Scorpius Dark Nebulae ** added platesolve **

[multiweb]

Here's another shot from BSG pristine skies. Three panels taken over the course of two nights. Each panel is approx. 20x180s again shot with a QHY8 and a SMC Pentax-M 100mm lens stopped down 2 stops.

There's a very big field here (http://www.astropic.net/astro/scorpius_rgb_vr_ff.jpg)[12.2MB]. Unfortunately a big file but it's a really big chunk of sky.

A more friendly download here (http://www.astropic.net/astro/scorpius_rgb_vr_f.jpg) [2.5MB].

I started shooting the snake nebula that John G. was imaging at the time then kept on moving up towards and past M8 as the milkyway went down West. I could have gone the opposite way towards Rho Ophiuchus but it was getting to low already at the time.

The whole field is approx. 27 degrees by 13 degrees. The image scale is 16 arc second per pixel, just enough to still give some nice details in the structures given the area covered.

Hope you like it. Thanks for looking. :thumbsup:

PS: I managed to platesolve the area so I added a negative view for clarity of the main suspetcs and a load of other various clusters in the area.

[Octane]

Splendid!

H

[jjjnettie]

A stunner!

[gregbradley]

That's a ripper Marc. You've got all the little issues with lens imaging sorted out.

Greg.

[Alchemy]

The stitching between panels is seamless.... What program did you use.

[SkyViking]

It's very nice to swim around in the big image, great work!

[multiweb]

Thanks H. :thumbsup:

Thanks JJJ. :thumbsup:

Thanks Greg. :thumbsup: Almost. Couple of reflections I had to work on in the blue channel. You might see some traces of it in the pic. I used a M42 spacer as a small dew shield in the front of the lens threaded directly into the Fringe Killer 2" Baader filter cell and I think the light might have picked up one of the shinny edges on the inside of the spacer.


Thanks Clive. :thumbsup: I use a combination of registar to align and build the panels then PS to auto-blend them. Prior to blending I discard the edges of the panels and try to keep the sharp bits where possible. This way the auto-blend feature makes masks accordingly and it is usually fairly seamless. The color balance might not be 100% true but I like it a bit hot hence emphasis on reds and saturation.

[multiweb]

Thanks a lot Rolf. :thumbsup: I have the other part, which I'll post later on, that takes you from the M8 panel past LBN72 beyond M16, the other way, so North to South. This slice of sky is East to West. The whole mosaicked field looked like a 'L' shape so I thought I'd break it out in two.

[RickS]

That's a lovely view of my (current) favourite part of the sky, Marc!

[Martin Pugh]

Hey Marc
an excellent Milky Way shot, deep, rich colours.

cheers
Martin

[strongmanmike]

Looks like you benifited from the dark skies?

Great result

MIke

[mill]

Very nicely done Marc.

[multiweb]

Thanks Rick. :thumbsup: Yes it's a great area, visualy as well.


Thanks a lot Martin. Glad you liked it. :thumbsup:


Thanks Mike. :thumbsup: Yeah, BSG is a great spot and a great bunch of people down there. Shame I couldn't stay the whole duration. Will be back for more next year for sure. Might bring a couple of fishing rods too. :question:


Thanks a lot Martin. :thumbsup:

[Ross G]

Wow Marc!

Amazing detail, colour and tones.

A beautiful photo.

I think the 100mm is becoming THE lens.

Thanks.

Ross.

[multiweb]

Thanks mate. :thumbsup: My first decent color milkyway. Darks skies are few and far between for me. :P

[desler]

So that's what you were doing on the other side of the fence. Lovely vista!

Darren

[multiweb]

Thanks a lot Darren. :thumbsup: Yeah pegging the tent on the field court would have been totally un-cool. :)

[TrevorW]

Super Marc

[multiweb]

Thanks Trev. :thumbsup:

[Lester]

Wonderful view Marc, thanks. All the best.

[rogerg]

Great wide field. Love the clear contrast of colours and colour balance. Nice framing too. :)

[Hagar]

Nice image Marc. You certainly have the 8 and the 10mm working very nicely together.
I think you could have got away with pegging the tent down in the tennis court without a problem, did you see the quality of the surface, a peg or two wouldn't have hurt very much.

Love the rich colours and the depth you have captured.

[multiweb]

Thanks a lot Lester. :thumbsup:


Thanks for the comments Roger. Glad you liked it. :thumbsup: Looking back at the color a little more blue might be the go. Will probably re-balance later on. :question:


Thanks Doug. :thumbsup: True the tennis court surface is not the best but still.
Btw thanks for that alu block you milled for me for the QHY5. :thumbsup: Glad to report it works great. I had a go guiding last night (very shortly before the clouds) and it does make a big difference. There are a lot more faint stars available to pick from. The difference was very significant from what I'm used to see from home. The QHY9 did focus and capture correctly also. I got only one sub but the field looked terrific and I love the improved image scale. The smaller sensor is also a bonus as I alway get a good field now :) If it's good for the QHY8 it's good for the QHY9.

[Paul Haese]

Very nice work, lovely colours and excellent field of view.

[Tom Davis]

Whoa! Now that is a chunk of sky! What a great shot!

Tom

[multiweb]

Thanks for the comments Paul. :thumbsup:


Thanks Tom. Glad you liked the 'macro dust'. :thumbsup:

[Stevec35]

Most impressive Marc. Very natural looking.

Cheers

Steve

[multiweb]

Thank you Steve. :thumbsup:

[alexch]

Very nicely done! It certainly deserves to be framed and put on a wall.

[sjastro]

Very fine widefield Marc.

Clear skies

Steven

[richardo]

Have to agree Marc, this is glorious!
A beautiful show case of what lies at our galactic centre.
Excellent colours and I wouldn't change a thing!

You're doing some excellent wide fields..
Keep it up!

Rich

[multiweb]

Thanks Alex. :thumbsup: I'll have to run this by the SWMBO first. Next mother's day coming, I might pull a last minute 'sid' . Tada!... :whistle: ;)



Thank you Steven. :thumbsup:



Thanks mate. :thumbsup: I've got most of the bugs worked out now. Very different processing and especially stacking from more conventional image scales but very easy to capture the data, once you've got the focusing routine right. Also very forgiving on the guiding. Everybody needs a break now and then. ;)

[Phil Hart]

really nice Marc.. well composed and executed mosaic.

just one thing i notice.. is the black point the same on the right as on the left? this could be real but looks a little more contrasty on the right hand side?

:thumbsup:

cheers
phil

[multiweb]

Thanks Phil. :thumbsup: You're right. The contrast is not as good on the left. I started on the snake nebula and got the data so fast I thought what the hell, I'll offset and keep shooting until I can't anymore. West had some skyglow from Albury so it did show in the last panel a bit.