Omega Centauri + Crux/Carina - my first!

[iceman]

Hi all

My first DSLR widefield images taken with the camera mounted on my EQ6. :eyepop:

Taken on the 17th February, at our new moon meet at Kulnura.

1) Crux/Carina widefield

- Canon 350D + 50mm f/1.8 lens @ f/2.2, ISO800, 219s exposure
- Single shot, ICNR on
- Processed in RawShooterPremium (levels/curves/contrast) followed by DDP in Maxim DSLR.

2) Omega Centauri

- Canon 350D + stock 75-300mm lens @ 300mm, f/5.6, ISO800, 235s exposure
- Single shot, ICNR on
- Processed in RawShooterPremium (levels/curves/contrast) followed by DDP in Maxim DSLR.

I have others too, but need to work out how to process deepsky images first - including stacking as I have multiple shots of these areas (and others), but just wanted to post the single shots and then work out proper processing later :)

I'm happy with how these single shots turned out! I did some drift aligning earlier in the night through my 12" scope, so these, at a much shorter focal length, appear to be tracked very well.

There's some coma in the corners, and purple around the bright stars, but there's no trailing even for a 4 minute exposure (@ 300mm!)!

Thanks for looking.

[RB]

Yay, about time Mike, I've been waiting for these.
Well done, they've turned out very nicely indeed, especially Omega Cent.

:thumbsup:

[Ric]

Lovely images Mike, Omega Centauri has turned out very crisp and clear.

Cheers

[iceman]

Thanks guys, i'm really happy with the OC shot. Hopefully it will improve once I work out stacking and processing of deepsky shots.

Here's one from earlier in the night:

a wider field Crux/Carina (and a hint of LMC)

- Canon 350D + 17-70mm Sigma lens @ 17mm, f/3.2, ISO800
- 3 images stacked in photoshop (60s, 100s, 120s)
- GradientXTerminator and Noise Reduction
- Levels
That's about it. I'm sure the experts in this area would be able to get more out of my shots :) It was a difficult area of sky to image as it was pointing towards Sydney, fairly low on the horizon so there's a lot of gradients and sky glow.

[Garyh]

Well done Mike,I love these widefield shots, omega cent is very sharp!!! great for single exposures!!
Very nice 17mm widefield too!!! a little wider and you would have got Mcnaught as well.
Just got myself one of those 17-70 sigma lenses, can`t wait for a dark night to try it out!!
Cheers Gary

[h0ughy]

mike , next investment is a coma corrector! Nice images too

[ballaratdragons]

:eyepop: Good Grief!!!!!

Mike has ventured outside the Solar System with his camera!!! I hope the camera isn't in shock :lol:

Very good Omega shot and wider widefield :thumbsup:

[iceman]

Thanks Gary. You'll love the 17-70, it's great for terrestrial too.


These aren't through the scope - an MPCC won't help. A $3000 lens will help :)


The camera's fine, but I feel like a newbie again. I have no idea how to process deepsky images. All I do is adjust levels and curves. I'm sure there's some magic somewhere i'm missing out on.

[h0ughy]

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: now now Ken....:whistle:

[sheeny]

Well done Mike! Glad the drift aligning is coming along!

Al.

[avandonk]

Welcome to the imaging world of gradients, light pollution, overexposed stars, washed out nebulae, satellites, aircraft lights, young men and their 10KW headlights parked at 3AM just up the road ....

You can only find out by doing!

Very nice start. Trouble is you will never be happy with the result as it is plagued by too many variables.


Bert

[Striker]

Nice start Mike,
I like the Omega shot

Wont be long until the DMK is up for sale...lol

[John K]

Great work Mike, nice images.

Are you thinking of shooting prime focus soon?

[atalas]

Congrats Mike and a great start ! your on your way to many sleepless nights now dude .

[EzyStyles]

great first shot there mike esp omega. join the dark side :)

[ving]

not kyour first widefields i believe mike :)
nice job tho, they look good :)

you going to the darkside?

[davidpretorius]

welcome iceman to the forum, you seem to have a long way to go with dso........i suggest you start with the much easier field of planetary :rofl:

these are very nice mike!

[ballaratdragons]

:lol: That's OK Mike, I don't know how to process planetary images.

[acropolite]

Fantastic start Mike, I like the natural look of OC and crux widefields, could turn out to be an expensive change of direction....:camera:

[strongmanmike]

Acro could be right there, watch out! :scared:

Deep sky is fun, you will enjoy it, great start :)

Mike

[beren]

:thumbsup: :) Very nice ....

[iceman]

Thanks very much everyone for your feedback.
It's not a change in direction, just a bit of fun when there's no planets up, the sky is dark and/or the seeing is bad :)
My main focus will still be solar system imaging, but I do want to start taking some DSO images to add to my collection. I'm never going to be great at it but i'll be satisfied if most of my shots turn out like the OC one.


You're right - I'm not sure I could stand the frustration of real deepsky stuff. However it's much less affected by the seeing, which is a planetary imagers achilles heel - and there's no need to worry about mirror reaching ambient temperature, collimation, etc.


Not a chance :)


I don't think so John - at least, not through the 12". I'd need to move the mirror up the tube or play around getting a lower profile focuser. I don't want to reduce my focal length due to planetary imaging.
I'll eventually get an ED80 to put on the EQ6, and do some prime focus imaging then.


You're right, i'd done widefields before by putting the camera on the tripod on top of the EQ platform, and they turned out fine however my exposure times were limited and I was only able to do short focal length (wide field) stuff.
These were my first with the camera being tracked on the EQ6, and I could use a much longer lens (300mm with 1.6x crop factor) so it was more than just a widefield.

Thanks again.

I've got a few more to process which i'll get to soon, I hope.