The Swan RGB QHY8 and FSQ106ED @530mm

[Hagar]

Well the sky cleared a couple of nights back and I managed to capture 100minutes of M17 the Swan Nebula with my QHY8 OSC and FSQ106ED.

I still have a bit of learning to do with regard to wider field image processing as it is a little diferent from up close imaging with so much to work on in such a big field.
This was a dificult image to squeeze down to 200KB so I have posted a link to a higher res image below.

Hope you enjoy.

Comments welcomed and appreciated.
Higher res version at: http://www.darkskyau.com/cm/displayimage.php?pid=174&fullsize=1
Beware this is 3.5MB but worth taking a look at.:)

[renormalised]

Nice shot, Doug....great colour and definition:D

[telecasterguru]

Great image and nice framing.

Frank

[Craig_L]

Wow. Nice one Doug. Lot of stars there.

[Alchemy]

looks good doug.... thanks for the size warning , most civilized of you

no clear skies here for so long, i think i need a new hobby.

[Jen]

:hi::hi:

:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup: nice pic Doug :)

[Tamtarn]

Good to see you had a clear night Doug.

Very nice widefield :thumbsup:

[AlexN]

looks awesome.. well worth the 3.5mb! Good job mate

[Hagar]

Thanks everyone, finally got a couple of hours of half decent weather although it is bucketing down again now so I am adding to my dark library again.

[spacezebra]

Stunning Doug!

Cheers Petra d.

[Tandum]

That's a big chunk of sky there doug, looking good.

[Lester]

Very nice image, showing a heap of detail.

Thanks Doug.

[Hagar]

Thanks Alex. I thought the wider field deserved an image of reasonable scale. To get it down to 200K almost ruined the image but that is what happens when a lot of the large image is not black or at least a mono tone.



Thanks Petra, I hope you enjoy your new scope as much as I am enjoying this one. I just hope the weather improves for us both. Come on BSG.

[Hagar]

Thanks Robin, I also have the 0.73 reducer for this scope so when I get around to trying this out the chunck will be bigger again.



Thanks Lester, This certainly is a nice scope to image with. I just wish I could get some good seeing to really try it out with.

[TheDecepticon]

Lots of stars in that one! Looks great!

[sjastro]

Very nice wide field Doug.

Regards

Steven

[Hagar]

Thanks Guys. A fun scope to play with. Such good quality fittings make it a real pleasure.

[Omaroo]

Great shot Doug - I really like the star quality in your hi-resolution version. :)

[h0ughy]

wow gives me food for thought for qld astrofest this year. thanks for the nice sharp image to tease me

[Martin Pugh]

Hi Doug

nice image, but may I suggest a couple of things?

Firstly, with widefield images, particularly those taken in and around the Milky Way, can be overwhelmed with stars. To bring the subject forward, it is often a good idea to make a star selection and run a minimum filter on them to drop them into the background.

Secondly, the FSQ is a fine instrument with a very, very small CFZ prone to rapid focus changes. Your stars do look a little soft, so focussing regularly, when temp changes, and most certainly between filter changes is critical with this telescope.

nice work though mate.

cheers
Martin

[Hagar]

Thanks Chris



Thanks David



Thanks Martin, I usually watch the FWHM figures as the images come in and pass to CCDInspector but maybe I need to pay a little more attention. The seeing here has been terrible and FWHM figures below about 6 are to dream for.
I have reproed this image with a small min filter to the stars. Attached below.

[RobF]

I love both efforts. Not sure if I like the min filter more, but its great to be listening and learning new tricks. Looks like the QHY8 and FSQ will be a winning combo.

[Hagar]

Thanks Rob, I can honestly say I am very impressed with both these instruments and by luck they seem to compliment each other quite well.

[Martin Pugh]

Brilliant job on the min filter Doug. I saved both images and blinked them, and for me, the min filter version is far superior.

well done.
cheers
Martin

[Hagar]

Thanks Martin for the advise. It does look a bit diferent but I now have a few other cosmetic things to think about.
Thanks again.