Eta Region, 135mm f4

[dugnsuz]

Hello all...
Bit of the "publish or perish" syndrome going on here!
Seems so long since I've had the opportunity to image anything that I've just got to post the only new stuff I have!!!

A brief gap in the clouds before the moon came up allowed me to fire off a few widefield images to experiment with my L lens at the middle focal lengths.
I've just tried the extremes of the 70-200 zoom.So, I wanted to see how it went around 100-135mm FLs.

Composition was a bit of an experiment too.
Tried to do a triangle with Eta and the 2 clusters.

I was also keen to see if the modded DSLR would pick out the fainter nebulosity around the region.

Details...
Modified Canon 40D
Canon EF 70-200mm f4L lens @ 135mm/f4
Skywatcher Synscan EQ5 mount
Autoguided (PHD)
42x120 sec exposures
iso1600
10x120 sec Darks subtracted
Images Plus / PS CS2

Cheers for looking, roll on the clear nights:)

Link to higher Res...
http://s231.photobucket.com/albums/ee208/dugnsuz2/?action=view&current=Eta-Wide-Large.jpg

Doug:thumbsup:

[Garyh]

Nice one Doug!
You have done a nice job with this one!
That red stuff stands out nicely!
cheers Gary

[Phil]

Love it Doug nice wide field. Well done. Nice lens
Phil

[leon]

You certainly have heaps of that good old red stuff in that one, and a wide field it is, nice work mate.

May I comment that it looks just that bit off focus, or a bit flat, either that or it is just me, other than that well done indeed.

leon

[Tamtarn]

Certainly picked up the red outer region red nebulosity Doug. Nice job :thumbsup:

We're a bit like you the cloud cover here has put a halt to our imaging. We have only taken one image in nearly 3 months due to either cloud or moonlight. Soooooooooo frustrating.

[AlexN]

Very nice indeed. :D

Im itching to get my 70-200f/4 on a mount when I see shots like this!

[dugnsuz]

Gary, Phil, Leon, Barb and Dave, Alex...Thanks for the comments.

Leon - did you check out the high res version? May be a bit better due to less compression artefacts?
I take your point though...my home monitor makes the image look a lot smoother than my work monitor which renders the stars "scratchy" with a kind of salt and pepper appearance!!:shrug:
Here's a link to a larger jpeg if you want a look...
http://www.filemojo.com/022354038044623/Eta-135mm-f4-Large.jpg

Cheers all
Doug:thumbsup:

[leon]

Opp's sorry mate, Probably should have looked there first, certainly is so much better, nice work Doug.

Leon

[Ric]

Very nice widefield Doug, you've got that faint nebulosity showing through very nicely.

Cheers

[Tilt]

I like the 135mm FL, its something I will experiment with a bit more too. Great image Doug.

[jase]

Wow, a monster fov Doug. Puts everything into perspective, that's for sure. If only understanding life was just as easy;). Great work mate. Keep it going.

[dugnsuz]

Thanks Ric, leon and Tilt.
Weather in SA is absolutely atrocious!! So, I'm working my way through the "Photoshop Astronomy" tutorials to get my fix!

The LMC fits very nicely into the frame of a 135mm lens as I remember too!

Doug:thumbsup:

[AlexN]

LMC better emit a fair bit of light, otherwise i'm going to drain it all out in 4 or 5 days :D