The big Eta

[Peter Ward]

Tonight looked reasonably promising for NB.

But, Lo! The Cloud Gods said "Sucker!! :lol:"

Got 20 minutes of Data prior to the Boltwood saying "extremely cloudy" while at same time closing up the dome and leaving for the pub.

Damm, just when the AP Riccardi was starting to purr....

Decided to upload the resulting image at 75% res :eyepop:

Here is the link (http://www.atscope.com.au/BRO/gallery133.html)

[h0ughy]

is that all you got? ;) looks massive FOV

[gregbradley]

Bloody hell that is good. The signal is so dense. Imagine 5 hours worth.

Greg.

[FlashDrive]

Wow ... that's impressive ... dense nebulosity and depth. :thumbsup:

Flash :hi:

[Peter Ward]

Ta Greg. Rolando pulled one of the box with the RHA...I feel very privileged to have one. The field is *uncropped* and yet the edge stars are perfectly formed. A keeper for sure :thumbsup:



Nahh..just started. That's just 1/3rd of pane one of twelve. ;)

[Peter Ward]

Thanks Col....but just getting started on this one :thumbsup:

[Octane]

That is so, so, promising. Wow!

H

[multiweb]

Pretty cool! :thumbsup: Looks like you're heading for a two panel mosaic. The seam should be fairly painless. Your shot borderline for the overlap looks like my on axis stars. :lol:

[Peter Ward]

Thanks Marc....Going for 4 panels...or maybe 8? :D



Thanks H. By the way I ordered a 5D MkIII....they said "end of month"

[JohnG]

Who needs any of this multi hour stuff :lol:......

Looking good, Peter.

Cheers

[White Rabbit]

20 mins, it would take me hours to gather that much data.

Btw the image doesnt open on an ipad. Not sure why.

[Peter Ward]

Thanks John, yep its a bit of a photon magnet, but I'll probably
need at least an hour for each panel in SII..... not that it looks like it will happen any time soon! :rain::rain::rain:

[Peter Ward]

Ah...I noticed the same on my ipad...I think they might have a 2048 x 2048 pixel display limit? The image file is 3072 x 3072

[Octane]

Awesome! :)

Can't wait to get mine, either. ISO-51,200 looks so, so clean. :O

H

[telecasterguru]

Peter,

Mighty fine for such little time.

Frank

[Peter Ward]

Ta Frank.

Eagle eyed observers may have noticed I have reprocessed the image a tad...(actually simply assigned a colour profile as I noticed the web version was darker than my Photoshop screen)

Even more keen eyes may have spotted a faint satellite trail :)

[marc4darkskies]

I know someone who took 3.5 hours to gather that much Ha data. You should be ashamed Peter!! I'm glad you're making it a little more challenging by doing a mosaic! ;)

Look forward to the next installment!

Cheers, Marcus

PS: Almost makes me want to go out and buy an RH!!! :D

[Peter Ward]

:lol: Actually the focal plane is still not quite orthogonal, so I shimmed it up just a *teensy* bit more this morning... I'm expecting the mod will deliver tighter stars across the entire field as the current focus point is a bit of a compromise.

Didn't have any flat field data either :rolleyes:.....

Much, much more to do....:thumbsup:

[Peter.M]

With a field of view like this, do you have to coordinate your imaging with NASA to avoid satelites?

[Peter Ward]

Of course! The NORAD boys often give me a call when they task a satellite.
(ground tracks over Iran are quite popular at the moment...)

....but I suspect the interloper was Russian :lol:

[Peter Ward]

Hummm.. rain.

Looked at what RHA Eta data I had....and stitched it into a mosaic.

This thing could get bigger than Ben Hur.....but decided HD format was good enough for now. ;)

The mosaic link is here (http://www.atscope.com.au/BRO/gallery134.html)

[cventer]

Awesome Peter.

Have you got a higher res version ? I have a big monitor so this only fills 70% of it.

[Peter Ward]

Just for you Chris...now 2500 pixels wide. (I would have made it bigger but the 10 minute section is a little noisy)

[stardust steve]

wow its huge. I love the intense middle part with it thick bright parts then the left hand side of the image where the clouds swirl around thinning out with the black parts visible. I really need to learn the correct terminology:lol: great image:thumbsup:

[Paul Haese]

Is this a single Sub Peter or is this a stack? If so what is the sub duration. Very flat image, looks pretty nice.

[Peter Ward]

We aim to please :)



Top left is two 10 minute subs, bottom right two 5 minute subs (two panel mosaic).

The images were taken a few nights apart, but I'll be resequencing the mosaic keeping only the top left data.

As for the weather...or is it whether? :) I'm sure the mid evening Sydney news will have something to say about that !

:rain: :rain: :rain: :rain: :rain: :rain:

[Ross G]

A great looking photo Peter.

You guys are making Eta C the test target for new telescopes.


Ross.

[Martin Pugh]

I am really liking the pinpoint stars, edge to edge here Peter, particularly with the STX.

I assume you will be able to get to focus with the STX FW?

I am so glad I am on the list for this (since 2009). I will not hesitate to sell my flourite FSQ106 when I get the email that mine is ready to ship.

Cant wait.

Great result Peter.
Martin

[marc4darkskies]

You're a brave man starting a mosaic project in this weather Peter - hats off. Should be a stunner when you finish! Early days I know but I like your treatment of the dynamic range. And those stars look tighter than a gnat's a^^e ... but will reserve final judgement on that till you post even a portion of it at 100%! :P :D

[Peter Ward]

Thanks Martin....I think I may have trumped you by a decade on the RHA
(mine was swapped from May 1999 and for a different scope I suspect Roland will never deliver )

All I needed was a custom adapter (precise parts) for the STX/FWX combo. Works a treat.

The AP-RHA has simply no vices...and sublime 5 micron stars across the entire field...I'm glad to hear you are "on the list" :thumbsup:



Just sticking with "the program" :)

Sorry... my private joke...I knew Eta C was imaged often enough to call it a "standard candle" hence others could compare images they may already have captured as a benchmark :thumbsup:

[Peter Ward]

Tell me about it! Thanks, yes , not-likely :)

I really do appreciate your input Marcus... many simply don't appreciate the
sealing abilities of gnat's sphincters :lol: