Rho Ophiucus Complex

[avandonk]

Collected some, OK a lot of data from the Rho Ophiucus Complex and used EasyHDR to produce this image.
!.5MB
http://members.optusnet.com.au/~trlee8/rho_oph.jpg

Details.
Canon 5DH, Canon 300mm F2.8L at f/2.8, Hutech LPR filter. ICNR ON.
This image is the result of using EasyHDR on five sets of exposures, consisting of 5X(1&2 minutes) at an ISO 200, 5X(2,4 and 8 minutes) at an ISO of 400.
I did not have to use GradientXterminator and you will notice M4 is not blown out.
Bert

[Garyh]

A lovely image Bert!, I love this region but it is not a easy target to image and to get lots of detail etc, you have done a great job!
cheers

[iceman]

I love this time of year, when great images of this beautiful area of sky start coming out.

Thanks Bert!

[glenc]

Thanks Bert, great shot and nice piece of the sky.

[ving]

probably my fave part of the sky! thnx berty! :)

[avandonk]

Had another go at this difficult region.
This time 9x(1M, 4M, 16M) at an ISO of 500 and the fridge cooling the 5DH at -5 deg C. I think I can safely go lower in temperature as the camera was still warmer than this about 8 deg C by a quick measurement on removing the fridge. I put the thermistor into the battery compartment.
Large image 1.3MB
http://members.optusnet.com.au/~trlee8/rho_oph2.jpg

The real problem here is to get the colours to show clearly, the noise is not far behind.

I will keep trying!
Meanwhile enjoy in spite of the noise.

Bert

[h0ughy]

love it Bert. I love this region of sky, its so colourful

[Bassnut]

Top work, shows what can be done with a DSLR, colour is better on the 2nd pic.

[Ric]

Lovely image Bert.

Cheers

[avandonk]

The real problem here is we are trying to record scattered light as opposed to the usual emission nebulae. Those brown and black things are clouds of dust. The coloured bits are the same dust clouds illuminated by 'nearby stars'.

By the way we are all made of these clouds of dust!

Bert

[Dr Nick]

Very nice! i wish I could get images like that! ;)

[jase]

Well framed Bert. :thumbsup: It is difficult to reach the right colour balance in this area. By the looks of your second image, R and B are very dominate - increasing green will address this, but you may loose some nebulosity. Layering will circumvent this. If you're using secondary colours, increase cyan and yellow (as it absorbs red and blue respectively). You will know when you hit the right tone as the global cluster M4 will appear white.

[avandonk]

Thanks for the comments. I had another shot at processing the data from scratch while not so tired from collecting it. It is hard to be careful at 0400 HR.
Thanks for the info in which direction to head in Jase. Maybe We could put the 60MB tiff up on IIS server for people to play with.

Large image 2.5MB
http://avandonkbl.bigblog.com.au/data/2/13839/image/rho25319920070612224259.jpg

I think this is more balanced but I am hampered by having to collect data with an LPR filter. I am sure a dark sky site would make things easier.

Bert

[jase]

Certainly improved the colour balance Bert. Well done :thumbsup: Undoubtedly the LPR changes the colour shift substantially.