M45 - widefield and a very rough process from QLD Astrofest

[h0ughy]

This image was taken in the last moments on friday morning before we eventually packed up. its only 65 minutes, but it was taken with the modded 20D and canon 135mm Lens ISO 800 F3.5. its slightly cropped but not by much. I have really pushed the image to show the dust. I really believe that i should have had at least a minimum of 4 hours on this to do it justice - and someone better than me to process it. And yes there is heaps of noise......... thats what you get for lack of data......

to process i used DSS, then into pixinsight then into photoshop to save for the web.

[javier alves]

it is the first one, i see a picture of the pleyades like that :eyepop:
simply expectacular.

regard

[multiweb]

Pretty cool David. That reminds me of the halo on a certain deep Centaurus A. :) You've certainly gone the length on that one. Fair amount of dust around. Top work. :thumbsup:

[jjjnettie]

It's a different perspective for sure.

[h0ughy]

Thanks Mate - it didnt start life like that - i first processed it for the pretty neb only around M45, but then i discovered that there was more stuff of some description throughout the whole photo, so i pushed it and that was the result. I am sure it has to be dust, and not the bushfire that was to the north of us at Duckadang;):whistle:

Thanks but i did not go deep enough. Next month it will be a lot higher - will have to sneak off and try it again.

Thanks JJJ - it certainly wasnt what i expected to get:lol:

[alan meehan]

David top shot very different,very beautifull well done

[toryglen-boy]

its very well framed and composed, thats for sure, although colours look very washed out, and your right its so noisy its screaming, but as you rightly say, more time and data would pep this up.

I must admit, i am interested in your choice of colour, i have imaged M45 and it was blue, and i mean that wierd blue that you dont find in nature, vivid blue, as was the reflection nebula around it.

Although its a steep learning curve, keep at it. I know it takes a pair of niagras to post your images here for open critique, so well done you.

:)

[Jeffkop]

Great image David. Ive never seen that one before ... Congrats to you.

[h0ughy]

thanks for your comment. I have not changed the colour - it is how it has come out in the process.

[h0ughy]

thanks Al

[toryglen-boy]

Fella, i am not "not happy" with it at all, it was merely an observation, anytime i have seen it, its alwyas been a real hot blue.

Dont think i am having a go mate, i know you take this seriously, and i know you can take any comments good or bad, on the chin.

There seems to be standard reply to some people/images of "nice sharp stars, good tracking, excellent picture" with no real constructive critique, if i see things in your image that i like, then i will be first to say so, but if there is anything that i think would make it better, then i will say that to.

from what you have posted so far h0ughy, i can see real promise in your imaging, so keep it up mate, i look forward to more of your pics


:thumbsup:

[Octane]

David,

This is one of those images that inspires me. Despite any shortcomings that it may have, this is one region that I'm dying to do in a widefield format. I will wait until November, or whenever it is that it's at the right location at the right time of night.

Thanks for allowing me to see what I could possibly come up with! :thumbsup:

Regards,
Humayun

[tlgerdes]

Saturday the 15th of Nov, from 11pm it crosses up above 25deg reaching an altitude of almost 32deg at around 1am, then back down below 25deg at 3am.

4 hours

Will race you to it.:D:D

[Octane]

That's the one, Trevor. I was looking at the ephemeris in Starry Night Pro Plus the other day. :)

200mm lens ought to do it. :)

Gentlemen, start your engines... :)

Regards,
Humayun

[tornado33]

Very nice, that has bought out the dust nicely. Youre right, 4 hours on it would be wonderful.
Scott

[RobF]

Wow - really is a different take on M45. I don't think I've ever seen a widefield like that. Fascinating to see the surrounding dust and nebulosity, and I'm sure you're starting to bring out the dark dust between the surrounding stars.

Great work David! I wouldn't be apologising too much for any noise in such a great image.

[RB]

For 65 mins of exposure that's turned out very nicely indeed mate !!
I can just imagine what you will get later when it's higher and with more exposure.

Amazing how much the nebulosity extends.

:thumbsup:

[prokyon]

Hi Houghy!

Respect, I never succeeded in capturing the fine dust.

Your nice pic is a motivation for me to try it again.

regards

werner

[gregbradley]

Wow, interesting shot Houghy.

I had no idea there was that much dust surrounding it.

Amazing how much stuff there is in "empty space".

Greg.

[h0ughy]

yep this should be a good race LOL

Thanks Scott, we had better make a trip to get it from dark skies mate

Thank you for your comment:thumbsup:

Thanks Andrew, lots to learn mate, and i intend on building on this image

That's great, look forward to what you come back with

My missus says there is plenty of empty space between the ears, might have to tell her there is something there after all. To be honest i had no real idea that it was there, but after seeing several shots by you higher order guys one begins to realise that it is all about, only the depth varies. Funny that it reflects on earth here to, only the depth varies:rofl:

thanks for the date of acquisition;)

[avandonk]

h0ughy your image does what you set out to do that is record the faint dust. Consequently the blue reflection nebs are over exposed and saturated. That is why they are white, RGB are all at maximum. Most people have trouble recording the faint blue reflection nebs let alone a hint of the faint dust.

The lens you used at this focal length is about as good as it gets. Using an aperture in front of the lens rather than the lens's iris will also help contrast. Could I suggest when you try this again take sets of exposures eg 1m 2m 4m 8m 16m? and I will process the data for you using my hdr method. That way you get both the dim dust and no stars saturated. All faint stuff will have colour.

If your guiding software is capable, dithering really helps to suppress the noise when you median stack.

Bert

[h0ughy]

thanks Bert. I would love to do what you suggest and will endeavour to achieve this next new moon. i kneww i really pushed the image and could have processed it only for the bright neb around the stars. could still do this:shrug:

[avandonk]

Yes you could. Process the data again and dont push anything and we can do a hdr from the original image and the darker one. I can PM you the details to ftp the full size 16 bit tiffs to my GIG of web space. That way I can put up the result for you to download as a full res 16 bit tiff and you can then produce jpgs etc.

Bert

[h0ughy]

ok , but i now have to cook for the family:D

[avandonk]

That is far more important. Take your time. PM when ready.

Bert

[h0ughy]

I did a little repro at lunch today, tried to integrate a few differently processed frames in photoshop (flying blindly) and came up with this poor excuse. Reprocessing is Fun:whistle: