The Southern Cross (Crux) in HaRGB

[Ryderscope]

A project that has been on my hit list for a while has been to try and capture the Ha emissions lurking about the Southern Cross. There are a few images of this around but not too many that I can find.

My widefield set up with the ASI6200 camera and Canon EF200 lens is perfect for this project as it captures the entire constellation of Crux on the one field. Data for this image were captured with Ha and RGB Astronomik filters for a total exposure time of 22 hours. Ha data was about half of that at 11.5 hours.

There is quite a large area of HII gas surrounding Crux, extending well into Centaurus. It makes for a very interesting, and different, presentation of this constellation that is so well known to southern observers and imagers. I've included a mouse over in the Astrobin post that shows the before and after image, with and without the Ha integration.

There are a number of nice globular clusters captured in the image including the Jewel Box cluster (NGC 4755) at the bottom of the image. I've attached an annotated thumbnail showing the designations for the main stars and deep sky objects.

Link to Astrobin post here. (https://astrob.in/n6rv4y/0/)

Clear skies,
Rodney

[strongmanmike]

Wow Rod, that's both intriguing and beautiful, what a great project, lovely stars and colours, very well processed all round mate, spent some time surfing around the full res version too, excellent :thumbsup:

Mike

[Ryderscope]

Thanks Mike, glad you like it. It was a worthwhile project to be sure.
I've just been reading your observing report from the weekend. A wonderful story, I felt like I was there with you looking through the eyepiece :astron::)

[strongmanmike]

You like curry...? :question:

Mike

[Ryderscope]

Yes and I must admit that the cuisine reports were very enticing indeed :D

[gregbradley]

That's a terrific image Rodney. The colours and the stars are super. Such pinpoint stars as well. All that Ha eh? It's amazing how much there is to image.

Greg.

[Retrograde]

Very cool Rodney!

I particularly like the mouse over on Astrobin. :thumbsup:

[Ryderscope]

Thanks Greg/Pete. Agreed that there are many Ha regions lurking about and yet to be imaged.

[kosborn]

A really great image! It's good to see a common part of the sky in a way that it isn't commonly seen. I really like the way you've blended the Ha as the show case of the image, but not over saturated or over emphasised. Well done!

[Ryderscope]

Thanks Kevin. I've had this project in my minds eye for some time and the ASI6200/EF200mm lens combo provides just the right field of view. It does need the additional time for Ha integration to be sure but worth the effort.

[marc4darkskies]

A beautiful image Rodney! :thumbsup:

[matlud]

Fantastic Rodney! I started on this area but never got around to finishing an image, so this provides some great inspiration. Good to see you are still putting your 200mm to great use.
CS
Mat

[Ryderscope]

Thanks Marc and Mat. I'm running up an Askar FRA300 at the moment to run with the ASI6200 so will be parking the 200mm lens for a while. I'm sure that it will get another run though :)

[Dave882]

Beautiful image that really showcases a well known region in detail not often seen. Amazing!!

[Ryderscope]

Thank you David. I was hoping to be able to present our Crux with a different emphasis.

[Nikolas]

I would never have imagined that the Southern cross had so much Ha, you captured it amazingly well Great image!!!!!

[Ryderscope]

Many thanks Nik.