Today's APOD - 10 Mar 2009

[erick]

This is nice

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap090310.html

[AlexN]

Its definitely not bad... But I've seen many a mosaic of this area of sky, and to be horribly honest, I've seen many many better renditions than this one... Maybe they were attempting to highlight the fact that it was done with a small scope and digital camera rather than a CCD etc... I dunno.. Just definitely doesn't stand out as an APOD winner to me..

[astroron]

Eric That was yesterday's image, today is the 11th,see Luner X, above in solar system for today's image.

[gregbradley]

Have they been copying me again??:rofl:
From last year:

http://www.pbase.com/gregbradley/image/93698947

Greg.

[iceman]

That's yesterdays.

It's a nice picture, but they've really overdone Orion/Horsehead region in the last few months.

[strongmanmike]

Yeh you da trend setter Greg :thumbsup:

[pgc hunter]

there is one that is about the same as the one posted, except the whole field is awash in red nebulosity. Quite stunning and I can only imagine how awesome a full mosaic of the entire constellation with these exposures would be.

[AlexN]

Rob Gendler has one like you mention, the whole shot is full of red tendrils of nebulosity... I think his was 90hrs total exposure though... Its been in my desktop background rotation for quite some time!

[kinetic]

Ahhhh...too many negatives in this thread...it's a beautiful image...
and I couldn't even come close to getting something like that! :poke::D


Steve

[erick]

Who says I'm behind the times! Excuse me while I load some coal into my steam-powered laptop! :D

[erick]

It's obviously a personal taste, but I prefer not to have this field full of red nebulosity.

[Octane]

Agree with Alex and Mike, the Orion region is stretched way, way too far.

Still, it's a nice composition.

Regards,
Humayun

[kinetic]

Wow, tough crowd, amateur astronomers :)
It's good though, it's all a learning curve for hacks like me.
Pointing out what's wrong with an image is probably better
than people praising something that has obvious faults.
I know I would rather know these things.:thumbsup:

Steve

[pgc hunter]

Yep that's the one. http://www.robgendlerastropics.com/Oriondeepfield.html Absolutely amazing shot. I've just browsed through this guy's other works and they are just jaw dropping :eek: This bloke is producing some absolutely unbelievable mind blowing astrophotography. Really worth a look: http://www.robgendlerastropics.com/Einstein.html

[Octane]

Steve,

There's two crowds that I've come across when it comes to astrophotography; one is the type that is content to capture any photons on their sensor and are happy enough to share and present their capture to a bunch of people. I admire that. The other group is the type that wants to excel, and push to the limit, what they can, with whatever equipment they have.

I like to think of myself as falling into the second group. I'm not in any financial position (and most likely never will be) able to afford the latest SBIG/StarlightXpress/FLI/Apogee camera, or large aperture refractors or RCs, but, I will push my 350D/40D/5D2, ED80 and G-11 to as far as they will let me go; to try and show others out there what is capable of being produced using very amateur and modest equipment, so that they may also aspire to receive the same joy that I (and I'm sure others) get out of publishing and presenting their latest hard fought efforts.

Everyone's mileage varies, but, I see no harm in pointing out an apparent flaw. Clearly, the author has gone to great length to present their image, and, they would appreciate feedback on their work.

Regards,
Humayun

[Octane]

pgc hunter,

I think you'll find that most everyone here knows of Dr. Gendler's work. In fact, I'll go so far as to say that he is everyone's (well, OK, not everyone's!) inspiration. :)

His Andromeda Galaxy is unparalleled (until Jase does a similar mosaic!). ;)

Regards,
Humayun

[erick]

I've just looked, for the first time, at the good Dr's M31 mosaic inclusive of hundreds of globular clusters marked. All I can say is ..... nothing:jawdrop: Speechless!

[bluescope]

Robert Gendler is the benchmark for aspiring astro photographers in my opinion ... his work is extraordinary and has certainly inspired me over the last 3 years or so but don't forget the work of Russell Croman as well and Adam Block to name another couple of wonderful imagers.
In fact if you want to see a whole host of great astro imagery visit the RCOS site

http://gallery.rcopticalsystems.com/

:thumbsup:

[kinetic]

Humayun,

Point taken, totally agree, and beautifully articulated.

Steve

[jase]

:lol: Actually, this season I had planned a four panel mosaic of M33 on LB's 24" RC, but time was against me. Its still on the cards in the future along with many other projects!

http://www.starsurfin.com/gallery.htm - a good collection of images from a variety of quality sources.

[Paddy]

Thanks for the links to some wonderful imaging sites. Like Eric I enjoyed the simplicity of the APOD image, but have found all of the other images referred to to be stunning. What must these guys have spent on their 24" + RCs, CCDs mounts etc! I'm glad this inspires some to also make images - it encourages me to stay visual and enjoy the wonderful images that are made so freely available on IIS and the web in general.

So, much appreciation for the posts, images and to Eric for starting the thread.