Full Res available (was:16 hours on the Orion loop)

[marco]

Dear all, after quite a long absence from this forum, here I am with a new image. It is a mosaic of two images centered on a very classic winter target, the Orion loop and some of the gems in the Orion constellation. Here is the link:

http://www.glitteringlights.com/Images/deepsky/13667287_YtYhj#1213548757_oT93i-X3-LB

Total light collected was of 16 hours from Coonabarabran. More details are on the page linked. I will possibly add a zoomable view if of interested since the total resolution is more than 3800 x 7000 pixels and there are several details that would be better visible. B33, M42 and M78 areas were improved using other images I took with other instruments (pictures visible in my web page as well).

Hope you will enjoy the view

Clear Skies
Marco

[Octane]

Oh, my goodness.

That is one of the best images I have ever seen.

It is an unusual and rather tight composition due to the proximity of Mintaka to the top edge of frame, but, it somehow balances quite nicely with the lush red tones of the Loop, and the extended nebulosity towards the bottom left.

Absolutely sensational, Marco. That is a new benchmark.

H

[ballaratdragons]

Sensational!!!!!!!!!

:eyepop: That is an amazing image Marco.
There is so much going on in that image it is hard to take it all in.

I applaude your work. :clap:
I have never seen the loop that prominent.

[DavidU]

Sensational ! That's pushing the boundary's.:thumbsup:

[MrB]

That is just stunning!

Something about M42 looks a little weird to my untrained eye, can't put my finger on it... but it does not detract from an amazing image.

:thumbsup:

[OzRob]

That's wonderful!! Although I see the image was taken from Australia where it is a summer target...:D

[alan meehan]

WOW,just stunning well done

[iceman]

Congratulations on a stunning view, Marco.

A beautiful image, and is this weeks IOTW (http://www.iceinspace.com.au).

Thanks for sharing!

[sheeny]

Awesome Marco! A deserved IOTW!

Al.

[marc4darkskies]

A gorgeous image Marco - well done!!!

Cheers, Marcus

[Irish stargazer]

Simply wonderful! Well done.

[h0ughy]

excellent result

[Lester]

Outstanding image Marco, thanks for the view. All the best.

A well deserved IOTW.

[guggle]

Beautiful, thanks for sharing!!

[Peter Ward]

To quote one B. Simpson......"Aye Carrumba!"

Probably one of the best deep sky images I've seen in the last 12 months.

:thumbsup::thumbsup:

[renormalised]

Absolutely stunning...I agree with Peter, one of the best pics for the last year. Excellent work:)

[AG Hybrid]

6 different types of awesome right there. Hope you don't mind me using that as a screenshot background! :O

[richardo]

Absolutely a very impressive image and scale Marco!
Very well processed, not an easy thing to get right with so many different types of objects to consider in the mix...

Beautiful lens, does a great job.

Congrats with the IOTW.. very well deserved.

Rich

[allan gould]

Brilliant photograph and composition. Well deserving of IOTW

[gregbradley]

A fabulous image Marco. Well done. I love it.

Greg.

[suma126]

just totally amazing :bowdown:

[strongmanmike]

A very special image Marco, lovely colours and lots going on. There have been a few images of this field with similar composition in the last year or so and this is a very well executed version indeed!

If I may make one suggestion..? I assume you are after a reasonably true to reality image with reasonably correct colour balnce etc (as opposed to say a narrowband image)..? If so, for me the Orion Nebula (M42) is too dull, currently in the image the horsehead and even Barnards loop (a very faint structure) look as bright or brighter and this is not the case. I think lifting the brightness of M42, while maintaining the core detail) would give the image more balance and believability.

Just a suggestion as it is a fine image regardless :thumbsup:

Mike

[starfinder]

Congratulations Marco. Gorgeous image and a worthy recipient of IOTW. Time well spent. Russ

[marco]

Thank you H, Ken, Dave, Simon, Rob, Alan, Mike, Al, Marcus, John, David, Lester, Michael, Peter, Carl, Adrian, Richardo, Allan, Greg, Shane and Russ for your very kind appreciation. I am also honored to be this week IOTW :)



Thanks to you Mike for your suggestion. Actually I know that the right point of luminosity balancing of M42 in these kind of images often rises debates on the right intensity to "assign" to the core comparing the outer parts. In another forum somebody suggested me to reduce the sharpness of M42 a bit to better blend it into the picture, I will do some tests at home and see if can in case rise it a bit to better balance the image without taking harmony out of it. Finding a sweet spot that everybody likes is not totally easy but will try out something ;)

Clear skies
Marco

[telemarker]

This is one of those rare images that makes you say "WOW!" beautifully executed and processed. Bigger than Ben Hur. :thumbsup:

[MrB]

Ahh! That is what was bothering me in my original post. (#5)
I have very little practical experience with these things so wasn't 100% sure.

It is still a damn fine image! :thumbsup:

[dugnsuz]

Exquisite detail Marco, the more I look at it...the more I see - my only question is what's the cause of the off-axis halos on the bright stars? I ask this as they often plague my images too.
Cheers
Doug

[Leonardo70]

Che bella Marco .... da restare a bocca aperta.
Absolutely amazing Marco....

Saluti
Leo

[marco]

Thanks Keith!



Hehe, it seems I definitely have to give it a twist :D



These halos are due to reflections from the RGB filters or the CCD window. I should investigate it a bit further but never paid to much attention to them since they never really bothered me. They are centered or off axis depending of the position of the star respect the ccd center (i.e. optical axis center). If If you look at Alniltak for example, in my image the reflection is at right of the star since this part of the mosaic is coming from the left the left panel, while the bright star just above the Horsehead has the halo at its left because this star is already taken from the right panel image. Magic of the blending makes everything look smooth and apparently seemingless.

Clear skies
Marco

[marco]

Many thanks Leonardo!

Ciao
Marco

[jjjnettie]

:eyepop:
:prey2::prey2::prey2:

[FlashDrive]

That is AWESOME ... What a shot that is .....! :eyepop: :thumbsup:.

[alexch]

That's a stunning image, Marco! Congrats with well deserved IOTW!
Alex

[OICURMT]

qft!

[Ric]

Congrats Marco for a simply stunning image.

[Octane]

Marco,

I've been staring at this for 30 minutes, as this is what I actually wanted to do for first light with the STL/FSQ combination. But, as fate would have it, it was never to be.

The Horsehead looks so exquisite.

Congratulations, once again.

H

[Hagar]

What can I say Marco. Simply magnificent. A 16 hour image shows real dedication or just plain stubborn need for a great image. I wish I had this sort of dedication.

Beautiful.

[Paul Haese]

Fabulous image. A joy to behold.

[steve000]

This is now my desktop :P

damn fine picture mate!

[irwjager]

One of the best IOTWs I've seen. Awe inspiring.

[Phil Hart]

Have to add my praise for this.. I would *love* to be taking images like this!

Good to hear the off-centre halos are filter reflections and not from the lens.. at least there is a chance you may be able to fix them??

Absolutely amazing stuff.

cheers
Phil

[White Rabbit]

Wow, I've never seen wide fields like this. Simply amazing.

[TrevorW]

A superb image a testament to your dedication and worthy of the accolades

[pgc hunter]

wow! Imagine covering the whole milkyway with that sort of work. Spectacular.

[marco]

Many thanks to you Jinettie, Colin, Alex, Oicurmt, Ric, H, Doug, Paul, Steve, Ivo, Phil, White Rabbit, Trevor and Pgc Hunter, your comments push me to try even harder in the future ;)



It is never too late H, actually I believe that this part of the sky is not going to change much for the next few thousand years :P



Both of them Doug, I don't know what would you think if I reveal you that in reality the frames I used are only the selected part of many more that turned out to me unsuitable and therefore discharged.. but that's part of the "game" ;)



Several of your pics are already as beautiful as this this one Phil :)



I still haven't found time to play with m42 contrast on this image and post the high res zoomify version, I hope to be able within few days as I can finish some errands at work :)

Clear Skies
Marco

[multiweb]

Fantastic shot Marco. Congrats on the IOTW. Well done. :thumbsup:

[shelltree]

Holy... :eyepop:

This is just... Wow. Amazing. I am absolutely gobsmacked, Marco.

There is just so much sharp detail and colour, I cannot begin to know where to start looking. I could gaze at this for hours...

Thank you for sharing this outstanding work!

[John Hothersall]

Wow Marco just found this, rich rich, not seen it as bright as this, Orion is truely wonderful and what a great tribute to a special constellation.

John.

[marco]

Thanks to you Marc, Shelley and John!

As promised I have a uploaded a full res zoomify version of this image. If you have ie you can also enjoy the view full screen clicking on the right button. Here it is:

http://www.astrosurf.com/lorenzi/ccd/Barnardsloop.htm

I have also played with the brightness of M42, increasing it a bit as per Mike suggestion, however pushing it even further it is going to deteriorate the image instead of improving it IMHO

I hope you will enjoy that.

Clear Skies
Marco

[danielsun]

:eyepop: OMG!! That would have to be one one the best images I have ever seen!! What an incredible widefield view with detail, colour and shows just how busy this great region is!! :thumbsup:

Cheers Daniel.