LMC Central Mosaic

[EddieT]

Hi all,
Well it's approaching two months since we had a clear night.
I've been working on a mosaic of the LMC, NB of sorts and have three tiles of about 40 hours worth of images from Oct/Nov 2009, combined in a narrowband/RGB hybrid.

More details are beneath the image, as well as links to larger versions.

http://astroshed.com/fsq106ed/lmc.html

Since November I've managed the images for another half a tile, and I plan to keep extending it as weather permits. Hopefully up to 5x3. At this rate it'll take years :)

Comments welcomed, all the best and Happy New Year!

[Peter Ward]

OK...that's below zero cool :thumbsup::thumbsup:

[RobF]

Wow. That's just stunning.
I'd love to have a closer look, but I can't figure out the instructions for a large view? Where's the New Window button? :question:

[Octane]

And, that's how it's done.

Remarkable.

Love your work, Eddie.

Rob, click the resolutions listed under the image.

H

[plmilligan1968]

:eyepop:Truly stunning!
It's the best astro photo I have seen so far this year.
I hope your weather improves for you to complete the project.

If it makes you feel any better my weather has als been pants, I have managed to get out once this year so far and that was with a half moon bleaching the sky out.

An awesome photo, I really look forward to seeing the completed mosaic.

Thanks for sharig it!
Clear skies
Paul M

[strongmanmike]

Yet another comendable multi frame effort Eddie, you sure show tenasity that's for sure. :thumbsup:

Mike

[jjjnettie]

Nice work Eddie.
Will you be printing this one? It'd be awesome poster size.
You'd feel as if you'd fall right into it.

[EddieT]

Hi Peter, It's been a while!



Thanks mate. A lot of work! More processing than imaging.....

[TrevorW]

Superb work

[EddieT]

Hi Rob,



Sorry, the "New Window" bit is a red herring and only relevant if the page is gotten-to via my website.

Two larger sizes are listed immediately below the image and are links to the images.

[EddieT]

Hi Octane! (pardon the pun)


Thanks mate!

[EddieT]

Hi Paul,


Thaks! I look forward to that day too, estimating on time served, it should be done by the end of 2012! Unless the weather finally turns for the better. :)

[EddieT]

Thanks Mike. I have to say that this image has already made me question why I do it! For a minute ....

[EddieT]

Hi Janette,


Thanks!. I just printed one, 73x43cm. It looks pretty good but has highlighted a bit more work needed...More processing...

[EddieT]

Thanks Trevor!

[CoolhandJo]

Simply stunning and jaw dropping stuff. Love the colours and the 3d look...

[h0ughy]

m m m m m malin?

[gregbradley]

That's a stunner Eddie. Such wonderful processing as well.

Greg.

[RobF]

D'oh!
(thanks Eddie and Humayun)

[mexhunter]

Hi EddieT:
That is it stunning.
Many grettings.
Cesar

[Bassnut]

Excellent Eddie, 40 hrs is insane (esp with bad weather), painfull :P

[troypiggo]

Fantastic. Such dedication has certainly paid off.

[marc4darkskies]

I love this patch of sky - and this is a terrific image Eddie - well done!

Cheers, Marcus

[spacezebra]

Spectacular image of the LMC..

Cheers Petra d.

[multiweb]

Superb vista! :eyepop: So many details and stuff to look around. Top stuff. :thumbsup:

[telecasterguru]

All I can say is amazing.

Frank

[Bolts_Tweed]

G'day Eddie

Done it again - onya

Need 2 talk 2 u re possible Aus imaging conference. I
am at Leyburn 4 weekend. Will contact when back on Coast.

Hate typing on iPhone - fingers r 2 big.

Bolton

[EddieT]

Ha Houghy...You know what they say about the ordering of carts and horses ! :) I'll submit it for sure...


Thanks Greg.


Thanks Fred. Yep I agree. Insane! All these mosaics are making me want more megapixels. Certainly would ease the workload.

Thanks also Dr Paul, Marc, Frank, Petra, Troy, Marcus and Mexhunter. Greetings to you as well!

[EddieT]

Hi Mark, good to hear from you.



NP mate, send me a PM or email...

[Paul Haese]

Lovely illustration of the Ha in this region. The field is great. Guiding is superb as to be expected. If I was to suggest any thing I would say there needs to be more green in the image. The blue and red components seem to be overpowering the green and SII. Maybe its my screen. Very nice work all the same Eddie, no doubt your entrant for this years DM awards.

[Garyh]

Beautiful field of view Eddie! I don`t think there is another region that shows so much fine detail ex in Ha...
40hrs...wow! but sure worth it!
cheers Gary

[EddieT]

Thanks Paul. You could be right about the Green. This image is the result of another of my attempts to try and make use of my ever worsening, light polluted skies. The idea was to not take any Green at all, which is why Sii and G are both synthesised. Also helps to cut down on imaging time and has the built-in advantage of providing a slightly different view of things. I've given up on pure RGB from this location!

Though G synthesising is easy enough to do manually, I used Noel Carboni's tool in this case and the resulting G was far too strong. Not sure if thats a result of the tool or a natural one as I didn' try a manually synthed G to compare to. Anyway, the upshot of that is that I ended up using the histograms to get to the final balance and toned the G down considerably.

I did some eyeball tweaking of the final result thinking my monitor was well calibrated, but I'm still having some problems with the application of the final monitor profile and think I *might* be double-profiling somewhere along the way. So my screen accuracy is in doubt at the moment.

I wish there were an easy way to see how images look on other peoples monitors!



Thanks Paul. Yes it will be one of my entries, I have another ready to go. Bit different to every other year where I'm still processing the day before the deadline!

[EddieT]

Hi Gary, good to hear from you.



Thanks Gary. It is worth it.... I think :) I would give anything to have the skies you have up there! It takes a lot of work to get Surfers Paradise out of my images, and I suspect that at least a little of Surfers is still in every image!

All the best mate.

[bokglob]

Congratulations to you Eddie. You've produced an absolutly beautiful rendition of a beautiful part of our southern sky. Masterful :thumbsup::prey2:

[EddieT]

Many thanks to you! Most appreciated.

[atalas]

Beautiful Eddie!

[dugnsuz]

Jesus H Christ Eddie!!!!
I've been on holiday...and I come back to this!!!:P
Wonderful image.
:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thum bsup::thumbsup:
5 Thumbs up
Doug:)

[TheDecepticon]

Very nice Eddie.:D

[Phil Hart]

beautiful eddie.. you sure aren't afraid to tackle big projects!

that's a great new composition on an otherwise familiar region. i love the subtle wisps on the mid-right hand side. i remember liking them visually as well..

phil

[Ian Cooper]

Well done Eddie. I wasn't surprised when you said that there was more processing than imaging time involved. It is definitely worth it when you get a result like that though.

The scary part Eddie is knowing that there is a similar sized field just north of that one filled with lots of goodies, and when you finish that one there is one to the east of similar class. When you dive into the LMC be prepared to take plenty of oxygen with you!

I'm afraid N.Hemisphere people just don't know what they are missing out on when it comes to The Clouds of Magellan.

Keep it going.

[Martin Pugh]

Super image Eddie

regards
Martin

[White Rabbit]

Nice work!!! i really like the colours.


Sandy

[Tom Davis]

Really a lovely image!

Tom

[Phoenix]

If this image doesn't inspire one to dust the cob webs off their imaging gear, then nothing will.... wonderfully detailed image - could look at it for hours.

nix

[Shano592]

Oh.

My.

God!!


That is some serious brilliant there. Love it.

[alan meehan]

ahh EDDIE you have such a amazing skill ,love this shot well done
ALAN

[EddieT]

Wow, so many replies!

Many thanks Alan, Shane, Tom, Sandy, Martin, Pheonix, Mr Decepticon and Louie!



I hear you Ian! Each new frame leaves some great nebulous mass peaking into the frame, begging you to go just one more frame wider...This area could take a lifetime ! It's incredible and surreal.



Thanks Phil. Yes the bigger they are, the harder....they are...:) Annoyingly, if I had an STL11k, I could do the equivalent of four ST10 images in one go...Thats the tradeoff. Time is money! If only I wasn't so cheap :)



Many thanks to all for your comments. Most appreciated!

[HarryD]

Wonderful picture.
Amazing given the 106mm scope and a EQ6 Pro mount.
Some people on this site wouldn't use the EQ6 to hold their cup of tea. And if it's not a 12" scope, forget it.
Just goes to show that it may be the person using the equipment, if it's of reasonable quality, rather than the equipment itself. Maybe we all need to be careful of spending a lot of money for what is essentially minimal return.
I'm not trying to be controversial here, but some people on this site follow the mine is bigger than yours philosophy.
I will now go and hope for some clear sky.

[danielsun]

Incredible image there Eddie.:thumbsup:

Very nice.

Cheers Daniel.

[EddieT]

Thanks Daniel!


Thanks Harry. The EQ6 Pro and FSQ106ED, both I cannot fault. The EQ6 is the best value for money piece of gear I've ever owned. It hasn't skipped a beat since I first put it together and coupled with the EQMod software, it's left me wanting for nothing. Seriously! The FSQ performs as you would expect for what it cost. Exceptionally!

But having said all of that, I would supplement it with the largest telescope and camera config possible if money were no object. For now I do what I can with what I've got.

So I suppose.... I'm on the fence ! :)