Tarantula Nebula

[gregbradley]

Another one from last night.

BRC250, Apogee U16M, Astrodon 5nm Ha and O111 bicolour image.

Ha 9 x 15, O111 8 x 15 minutes.

http://upload.pbase.com/image/103044509

Greg.

[bluescope]

Another stunning image Greg, the scope was well worth the dollars invested !

:thumbsup:

[multiweb]

Awesome picture Greg. Love it! :thumbsup:

[strongmanmike]

POW! :eyepop:

I've seen many Tarantular images Greg but this is amazing - very nice work.

Could be a little sharper for mine with more detail in the core, given the absolute top endness of the kit.

Of course you are probably just getting started so I expect the ensuing period of time will see some gob smaking shots :thumbsup:

Nice

Mike
ok, ok... I want one too :sadeyes:

[gregbradley]

Thanks Mike.

Yes the detail in that shot surprised me too considering it was merely from my backyard. The O111 was binned 2x2 and was a bit foggy looking so perhaps 1x1 is the way to go.

That area of the sky is quite light polluted for me at my home.

At my dark sky site it would be another story.

Also it was focused once at the start of the night and left. I am not sure how stable focus is with this scope. It has a temperature compensating
lens cell so not sure how well that works. I'll check the subs, they seemed to all be in focus.

Here's the rig:

http://www.pbase.com/gregbradley/image/103048091

MMOAG is not working as I can't come to focus. It probably needs the negative lens. I may replace it with a FLI PDF as guiding seems quite good with my little Astrotech 66ED.

Greg.

[Liz]

Another excellent photo, Greg, all those gaseous filamnets, bful :cool2:

[Bassnut]

Very smick indeed Greg, and I liked the Lagoon pic too, seems pretty sharp to me, stars are nice and small. Awesome rig, looks very sold and well built.

[drmorbius]

:eyepop:Wow! Excellent!

[dugnsuz]

Amazing Tarantula Greg - did you use the same rig to take the stunning Rho image on your pbase gallery? That's equally beautiful.
Inspiring stuff, you must be happy with the rig?
Doug

[AlexN]

Smoooooooth!! :)

Very awesome!

[gregbradley]

Hi Doug,

Same mount, camera and guide scope but different scope.

That was the FSQ106ED with the F3.64 reducer and I was using a FLI filter wheel.

That is here:

http://www.pbase.com/gregbradley/image/103048182/large

I think this BRC250 is a real marvel. Focuser takes a bit of getting used to as it is helical as it houses the corrector which has to be kept at the same distance from the camera when focusing. I have a FLI digital focuser I probably will install (more adapters, geez!).

Greg.

[Craig_L]

Running out of superlatives. Maybe it should be renamed the "Witches Cauldron" the way you've rendered it - the way I see it.

[multiweb]

Awesome! :eyepop:

[gregbradley]

Thanks for the compliments.

Greg.

[iceman]

Holy cow that is stunning! Very nice work, Greg.

[danielsun]

:eyepop:WOW Greg!! What an incredible image!! :eyepop:

Brilliant work!!:thumbsup:


Cheers Daniel.

[Jeffkop]

Jaysus ... havent wasted our money on this new scope have we Greg .. You must be ummm ... over the moon

[RB]

I don't know what else to say Greg, that's just Stunning !!!!!

I love your images and I love your equipment.

Keep them coming, I look forward to more.

:)

[Lester]

Fantastic. Looking forward to more of your images.

[gregbradley]

Thanks very much.

Greg.

[Tamtarn]

Amazing image Greg, the vast amount of clear detail within this colour range is incredible.

[gregbradley]

Yes I was surprised as it was taken from my backyard in Sydney and I live in Kellyville which is about 35kms NW of the city. Looking south I look through a lot of light pollution as that is Castle Hill, Parramatta, Liverpool and Campbelltown so a lot of suburbia and a bright sky glow.

So these 5nm filters are also very good (the O111 though seems to leak and Gradient Xterminator was needed to handle that - perhaps 1x1 will stop that problem).

I looked at changing from an RCOS to a few different scopes, an ASA was one choice and I nearly bought a 12 inch that had been "fixed up" but the seller suddenly dropped out when I quizzed him about some potential defects - buyer beware eh?

I have found F5 a good imaging speed with the FSQ - not so fast as to be super fussy and highly demanding yet very bright and detailed images with a reasonable imaging exposure time.

1268mm focal length is also a good focal length for many objects.

I have a smaller chipped FLI Microline 8300 on the way for galaxy imaging and close up views.

It should be a good setup and suits my specific requirements as I usually travel to my dark site and time is somewhat limited so a 15 hour megadata collection at F9 is out of the question usually. 3-6 hours at F5 will image just about anything.

I forget the ratios exactly but F5 is something like 5 times faster than F9, possibly more.

Greg.

[peter_4059]

Greg,

That is the best Tarantula image I've ever seen. Well done!

[gregbradley]

Wow! Thank you Peter.

Greg.

[multiweb]

Was just checking this picture again. Can't seem to get over it. It's a work of art mate. You're the van gogh of astro photography. ;)

[gregbradley]

Wow, thanks very much Marc!

Greg.