Small & Large Magellanic Cloud

[multiweb]

This is one I've just finished processing from Wiruna, last Saturday night. Approx 45x2min in two panels, one centered on NGC104. This was shot with a Pentax 200mm lens fully open and a 2" Baader UV/IR cut. QHY8 guided on G11 with PHD.

There's a bigger one here (http://www.astropic.net/astro/SMC_ff.jpg)[2000px wide - 4.7MB] and one smaller one here (http://www.astropic.net/astro/SMC_f.jpg) [1280px wide - 2.1MB].

Boosted the red channel within the cloud a little. Getting there with the processing and using that lens. Always room for improvement but I'm happier with those new shots now. Plenty more to process from the same night. :)

Added the LMC. Same rig. 26x2min.
There's a bigger one here (http://www.astropic.net/astro/LMC_ff.jpg)[3000px wide - 5MB] and one smaller one here (http://www.astropic.net/astro/LMC_f.jpg) [1930px wide - 2.7MB].

[jjjnettie]

The image compression didn't do you any favours on the IIS pic you posted, the high res ones worked a treat though. :D
We don't see many images of the SMC.
Thanks.

[multiweb]

Thanks JJJ. Yeah the 200kb limit doesn't work that well with that image scale :P

[strongmanmike]

Not bad you imaging machine you :)

Was this from the weekend just gone or last week?

Mike

[richardo]

Super impressed with these great images Marc:thumbsup:
What startles me is the sharpness of the lens you're using and open full. You totally nailed the focus!

Really well processed and both have a beautiful depth to them and the stars just sparkle.
I think these would have to be some of your best wide fields Marc.

Just keep looking at them..
Just excellent work mate:thumbsup:

All the best
Rich

[Tom Davis]

Both are soooo nice! I wish I still had a scope in Oz so I could reimage these bad boys!

Tom

[gregbradley]

Good images Marc.

There's always something nice about widefield lens images. They take in so much territory.

Greg.

[Hagar]

Very nice Marc. They just light up the screen like gem stones on a jewlers mat. Being a bit picky the outer stars vseem to be suffering some aberation but with the image filling the screen they aren't noticable at all.
Two lovely targets beautifully resolved. Well done.

[multiweb]

Thanks Mike. :thumbsup: Yeah this Saturday just passed. I went there Friday for an early start but no-go despite favourable forecast. We got caught in low level fog all night but clear above :mad2:. I realised when we went for breakie in Rylestone and I saw the bluesky with a low level fog that had moved from our location to the valley further. But saturday we had one uninterrupted clear night from 18:00 to 5:00am. No wind, good(ish) seeing, superb transparency but bucket loads of dew. There were a few of us imaging that night.


Thank Rich. :thumbsup: TBH I feel better bow. I wasn't too sure about these. I focus with a small bathinov and I wrap the whole lens+camera in layers of socks. This lens stuff is still very new to me. Processing is very different for sure. The Red channel is the one I have to watch with this lens opposed to my other scopes which is the blue. :shrug: Go figure. Anyway it'll only get better from here.


Thanks a lot Tom. :thumbsup: I actually never imaged them as such. Well bits of them like the Tarantula or 47Tuc for example but none fitted any of my F/5 scopes. Now I can fit them all in I'm going to spend a bit more time on them, in NB from home especially.


Thanks Greg. :thumbsup: Yeah they sure do. Lot of fun. I have a bit more experimenting to do now with lens stops and exposures duration until I nail the field 100%. Still some aberrations on the outer edges.


Thanks Doug. :thumbsup: Yeah there are funny things happening with the brightest stars that I am aware of. I still have to learn which F-stop will get rid of that and work out new exposure times accordingly. All part of the fun. Can't complain for a $60 eBay lens though hey? ;)

Thank you all again for the encouraging comments guys. I have a lot more pics from the same night. I imaged 11h non stop in 120s subs. That's a lot of subs and objects in one night.I think you'll like the following batches that are right in the center of the milkyway from Eta to M16. Diamonds in the sand, colorful and sharp as. :)

[atalas]

They both look great....nice resolution.

[gregbradley]

Thanks Greg. :thumbsup: Yeah they sure do. Lot of fun. I have a bit more experimenting to do now with lens stops and exposures duration until I nail the field 100%. Still some aberrations on the outer edges.


I would experiment also with a minus violet filter as these lenses usually aren't APO and they are likely to show violet halos. With the lens stopped down, 2x2 binning up your sleeve (not necessarily needed) and a minus violet filter plus your UV/IR filter you could be spot on.

Greg.

[multiweb]

Thanks Louie. Glad you like them. :thumbsup: I read your post about the latest Astro art and I downloaded the latest version to check the star registration routines. Very confusing coming from CCD Stack. Would you have a link to a tut to get me started or point me in the right direction?


Hi Greg, what's a minus violet filter? I have UV/IR cuts. UHC-S and one U filter (fully block visible and IR).

[peeb61]

Nice capture Marc,
I just love widefields and the amount of detail...Wow!
Sure puts things into perspective.

Paul

[Stevec35]

Not bad at all Marc - very nice detail. To me it looks as if you might have a slight gradient on the SMC shot but I could be wrong. Cheers Steve

[atalas]

Quote:I read your post about the latest Astro art and I downloaded the latest version to check the star registration routines. Very confuing coming from CCD Stack. Would you have a link to a tut to get me started or point me in the right direction?

Ok Marc,check your PM.

[midnight]

Lovelly Marc!

I am getting ready to give my 200mm lense a run but I like the round stars you get from fully open aperture. But worried about the quality. You seem quite happy with your lense fully open. Any plans to stop down via an external aperture? I hate the diffraction spikes on the bright stars I get on my Canon lense when I stop down. I would be interested to see your results if you do decide to stop down a bit.

Well done and lovelly to view with such a wide field.

Darrin...

[CoolhandJo]

Wow you were busy that night but you made it look so easy! Lovely images Marc!

[mill]

That looks great for a $60 ebay lens Marc :thumbsup:
Have to try my hand at this one day :)

[multiweb]

Thanks Paul. :thumbsup: 200mm is a sweet image scale for sure.


Thanks Steve. :thumbsup: Could very well be. Can't remember the orientation but the SMC was still pretty low and I started shooting the LMC half way in the tree line. SE does get a little glow from Sydney.


Thanks mate - just did. :thumbsup: I'm interested in any algorithm when it comes to registration CCDIS works well so does registar but they have their limits so I'm always looking out for new methods.


Thanks Darrin.:thumbsup: It's still early days for me. I definitely want to start stopping it to get better star shapes and field. Haven't really thought about how I'm going to go about it yet but I think I'll start with the diaphragm and see how it goes then if need be get a round mask cut out to size and open up the lens again. But I'd say first you need to find the right stop before cutting one up. I have many other lenses that I want to test now as well. So it's going to take a little while to get it right. Plus the processing flow is totally different for me, again...


Thanks Paul. :thumbsup: There wasn't much else to do really. Guiding is a no brainer at that FL and not much can happen within 120s.


Thanks Martin. :thumbsup: Yeah give it a go. It's cheap and easy and it's fun.

[avandonk]

Nice images Marc. I had a play with star reduction with ImagesPlus in the blue and red channels of your LMC image. Must have been a reasonable dark sky site.

Large image here 6MB

http://d1355990.i49.quadrahosting.com.au/2011_07/LMC_ff_12_SRrb_L.jpg

You would get better than this without the far UV.

A UHC-S filter would cut the UV and increase contrast. Try mounting your 48mm UHC-S infront of the lens. This would also act as an aperture of about 43mm and would give you about f/4.6. A Hutech 58mm LPR filter with an open aperure of 53.4mm would get you f/3.75. Most of the CA comes from the outer part of any lens. Even my 300mm Canon lens has slight red and blue at perfect focus from IR and UV as photo lenses are not designed for IR and far UV only visible.

A good LPR filter would also cut the UV.

A longer lens hood would also increase contrast due to to light outside the image area scattering inside the lens that adds to apparent sky fog. A front aperture also stops light from even hitting the inside 'walls' of the lens.

I have been imaging with the one lens (Canon 300mm F2.8L) for years at a light polluted site and have managed to improve by all these little methods that by themselves seem negligible but when added together make all the difference.

Hope this gives you some ideas to try.

Bert

[Tiotion]

Thanks Marc! I have a new desktop pic!

Stunning object and excellent capture!

Cheers
Jack

[multiweb]

Thanks for all that good info Bert. Taking in on board and will try next outing. :thumbsup:


Thanks a lot Jack - I have one too on mine :lol: :thumbsup:

[Ross G]

Hi Marc,

What amazing wide fields. I love all the detail and the subtle colours.

Great photos.


Thanks.

Ross.

[Paul Haese]

I think I like the SMC out of the two. I like the composition and the way you captured the globs. Although some shorter subs for 47Tuc would have really nailed the look. There is some pretty savage star shapes throughout the image and I am sure this has come from being wide open. f4 might have been better to produce nice round stars.

Not sure about the star colours in the LMC shot. There are some pink stars present throughout the image.

Overall both look good and it is only the little things, that can be seen.

[multiweb]

Thanks Ross. :thumbsup: How did you go with yours?


Thanks Paul. :lol: Savage is the right term yep. Still a lot to learn. All good points you've made there and that I am aware of. :thumbsup:

Yes, I have to refined my processing on those pink halos. I think I've got it right on the latest stuff. Might repro this one later on. I also have a 2" Baader fringe killer on the way.

[gregbradley]

Hi Greg, what's a minus violet filter? I have UV/IR cuts. UHC-S and one U filter (fully block visible and IR).[/QUOTE]


A minus violet filter blocks out the violet false colour. I have never used one but know of their use.

Often used by Achromat owners to reduce false colour (out of focus blue/violet).

Greg.

[multiweb]

A minus violet filter blocks out the violet false colour. I have never used one but know of their use.

Often used by Achromat owners to reduce false colour (out of focus blue/violet).

Greg.[/QUOTE]

Got a Baader fringe killer in the mail. Will check that out first. :thumbsup:

[Lester]

Very nice views of the MCs, Marc. Thanks for the views.

[multiweb]

Thanks again Lester. :thumbsup: