RHO is the new ETA

[dugnsuz]

Jeez I wish I had a better mount!!!
Just looked at leon's and tornado33's RHO region pics before posting this - very smooth!

Just the facts ma'am...

Canon 40D (M) ........M for modded!
Canon EF 70-200mm f4L Lens @ f5.6/70mm FL
iso 1600
20x10mins exposures
Skywatcher Synscan EQ5 Mount
Autoguided with PHD

Stacked in IP, Processed in PS!

Thought I would be a smarty pants and tried to take around 40 darks in the cold dark shed after 3hrs worth of imaging lights. But, should've done darks throughout the whole imaging process or done ICNR!

This worked out badly - lots of little black pox-marks all over the stacked image.
Decided to just stack the 20 subs alone.

Cheers
Doug:thumbsup:

[edwardsdj]

Still, a spectacular image Doug :)

[strongmanmike]

Still came out allright Doug.

I like your framing here too

Mike

[AlexN]

great widefield of the area.

forgive me if what i say is completely incorrect, I have a good knowledge of photography, but astrophotography is new to me..

Would it not have been better to bring the aperture back to say 3.5 or indeed 2.8 and drop the ISO speed to 800 or 400 if possible? Im asking only for my future reference..

[dugnsuz]

Always loved this area of the sky - saw an APOD pic a while back...looked Hubble-amazing. Followed a few links and discovered it was taken with a TV76 - so I thought "Game On!!"
It's bits of the sky like this that make widefield work so rewarding!
Cheers
Doug

[madtuna]

Very nice..I love the dark lanes..almost like smoke

[dugnsuz]

No worries Alex,
The lens I'm using is a Canon 70-200mm f4L lens, so dropping down to 2.8 is an impossibility I would love to overcome!!!! Easily overcome with an injection of cold hard cash!!!!!
Re iso - I have read that the 40D is very good with regard to noise at high iso settings. So I thought I would experiment and push it a bit!
Normally I image at anywhere between iso200 through to 800.
This was (if nothing else) a nice lesson to show the benefits of taking lots of exposures to maximise the Signal to Noise ratio.
Cheers
Doug:thumbsup:

[bloodhound31]

I think you've done a wonderful job of it Doug!

Baz.

[dugnsuz]

Cheers Baz:)

[dugnsuz]

Higher Res Image...

http://s231.photobucket.com/albums/ee208/dugnsuz2/?action=view&current=RhoLarge.jpg

Doug

[Robert_T]

Hi Doug, I really do like this complex and find it a lot more interesting than many "pin-up" nebs like Eta. You've done it great justice here... I'm just itching to give this a try for myself. ;)

One question, the diffraction spikes on Antares?, I hadn't expected them on a straight camera lens pic?

cheers,

Rob

[leon]

Hey Doug there is nothing wrong with that mate, but I agree, you have to do your darks properly, no good hiding in the shed, :whistle: to save time, ICNR, Hmmmm, :lol: :lol:top shot mate :thumbsup:

Leon:thumbsup:

[dugnsuz]

thanks Rob
I assume that the spikes come from the blades in the lens:shrug:

[RB]

That's come up beautifully Doug !
Nicely composed and lovely colours.

The spikes are due to the iris of the lens, as you say.
The more you stop down a lens, the more prominent the spike.

Kinda cool I think.

:thumbsup:

[bindibadgi]

If you shoot at f/4, the spikes should disappear, as the iris will be hidden by the lens' fixed circle for the maximum aperture.

I like the spikes though. Nice eight bladed iris. :thumbsup:

BTW, lovely shot. That is a brilliant part of the sky.

[AlexN]

ahh ok... I had assumed that u were using a 70-200F2.8L... Well.. thanks for the info and again, nice shot..

True it did show using more exposures reduces the SNR.

:)

[Alchemy]

Nice one Duggie.... Does suz help with the imaging?

youve put in the time with 200 mins of exposure, it looks good , shows you can target any peice of sky ..... no more etas for you:thumbsup:

[dugnsuz]

Cheers Clive,
No Suz is the (not so) silent partner!!
Doug:)

[Ric]

Hi Doug, that's a nice image.

To me the colours and the hues look right and the dark lanes stand out very nicely. I think you've done a good job with this one.

Cheers

[dugnsuz]

Cheers Ric -I think I can do better!!!!:P

[Craig_L]

Looks great Doug. Very tempted to get the Canon 2.8 200mm lens. Must image this next.

Craig

[bluescope]

Looks good to me !

:thumbsup:

[dugnsuz]

Cheers Craig,
My pref would be the 70-200 f2.8L - larger 77mm lens aperture but twice the price of the f4 version I have:(
Doug:thumbsup:

[madtuna]

I've the same lens Doug and it's pics like that that inspire me to give it a go

[skeltz]

Nice image doug and i have to agree the dark dust lanes look like smoke billowing towards you.
Nice shoot.

[Screwdriverone]

Jeez Doug, what is wrong with that?

One of the most vibrant and immersive photos I have ever seen!

One word.....

Awesome.

Chris

[dugnsuz]

Thanks Chris
Can I quote you!!??:lol:
Doug:thumbsup::thumbsup:

[Screwdriverone]

Hi Doug,

Feel free!

I meant it.

:)

Cheers

Chris

[Tamtarn]

That's terrific Doug. Looks like the lens is certainly a winner. Lots more interesting objects to go after and build up a very nice gallery of widefields.

[Garyh]

I must say its a very nice image Doug!
Color balance and saturation look spot on!
Very pleasing!
cheers Gary

[Antu]

Well done ! Very impressive image. I really like this region on the sky. In therms of natural colors it's hard to find anything else like that :)