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Andy01
18-04-2020, 02:04 PM
First light image completed with the new AP rig.
It appears that I have almost slain the spacing Dragon too! Yee ha :D:D:D

Taken from my light polluted suburban backyard, under a full moon!
Full credit to Chroma for their wonderful NB filters which really work well under extreme conditions and compliment the nice clean new sensor on the fabulous new 6162 camera!

TAK TOA 130
QSI 6162
Chroma 5nm & 3nm filters
TAK NJP mount
SX Lodestar Guider

Having now got the spacing riddle solved, I would have liked more data of course, but the clouds are not helping here in Melbourne! :lol:

I'm pretty darn happy though with these new toys & the results. :thumbsup:

ASTROBIN here (https://www.astrobin.com/full/1owi5g/0/)

Decimus
18-04-2020, 02:27 PM
:eyepop: What a truly spectacular image, Andy. I love the rich colour and stunning depth of detail. This has to be up there with the very best images I have seen on IIS. Congrats - great work!:thumbsup:

Cheers,
Richard

codemonkey
18-04-2020, 05:22 PM
Lovely image Andy, I'd be pretty darn happy with that myself! It is surprisingly subtle for you, I tend to use your images as encouragement to push mine harder ;-)

gregbradley
18-04-2020, 05:40 PM
A work of art Andy. Love the framing and colouring, wow, spectacular.

Greg.

Andy01
18-04-2020, 06:12 PM
Wow thanks Richard,very kind of you to say so. Mind you the new toys certainly helped as I've imaged this thing with three different setups now and this was by far the nicest dataset. :thumbsup:



Cheers Lee! Glad you noticed! Yes the data was pretty good (albiet not as much as I would have liked) so I wanted to deliberately play it down a bit - respecting the light, the Tak resolution, big sensor & all that... :D



Hey thanks Greg! :)
Really appreciate the good vibes there - cheers! :cheers:

Retrograde
18-04-2020, 06:33 PM
Suitably dramatic for first light Andy. Great image - congrats!

Placidus
18-04-2020, 09:18 PM
A joyous result. Nailed it.

Andy01
18-04-2020, 09:51 PM
Cheers Pete! Seems I get to image this thing every second year, but it never gets old, it’s truly my favourite nebula. :thumbsup::D



Thanks M&T, now that this one is done, I’m looking forward to getting this rig semi- automated next! Slowly getting my head around Ekos, and time is something I have to spare now :lol:

multiweb
19-04-2020, 09:51 AM
Beautiful vista with gorgeous colours. :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

gregbradley
19-04-2020, 10:12 AM
Just looking at this image again, the framing is a big part of the wow factor here.

Apart from the lovely spread of colours (I like images that have a balance of various colours and not too much one dominant colour), the framing is very clever.

The use of the diagonal, getting the petal neb in there nicely taking up one corner, the full extent of the spiralling twisty neb which is a very interesting feature and the ridgeline of the main fighting dragons which is the usual subject of the image is uniquely positioned instead of bang straight in the top 1.3rd of the image.

A good study in excellent composition, framing and colour balance. Add on the excellent resolution of the TOA scope and the large sensor makes for a top end image.

Greg.

topheart
19-04-2020, 10:25 AM
Hi Andy,
I agree with Greg's detailed comments re framing and impact.
A top shelf image indeed!


Inspirational.
Cheers,
Tim

Andy01
19-04-2020, 02:06 PM
Cheers Marc - thanks for virtually dropping by :D



Cheers Greg! Glad you noticed and thanks for the wonderful feedback!

If there's one mantra I hope that I can inspire my AP colleagues with it's "Don't just plonk your target in the middle of the frame!"

We're creating a marriage of technical & artistic imagery - far too often the basics of composition are overlooked when framing ie: rule of thirds, golden mean etc.

Pretty sure that there's no written rule that one's target must reside in the centre of the frame! :lol::lol::lol:

Cheers! :thumbsup:




Onya Tim, virtual cheers to you too! :cheers:

Atmos
19-04-2020, 02:59 PM
Your stars are looking MUCH better now Andy! In the official first light even the on-axis stars looked like they were suffering from an aberration but they're all looking good now :thumbsup:

I do agree with you on framing, it is something that I don't do. I'm one of those "plonk it in the middle" guys :lol:

Xeteth
19-04-2020, 04:02 PM
Another spectacular image of a spectacular object. Fantastic work Andy!

The_bluester
20-04-2020, 06:38 PM
Fantastic result after all that back and forth getting the spacing sorted. The spacing of the Tak might not have been quick and simple to sort but boy does it look worth it!

RobF
20-04-2020, 10:05 PM
Beautiful image Andy.
Why the move to the Tak refractor if you dont' mind me asking?

Nikolas
20-04-2020, 11:16 PM
Speechless is all I can say Andy absolutely beautiful

StuTodd
21-04-2020, 12:25 AM
:DThe stars are looking spot on Andy, you've nailed the beasts at last!

Also, looks like the neighbours is bigger than yours...:D

Andy01
21-04-2020, 09:42 AM
Cheers Col - you're producing some great images lately, and with just a little more time spent framing ... :rofl:



Cheers David - it's a magnificent target! :thumbsup:



Thanks Mate, yes it's been a bit fiddly, but time well spent. One dreams of a uniform astro standard for manufacturers threads, spacing & fittings - but it will probably never happen!:lol:



Cheers Rob! :thumbsup:

I won the big QSI 6162 in a competition, but my Newt wouldn't render a full frame image circle without spending serious megabucks on a bigger focuser & paracoor. Also when I set up most nights, moving the 'scope outside affected the collimation, which I had to painstakingly fine tune each time while under the stars.

A nice big FF capable refractor seemed the best solution.. and I have always dreamt of owning a Tak! :D



Why thanks Nik - very kind of you - cheers! :cheers:



Lol :lol:- thanks Stu :thumbsup: that's our family tent in the background, we set it up to take the kids camping in the backyard over Easter :D

Ryderscope
21-04-2020, 09:45 AM
Lovely work Andy. I’m impressed by what you can achieve from the ‘burbs.

The_bluester
21-04-2020, 10:51 AM
Ha, we are often lucky if we can get two items of the "same" thread from the same manufacturer to screw together properly!

lazjen
21-04-2020, 10:53 AM
Very nice image. If anyone is popping into this thread, skip the thumbnail here and go straight to astrobin. The thumbnail does not do the image any justice.

Excellent framing, and I may nick the idea for my future attempt. :)

Andy01
21-04-2020, 12:21 PM
Hi Rodney,

Thanks for your nice comments. Much as we would all like to live under pristine skies, us city dwellers have to make do with what we have - but at least we can still image! :D




Cheers Chris, he he :lol:, yes you saw through my cunning plan! The tiny thumbnail was a deliberate choice (nicked from Strongman Mike) to persuade viewers to go straight to the high res on Astrobin. :thumbsup:
This new large format camera produces such fine high res images that displaying them in anything smaller is really criminal! :D

JA
21-04-2020, 02:11 PM
Well done Andy it's a wonderful image, especially more so with the diagonal framing you've gone for. :thumbsup:

Best
JA

RobF
21-04-2020, 06:53 PM
If its the Tak 130 we were all dribbling on at Astrofest last year, then great to see that instrument going on to take great astrophotos :)

Andy01
21-04-2020, 07:00 PM
Hi JA,

Thanks for chiming in - appreciate the good vibes :)



No sorry Rob, Max placed an ad here in the classifieds, but he never replied to any of my PM's.
I then listed my interest here in acquiring a Tak for imaging, and was offered this even nicer one by a fellow IIS'er from down here in Vic.
That's how it goes sometimes :)

RobF
21-04-2020, 10:06 PM
:thumbsup:

PeterSEllis
25-04-2020, 04:40 PM
Another spectacular nebula, immaculately processed. Nobody quite does Nebulae as brilliantly as you do Andy. :eyepop:

Cheers
Peter