Eta Carina to M16 in Ha

[multiweb]

This is the one I shot from Crago last saturday with a 50mm lens. I like it because the fov is wider than the 100mm so there's a lot more to see above and under the milkyway. It was a nightmare to stitch though. Primarily due to poor planning. I need to rotate the camera when I image along the galaxy, so better get some kind of rotator next time. It's got some nice details and loads of DSOs around. Even picked up the dark dooda under the southern cross. Eta and the chicken show some structure and details too. Some dark lanes around and you can also clearly see NGC3576 & NGC3603 in the same area. There is a bit of distortion around the pointers panel just after the coalsack and that why I need to rotate the camera as I wrap around the pole (not enough overlap) but it gets better towards ara. YOu still can see the jewelbox partly resolved in the 1:1 though.

Then the usual suspect NGC6188, the prawn/dark tower, cat pas, war and piece, M7, M8/M20 and the pipe nebula up top then M17/M16 and then the dome from Crago observatory that I had to crop :)

There is a really big one here (http://www.astropic.net/astro/milkyway_50mm_ha_ff.jpg)[9MB] and one a bit easier to download here (http://www.astropic.net/astro/milkyway_50mm_ha_f.jpg)[5MB]. I can't get the filesize too low unfortunately. It's a big chunk of sky. Big enough to see the Emu.

To register this one I used a synthetic star map generated with PixInsight then I registered each sub with registar and finished the blend in PS. Because there is obviously a significant distortion on the edge of the 50mm if you have enough overlap in your panels you crop the edges of some in each layer. This way it forces PS to pick up the sharp bits that are on axis in the center of the frames provided you leave enough overlap the auto blend will run fine. If you don't trim your frame corners PS might generate a mask where the 'bad' layer part comes to the top of the stack and hides the good stuff.

Anyway I'm just glad I managed somehow to get it in one long pic. That night was extremely windy. The worst I've seen up there and I was amazed how forgiving the image scale can be at that focal length.
Enjoy the view. :thumbsup:

[Mighty_oz]

I like it, amazing detail for a 50mm hey :) Makes a good pic to plan things off of too.

[multiweb]

Thanks mate. :thumbsup: Yeah it turned out sharp enough. I got lucky with those lens I got from eBay. They do the job. Some time you get a dud. Heard horror stories on expensive ones too....
It's great as a reference map hey? I'm in the process of plate solving them all so I can catalogue interesting stuff that I'd like close ups of with longer FL.

I can't wait for Orion to come back. I'm gonna be all over it. :lol:

[Ross G]

An amazing stretch of sky Marc.

What a great photo map of the Milky Way. You have captured so much detail.

Thanks.

Ross.

[Hagar]

That is one huge image Marc. All that hydrogen up there, perhaps we can pipe some down to earth. Keep my truck running for a while.

[RobF]

Just stunning Marc. Congrats on getting it all together. What a wonderful way to explore the milky way. Thanks so much for putting up the monster in all its glory. I think I'm going to be digging around in here for the next hour, but also keep this as a roadmap (if you don't mind...?) :)

[multiweb]

Thanks a lot mate. :thumbsup:


:lol: Yeah not wong. Thanks Doug. :thumbsup:



No worries Rob. I'm actually about to post a better map I've just finished that you might find more useful. :thumbsup:

[jase]

Magnificent image Marc. A celestial map of sorts providing the sense of spacial relationship between objects. Well done.

[multiweb]

Thanks for the feedback Jase. I'm glad you liked it. :thumbsup:

[gregbradley]

Wow Marc. What a great vista. You've been hard at work.

The planning aspect of mosaics becomes clearer with larger numbers of panels just like Jases' talk at the Gold Coast went over.

Greg.

[multiweb]

Thanks mate. :thumbsup: Yeah I've learnt that the hard way. The camera rotation is quite important and I have to plan better overlap from now on. Will there be an AAIC2011 DVD or CD for release/sale with all the talk or any other media?

[RobF]

In fact you've also done many people a favour by illustrating graphically just HOW important camera rotation is for extra widefield by not cropping in too much Marc. Its pretty obvious just how much the camera tilted over as you went along.

The only other way I've found handy to get my head around this is watching the PA rotate as you move around in Starry NIght with a FOV indicator active (probably stating the obvious to anyone how has ever even dipped a toe into mosaics)

[irwjager]

You're doing some very nice 'off-the-beaten-track' stuff lately Marc - love it!

[multiweb]

I think the best way to start a mosaic like this on the field is to use skysafari on a handheld device and use the camera field and rotation angle. Once you have a preview of the field boundaries all you need to know is what DSO you need to go to next. That's what I did but I didn't rotate the camera as my fixed bracket doesn't allow for rotation. I just have to loosen it up and do a small mod with a lock screw so I can do that next time.

[multiweb]

Thanks Ivo. :thumbsup: When you go wide while still keeping enough resolution for details then a lot of faint stuff turns out. Especially in those Ha rich regions.