same time as the SPSP and is a much smaller affair, with mainly Sutherland Astronomical Society attendees. Best guess is about 50 or so. Mudgee also has some great cafe's plus about 35 cellar doors if you happen to like a drop of red or white wine :thumbsup:

John and Patty at Mudgee Observatory host the event, and have done for many years now. Despite a few passing clouds, conditions were remarkably transparent on Saturday night, which is when I bagged the data.

[topheart]

Beautiful!
Cheers,
Tim

[Peter Ward]

Thanks Richard, Col and Tim. I'm now working on the extra frames which will extend the mosaic from the pointers to Carina. PC is groaning a little under all that weight....

[Stevec35]

Top shelf stuff as usual

Steve

[Paul Haese]

Hmmm, looks a little magenta on my monitor.:scared3: I thought there was some orange stars in the core section there.

Looks like a good image though.

[Bart]

Lovely colours, Peter. Nice stuff.

[Peter Ward]

Ta.


Frank and fearless. I like that!

....and yes...I too thought it was a little too red/magentaish.

I don't normally dabble with OSC cameras...hence was reluctant to fiddle with what Canon thought was "correct" from the 60Da.

Will upload a new, corrected version soon. :thumbsup:



As always, thanks Steve.

[Peter Ward]

New! Improved! Wider! Brighter colours! :)

But the link is still the same (http://www.atscope.com.au/BRO/gallery465.html)

[Retrograde]

Just looked at this on my big screen. What a wonderful vista! :eyepop:

[Peter Ward]

Ta. Big screens or a high res print are the way to go :thumbsup:

[tornado33]

Wow. That's an impressive lens working so well at such a wide Aperature f2. Just 30 sec subs. Amazing. Just displayed your pic on our Samsung QLED 4Ktv. Looks great.

[Peter Ward]

Thanks...just did the same with our 4k TV. Noice! :)

The Sigma 105mm shows strong vignetting at F1.4, but the star shapes remained excellent to the edge of the 60Da's APS chip.
With just two F-stop clicks it is simply remarkable in sharpness, vignetting and CA even with a full frame sensor.

I sold my Canon 85mm L series F1.2 which at twice the price was simply not in the same league...Canon really need to lift their game.

I first became a fanboy of the Sigma "Art" series with their 50mm...which is also needle sharp and incredible bang for buck.

[kinetic]

Just beautiful Peter!


Steve

[DavidTrap]

Very nice Peter - especially on at native resolution on a 4K screen. Gives great perspective to how big NGC3372 actually is :eyepop:

I concur with your opinions on the Sigma Art Series Lenses - I had an 85mm for a short while, but sold it recently when I offloaded all my DSLR gear to go Fuji mirrorless.

DT

[gregbradley]

Wow, that is really something. Stunning, sublime.

Greg.

[Peter Ward]

Thanks, and too kind...as I'm still getting a handle on OSC mosaics...but have to say they are a lot of fun.


Sold all your DSLR'S ?! A brave move, as I still like the real world view from a DSLR finder , admittedly more for nature/sports photography, rather than a screen, (which is indeed useful for Astro).

I've had the 60Da for years, mostly gathering dust, but despite it being somewhat useless under heavily light polluted skies, really like its extended h-alpha response. The kit included an external battery adapter, hence I'm thinking now I can get to dark sites more often some extended timelapse work might also be in order soon ;)


Glad you like it. :)

[DavidTrap]

Carry on luggage limits made taking the full DLSR kit impractical for travel. Got a great deal in a Boxing Day sale, and coupled with a manufacturer’s cash back, I came out ahead after selling all my DSLR gear on eBay. Thought I’d sell it while others are still willing to pay a reasonable amount for it! Mirrorless is very close to DSLR for a lot of what I shoot. Will experiment with some wide field Astro shots this winter.

DT

[cometcatcher]

Very beautiful field. Expertly taken. A nice one for the wall, though You've probably been out of wall space for years now.

[troypiggo]

Really nice! That 60Da certainly does the job with the Ha. I'm curious about that lens - before softening the stars, were there diffraction spikes from the lens aperture blades?

[Peter Ward]

Thanks. At F2.0 there is nil diffraction....while I haven't pushed the lens stopped down, I'd expect you'd see it at F8.0 and smaller.

BTW I did a write-up of the Sigma here (http://www.atscope.com.au/BRO/TestReports/Sigma105.html) a while ago.