The Centaur's Cave - AG12

[strongmanmike]

I wanted to grab IC 2948 in Centaurus before it moved too low this season and finally a clear night presented itself :clap:

So...fighting the onset of a flu with panadol and hot tea I still managed an allnight session on Saturday night in brisk conditions...:screwy:...err?..and now have full blown Flu (and the runs :shrug:!!!) - off work :(

Plenty of moon so this is once again a narrowband concoction :P...also once again the seeing was crappola (I have never seen anything but white circles for Newcastle on the 7 day timer weather site :sadeyes:). I also fought some image plane tilt/flexure - must have been the specific location in the sky?

Having passed the meridian, once again the extra apperture and speed of the AG12 allowed for a deep image to be collected in just half a night - thank god :prey:

Looking like a cave with Hercules tourch in it and being in Centaurus, the name kinda made sense :)...nobody can see the running chicken anyway :lol:

Here is a modest crop of the good bits displayed at 50% full res

The Centaur's Cave (http://www.pbase.com/strongmanmike2002/image/135749880/original)

Here is the album with the full 1.8deg X 1.8deg field version and other crops, including a close up of the Centaur's droppings

Centaur's Cave Album (http://www.pbase.com/strongmanmike2002/gallery/the_centaurs_cave)

At least it didn't friggin rain on me this time :mad2:

Cheers

Mike

[renormalised]

Brilliant piccie, as usual:)

The chicken....found him splattered all over the road, back down the way. Must've been a passing semi:):P

[midnight]

Magic! How much time do you spend on processing? I am getting what seems to be good data from my targets but my processing skills are as dodgey as for now. Love your work Mike!

Darrin...

[mill]

Very nice looking droppings Mike :thumbsup:
What would you get if the seeing is perfect?
Looks already very nice :D

[gregbradley]

Fabulous image Mike. I wasn't sure what it was at first - so this is the Running Chicken Nebula?

It looks really different in your image as you have really brought out the 3D aspect of the target not seen in other images.

Your new scope is superb.

Greg.

[multiweb]

Nice album. Those bok globules really stand out. :thumbsup:
PS: the shot is mirrored again.

[RobF]

Thanks for sharing the journey (and the pics :P) Mike. Hope you fight those rotten bugs off soon too. Sounds like more than the usual setting up and pulling down woes faced this time around.

Love the presentation of the album shots too - you're way ahead of the crowd with this sort of thing. :thumbsup:

[Lester]

You are one Very dedicated chap, Mike. Hope you get well soon, thanks for the view. All the best.

[John Hothersall]

Those colours of orange and blue are so rich and love the Bok's.

JohnH.

[h0ughy]

certainly a huge expanse of gas and dirt - well done while imaging on your sickbed. Hope you get well soon Mike - so you paid the $15 dollars yet....?

[Alchemy]

Like the detail in the torch area, you'd have to be one of the most passionate imagers I know, imaging with the flu in the cold... That's dedication.

[allan gould]

Brilliant once again. I'm enormously impressed by your scope, ability and fortitude - I'm running out of praises so I'll have to use my thesaurus next time.

[marc4darkskies]

A piece of crap Mike ... Centaur crap that is :D

Yep, looking really good there mate - the colours are quite pleasing (for an NB image ;)). I like the Centaur's Cave crop the best. Your stars are looking quite tight too.

Get well soon!

Cheers, Marcus

[jjjnettie]

That's certainly given it a different perspective! I like it a lot!

[strongmanmike]

Cheers Carl, yep that's her...forgot her highway code :P



Thanks Darrin glad you like it. How much time do I spend on processing :question:....:scared: :lol:...plenty :screwy: You coming to AAIC next month at the Gold Coast? ;)



Good question Martin :question:..one day :)



Yep it's the running Chicken Nebula alright, teh full frame gets her all in too, she fills the frame and is running to the right :thumbsup:

Yep, the new scope is not perfect but it has it's good points...the Starfire is still the bomb though ;)



Cheers Marc

Bah!!..Frenchmen :rolleyes: :lol:



Thanks Robbo :thumbsup:

Yeh, the bug isn't nice, not sleeping well and my chest is like a phlem tanker at the moment, been through more tissues than a peep show.



Dedicated..:question:...idiot perhaps :stupid:



Cheers John I have reworked it already, was too green :P



To Imaging and beyond! :thumbsup:

No haven't paid yet...better get too it, I think Friday is the deadline :question:



Thanks Clive, it was a swop ie the flu for a Running Chicken :P :rolleyes: :screwy:



Gee, thanks so much Alan :thumbsup: no need for praises just knowing you liked it is good enough :)



Thanks Marcus...I was determined to get an image, my efforts were thwarted the last two sessions so this one wasn't going to get away!! :mad2:...sick or not...be nice to have a warm control room/study for times like these :whistle:



Great Jeanette, nice to provide something different on a well imaged object :thumbsup:

Thanks everyone for looking, I feel rather crap physically but playing with the data over the last few days has been very theraputic :thumbsup:

MIke

[richardo]

Toughen up son..... :lol:
Well, think of it this way Mike, at least you had some time to process the image:P... in between holding your cheeks together that is:D

Ah, that der chicken looks like my fov...

This tuned out excellent considering your lousy conditions.... (no pun intended)
The narrow band has brought out some great depth and highlights.
Lucky Aggie is a quick worker:thumbsup:

You are getting the same sort of flex in the bottom L/H corner as me at certain positions in the sky.
Mmm, it's a beggar to track down...
Must be time for an oag for us both I think!

The weather down over here is pretty much the same as you folk on the east coast.... mucho crappola!! And.... with the added texture of the ash cloud waffling up just to add to the mix.
Hope it's not going to be one of those winters:sadeyes:

Great get old son, .... well worth the flu!!

Rich

[DavidU]

Stand out work as usual. Get well soon.

[atalas]

Nice stuff big guy!funky.

[strongmanmike]

On ya Richardo, I am really enjoying this narrowband work, the options are endless and the artistic side can come out :P, it is a good option in poor seeing conditions too. At F3.8 having a 37mmX 37mm chip in a heavy camera and filterwheel really does push the envelope with this scope design...but so far it has been fun and produced some good results. Without an obso though, I certainly haven't enjoyed the crappy and more worryingly, unpredictable Newcastle weather :rolleyes:

Re the off axis guider, won't help with this sort of flexure, rather I think we are talking mechanical flexure in the image train distorting the star images, not differential flexure causing guide errors.



Thanks Dave, I'll get there, colds and flu's always go straight into my chest and then take a week or more to fully clear after feeling better :sadeyes:



Thnaks Louie, every narrowband image comes out differently...it really is like art :thumbsup:

[midnight]

Mike, I desperately wanted to go to AAIC as I had been planning a trip for nearly 3 months but I have been summonsed to appear in an arbritration hearing in Perth for most of July (this is what happens after every major $1billion+ construction project) to provide engineering evidence:mad2:. Are there any alternatives, maybe a post conference DVD one can buy - I am really p'ed off as I would have loved to have gone.:(

I have an idea - how about some of you guys at AAIC do a country road tour - kicking off in Perth:D. You can't beat being there in person!!

Cheers,

Darrin...

[strongmanmike]

Would we have to sing country music :question: :lol:

It was hard enough for Mark to get this together...but one plan (wish) is that AAIC perhaps moves around the country each year or two...mm?..Perth huh?

Mike

[gregbradley]

The star problems you mention from flex - I can't really see it in this image. It must be pretty subtle or is it easier to see in the 1x1 downloads which are pretty harsh on any scope/mount?

Greg.

[Stevec35]

That's a nicely done narrowband shot Mike. I think the colours are just about exactly right. Of course with my interpretation of the chicken it's running to the left.

Cheers

Steve

[Paul Haese]

Nice work once again Mike. The palette allows for quite a lot of variation. The yellow is a bit orange on my screen, so not at nice as the previous image. Overall the image looks smooth but has some high contrast that makes it look just a little overcooked. I think it is more of an optical illusion that any real defects, maybe the saturation could be dropped just a little to reduce the effect??

The star shapes look fairly consistent to me but all corners seem to have some curvature. I don't think it is flex, although the scale does not really help in the determination of where the problem lies. With that size sensor I am not surprised that some curvature or flex is present.

That said, the image is of a very high standard as per usual.

[strongmanmike]

Cheers guys :thumbsup:

See?.. the final choice of narrowband colour pallets reveals the interior decorating bents of all viewers :)

I am with you though Paul, but this was the most favoured look during this processing... ordeal? :lol:

The flex is in the imaging train-scope juncture for sure and this is manifesting as various degrees of what looks like field edge coma but I'm convinced isn't :question:. Careful scrutiny of star images at full res reveals minor issues of varying degrees across much of the frame and that varies across the sky. Obviously this is not precluding me from putting together quality images but it is mildly frustrating (but also exciting?) knowing that they could and hopefully will be even better.

Mike

[richardo]

Yes I reckon narrow band is great also, it lets you play master of your colour destiny.. :)..
Any comments as to 'oh that's too, or not enough...' then you can say, 'my image, my taste, my artistic license:P' Simple.

I think you are right in saying that there is some sort of flex in the imaging train... You know that with the AP on board there is no probs..
For me after years of tracking my issue down, I've narrowed it down to a few things after upgrading my ML focuser to a feather Touch ... quite possibly the tube is flexing somewhere... or even the spider is a bit weak (might have to build my own as there arn't any good third party ones around other than a Van Slyke....) but I'm relatively happy with 4- 5 min subs as this seems quite adequate for the F4 system and what I'm after in the way of appearance imo. Just now and then I see a slight elongation to the stars in the bottom L/H corner.

All good fun and you're doing some great work so far with this scope even in your very iffy skies. A observatory would be nice for you though!

All the best
Rich

[strongmanmike]

Yep he he...



Yes, a 52mm diagonal field at F3.8 is much more fickle to deliver compared to F8.3, over that field size F3.8 is very sensitive to any mechanical or optical variables, the F3.8 speed is certainly worth it in many respects though, not to mention the 4 fold increase in light grasp.

Mike

[Paul Haese]

Have you considered this might be a combination of several factors? Flex, curvature, tilt and maybe some guiding related movement. Guiding might be a related issue. As I recall you use a guide scope?? If so; I found no matter what I did I could not get that final bit of flexure out of the system. Flexure can be tested though. 1, 5 and 10 minute subs in several parts of the sky show differential flexure easily. That camera weight has to add to this too. Might take a little while to iron out all the bugs, but for now it looks pretty ok to me. Getting that perfect image is always tough on perfectionist.;)

[Bassnut]

Well, I recon the pic is great Mike. Any tech problems are minor IMO. Colourfull, detailed, and above all very entertaining.

[strongmanmike]

Glad it entertained you Freddo...the veritable one man band, Honk Honk :thumbsup:

[strongmanmike]

Oh yeh, I am slowly working through all of these avenues :thumbsup:

Tonight is clear here... shame I have just recovered fropm the Flu :rolleyes:..must... resisit... the... urge :sadeyes: