NGC6188/6164 and new observatory setup

[marco]

Dear all, it was a while I have been away from this forum, quite busy with my work and with my wedding :lol:

Eventually I found the time to process a new images taken with the new OTA I installed last February in my observatory in Coona, my trusty TEC APO 140.
I had a lot of issues to proper set up the new imaging train, most of the frames I took had problems of star trails. Eventually I found the culprit to be a counterweight I installed around the OTA to better balance the camera, counterweight that was producing a small bending of the tube enough to produce oval stars. Now it is fixed, pity that me and Peter Starr, the guy that hosts my observatory and support me on the field, spent several months before finding out the real reason.

Here is the first image with the new setup. I chose a popular subject, NGC 6188 in ARA, fascinated by its dark lanes and the faint OIII bubble surrounding the nearby NGC6164. This is a classical HaOIII RGB composition with a total exposure of more than 17 hours. Here is the link:

http://www.glitteringlights.com/Images/deepsky/13667287_YtYhj#1381928346_fck28cW-X3-LB

A zoomify version up to full resolution / full screen is accessible from the link above. Despite the long exposure, I found the shell of NGC6188 very difficult to image and, overall, this field is quite a challenge because of the huge amount of stars present that suffocate a bit the nebulae. I hope you will like it.

Clear Skies
Marco

[Mighty_oz]

Thanks for posting that, i'm adding that little neb to my own 6188 pic and wondered what it was called :) Your version will of course and does look better.
Gives me something to aim for :)

[Octane]

As always, your work is top of the league.

Fabulous image, Marco.

A pleasure to view.

H

[marco]

Thanks Mighty!



Thanks H, as always you are too nice :)

Clear skies
Marco

[Ross G]

Very nice photos Marco.

The colous are beautiful.

You image from a wonderful dark area.


Thanks.

Ross.

[Alchemy]

Lovely detail in the o3 shell

[gregbradley]

Another great image Marco. The stars are lovely tiny pinpoints.

Its good to see another TEC APO being used.

Greg.

[Lester]

Wonderful view Marco, one of the best I have seen. Thanks for the view.

[multiweb]

Wow! This is so nice! Very cool. :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

[marco]

Thanks Marc



Thanks Lester



Thanks Greg, it was time for my TEC to get back collecting light, during the last 2 years it was collecting only dust ;)



Thanks Clive



Thanks Ross, indeed the dark skies of Coonabarabran make the difference when it comes to deep fields :thumbsup:

Clear Skies
Marco

[strongmanmike]

Hey Marco, this field looks veeery familiar :confuse3::thumbsup:

Lovely work, the HaOIII combination you use works very well.

Mike

[gregbradley]

What sort of seeing do you get at Coonabarabran and what altitude is it at?

Greg.

[renormalised]

Beautiful rendition of a great bit of sky there, Marco:)

The colours are perfect...or near enough. Stars are pintpoints. Excellent work:)

[Peter Ward]

Wow. ( Damm your pristine Coona skies :) )

Probably the best rendition of Ara I've seen to date. Just excellent
:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

[bokglob]

Marco, your photo's are a testament to your dedication and passion. Stunning as usual:thumbsup:

[Paul Haese]

Fantastic work. Lovely rendering and superb view.

[marco]

Thanks Paul



Thanks Darrel



Hehe, those skies are the (not so) secret ingredients in my images ;) Thanks for the nice comment Peter



Thanks Carl, talking about color perfection is always a very difficult topic in our passion :shrug: I'm happy you like them :)



Well, seeing in Coona is not outstanding, usually I have around 3" plus on color filters during steady nights :rolleyes:. Therefore I need to pay lots of attention to keep the stars at the minimum size during the image processing. If the object permits it, I always shoot above 40 degrees, if possible around the meridian passing.



Haha, I saw your rendition Mike, and despite I never liked mapped color images (sorry, can't help :shrug:) you did a great job with your shot!
Thanks for the comments

Clear Skies
Marco

[richardo]

Insane image Marco...... just simply stunning.
Love this area!
You've done an excellent job with processing and the outer shell from the Wolf Rayet star is superb, some lovely detail to the bubble and love the vivid colours.
Great you've sorted your issue out..... with images like this... wow, look forward to many more!

Rich

[John Hothersall]

That is just stunning and love the Zoomify, 6164 planetary neb shell is just pure class.

John.

[atalas]

Excellent!

[SkyViking]

Just fantastic! The shell looks amazing and very delicate. I love the colours too, it looks great and very natural while you have still managed to bring out all those fabulous details. Thanks for sharing!

[marco]

Thanks Rich, it was the and of a nightmare finding out the reason of the bending problems :cool:
Now I still have other issues to sort out to be fully operational but at least can imaging..



Thanks John



Thanks Louie



Thanks Rolf for the appreciation :)

Clear Skies
Marco

[jase]

Fantastic work Marco. You've really nailed the Ha/OIII blend bring out some remarkable features. Some celestial scenes work better than others using this combo. This along with your Vela supernova remnant image really shine. Looking forward to seeing more of your work with the TEC140.

[Bassnut]

The zomify version is stunningly good, the thumbnails are stunningly bad and useless.

[marco]

Thanks Jase, I agree, these objects emitting in OIII are very interesting



Hehe, thanks Fred, I am happy that at least one of the versions pleased you :P

Clear Skies
Marco

[Hagar]

Very nice Marco. You do a lovely job of these faint and delicate areas.

Beautifully done again.

[marco]

Thanks Doug for your nice comment!

Clear Skies
Marco

[TrevorW]

Congradulations on the APOd for this one Marco

[OzRob]

Congratulations on another APOD Marco.

[gregbradley]

A well deserved NASA APOD Marco.

Its hard to take an image of an object commonly imaged and make it a standout like you did.

Greg.

[marco]

Thanks Greg :)



Thanks Rob, now that we are "neighbors" you will see that imaging under that dark sky will give you lots of satisfaction and great images :thumbsup:



Thanks Trevor, got back after a biz trip and found this nice surprise, quite unexpected!

Clear Skies
Marco