Rho Ophiuchus Widefield & The Witch Head Nebula

[Ant0nio]

Hi all,

It's been quite a while since I've posted anything so here is a couple of images as proof of life :).
This widefield of Rho Ophiuchus is my first attempt at a mosaic. It consists of three panels of 120 x 180 second exposures shot with a Samyang 135mm @F2 using a ZWO ASI094MC Pro, preprocessed & stacked with Siril.
Mosaic was created with Microsoft Composite Editor & then binned 2x2. Postprocessing was done with Siril & Photoshop CS2.
Imaging with the Samyang 135mm at F2 with a full frame camera presents its own problems with star shapes towards the corners which leads to some challenges when you try to stitch the images together.
The final image has its flaws & is a little black clipped but all in all I'm reasonably happy with the end result.
The Witch Head Nebula is an image I tried to improve by adding more data to recently but the new data was substandard & had a negative effect, so this is the original which I posted on AstroBin a few months back.
Shot with my SharpStar 76EDPH @F4.5 using a ZWO ASI094MC Pro. 60 x 180sec & 35 x 300sec exposures. Preprocessed & stacked in Deepsky stacker, postprocessing in Siril & Photoshop CS2.
Full size images here; https://www.astrobin.com/s6u0mz/
& here; https://www.astrobin.com/82iuih/
Thanks for looking & comments & constructive criticism are welcome.

Cheers,
Tony

[leon]

Hey Tony, very nice indeed, love the colours, excellent work.

Leon

[Ant0nio]

Thanks Leon :)

[multiweb]

:eyepop: Love that widefield Rho. Very deep and colorful. One for the cool wall. :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:
The witch head is excellent too.

[vlazg]

Both are excellent Tony, the wide field especially, well done:thumbsup:

[Andy01]

A pair of lovely images, I really like the framing of the Witch head too. :thumbsup:

[JA]

Well done Tony. Beautiful colours :thumbsup:

Best
JA

[Wilsil]

Nothing wrong with them, excellent images.

[Startrek]

Tony,
Top shelf stuff !!
You’ve exposed some excellent detail and colour is spot on
Well done !
Martin

[Ant0nio]

Thank you Marc :)



Thanks George :thumbsup:



Thanks Andy, IC2118 was a tight fit. I'm glad you like them :D



Thank you JA, I appreciate the feedback on the colours :thumbsup:



Thanks for the encouragement Wilco :)



Thanks Martin, I'm glad you like them mate :thumbsup:

[Placidus]

Not seen that extension of the witch head nebula toward top left before. Very well done.

[Bart]

Two very lovely images. Nice work, particularly the Witches Head.

[AdamJL]

Really beautiful work there. Thanks for sharing, Tony

[Ant0nio]

Thanks very much Mike & Trish



Cheers Bart :)



Thank you Adam, my pleasure :thumbsup:

[markas]

I particularly like the Witches Head. I haven't seen that extension before. Top image:thumbsup::thumbsup:
Mark

[Nikolas]

Everything is fantastic for both of them Really envious of what you have achieved

[Retrograde]

Superb images there Tony! :thumbsup:

[Ant0nio]

I' m glad you like The Witch Mark, it's a fascinating object. There's quite a bit more to be had at the top left but it's terribly faint & needs more data to reveal it.



Thanks Nik, that's really encouraging. I'm sure you're capable of similar results based on your AstroBin images :).


Thanks very much Pete :).

[Nikolas]

Kind words mate
I just never seem to capture Rho with the amazing detail you have demonstrated, I definitely need a wider lens/scope that can capture that as a whole.

[Bassnut]

Both are spectacular, often images of these have muted contrast and colour, youve nailed it!.

[Ant0nio]

If you go that route I can thoroughly recommend the Samyang/Rokinon 135mm F2 lens Nik. It's good value for the price.




Thanks very much Fred :)