Some 50mm Ha widefields

[multiweb]

Did an all-nighter last night as Friday night looked best for this new moon week-end imaging in Sydney. The sky wasn't too bad although a little hazy.

I got a few fields much wider this time with a SMC Pentax-M 50mm 4 stops down. The lens has a fair bit of coma fully opened.

I wanted to see what was around Cygnus so 50mm is good to get the whole area in one shot. I have a big pic here (https://skydrive.live.com/?cid=6930D3AD12D5044C&id=6930D3AD12D5044C%21863#cid=6930D 3AD12D5044C&id=6930D3AD12D5044C%211272). NGC6960 (https://skydrive.live.com/?cid=6930D3AD12D5044C&id=6930D3AD12D5044C%21863#cid=6930D 3AD12D5044C&id=6930D3AD12D5044C%211271) is the familiar one that many here image as well (right of the field). You can also see the crescent nebula at the top edge of the frame and other nebulosity around.

As the LMC (https://skydrive.live.com/?cid=6930D3AD12D5044C&id=6930D3AD12D5044C%21863#cid=6930D 3AD12D5044C&id=6930D3AD12D5044C%211274)was getting higher I kept shooting that too and before sunrise I couldn't help having another quick shot at the barnard loop (https://skydrive.live.com/?cid=6930D3AD12D5044C&id=6930D3AD12D5044C%21863#cid=6930D 3AD12D5044C&id=6930D3AD12D5044C%211273).

Thanks for looking. :thumbsup:

[Star Catcher]

Excellent widefields Marc, I enjoyed these. I have decided to get back to doing more widefileds. Actually started last night, so I'll see what brings.
Ted

[h0ughy]

i like those, shows heaps

[atalas]

Very nice Marc!

[multiweb]

Thanks mate - sounds good. :thumbsup:





Thanks guys. The QHY9 with the 50mm is way better than my QHY8. Smaller pixels and better res. I never got much out the 8 at 50mm, especially in the reds because of the bayer matrix. I'm now reshooting a lot of NB stuff with the 9. Big difference :) A bigger aperture 50mm lens would be nice though.

[gregbradley]

Those are way cool shots Marc. Wow, you got the Nth America neb and the Veil. The Orion shot turned out great too.

I am not so sure about a faster aperture 50mm frmo Pentax. I have a 55mm 6x7 lens and it needs to be stopped down so any gain from faster F ratio you probably can't use anyway.

A Nikon or Canon 50mm F1.8 may be the go though. I have used a Nikon 50mm F1.8 and it seemed sharp wide open. I had the Canon equivalent and I tested both against each other and they seem identical in terrestial shots.

Greg.

[RobF]

The problem for imagers going with a QHY9 image train is the focal length of canon lens versus Pentax though Greg. Those extra few mm of backfocus make sorting adaptors easier. I suspect your 6x7 has even more backfocus to play with. You pretty well have to take the outer window off a QHY9 to fit a canon on, which is doable of course, just not ideal.


Mark, those are inspiring shots for sure. I just love how you make this look so easy. Hoping weather allows me some Barnard's loop fun this year, but the Cygnus area shot is one I wouldn't have though of. Qld Astrofest one of the best Northern horizons I see up here, but always seems a shame to shoot Ha at a dark sky site :)

[multiweb]

This lens is f/2. I had to stop it down to f/5.6 It seems that all my Pentax lenses perform better at the f/5.6 mark. but the lens aperture is really tiny. Something wider would be great. Ross brought an old Pentax 100mm 6x7 at the last meeting and it was as big as a small SCT :lol: I even had its own carry bag, with shoulder strap :)

I never tried any other make than Pentax because of my adpaters and back focus. I wanted to keep it simple that's why I built up the selection on the same models M Primes.


When I use the QHY9 with those lenses I always remove the nosepiece. I insert the Ha filter inside the lens adapter. I also have two dessicant plugs that I microwave and recharge each time I use the camera. I'm always worried about secondary reflections with the nosepiece like the 8.


Nothing to it mate. Just practice. If you nail the focus that's 99% of the job. At 50mm I go by the numbers as the stars are two small to see any definite patterns. From 100mm onwards I confirm focus one way or the other with a small bathinov. Then stick the whole lot in socks.

Yeah , cygnus would be good value for you brissie guys. Nab a few extra degrees up :P

[jjjnettie]

:) The Orion region is my favourite. Wow.

[John Hothersall]

Thats a great combination of harware, Barnards loop is wonderful there is nebula everywhere. LMC looks a grand sight.

John.

[multiweb]

Thanks JJJ. :thumbsup:


Thanks John. :thumbsup: My LMC shots for some reason are always noisy. I think I get a lot more moisture saturated air southwards and it is still a little low. Too much airglow from the M7/M5 intersection as well.

The barnard loop was only as a filler before sunrise and a last minute decision so only 6x10min. It rises above my two storey roof quite late in the morning. I would need a lot more exposure to really do it justice.

It's in my plans to do a full Ha mosaic of the Barnard Loop and much fainter Eridanus loop which is just west of it from Aldebaran upwards. That would be about 50x25 degrees of sky but I think a 35mm will do it in a few panels.

[dvj]

These are lovely images. Expecially the LMC. You can see the outer spiral arm sweep if you stretch the curves a bit more. Which is very intresting. Don't mind the little bit of noise at all.

j

[prokyon]

Wow, a very nice compilation!

[marc4darkskies]

Very cool Marc!! But ... where's the colour? ;)

Cheers, Marcus

[multiweb]

Thanks John. :thumbsup: Yes it starting to show some spiral structure. More data when it's higher will make the contrast a lot better.


Thanks a lot Werner. :thumbsup:


Thanks Marcus. :thumbsup: No colour for me with the QHY9. Would take too long to capture too. I don't use a filter wheel.

[Martin Pugh]

Well done on these Marc. I particularly like Barnard's Loop.

cheers
Martin

[SkyViking]

Some awesome shots you got there Marc. The LMC really looks quite different in HA with all those bright knots, and that Barnard's Loop image is just beautiful. Great work.

[multiweb]

Thanks. It came out ok but a little noisy. I'll reshoot it with a 35mm and longer subs next time.

[multiweb]

Thanks a lot Rolf. There is a lot happening in the LMC for sure. I'm waiting for it to come up a bit higher next month or so.

[Ross G]

Great wide photos Marc.

Really like Barnards Loop with Orion. I am looking forward to also imaging this soon.


Ross.

[multiweb]

Thanks mate. :thumbsup: How did you go with that big Pentax 100mm?

[Stevec35]

You're pretty darn good at this Ha stuff Marc. Barnards's loop is probably my favourite of the three but the Cygnus shot is exceptionally well composed. So much good stuff in one frame.

Cheers

Steve

[multiweb]

Thanks Steve. :thumbsup: I usually take a GIF snapshot of the field in SkyChart then look for the brightest stars on the edges of the field when focusing in the area. That gives me an accurate framing for all this faint stuff. The main problem is not to get the neighbours too suspiscious when imaging that low. ;)