Pleiades from coonabarabran

[Ross G]

Hello,

Finally got to Coonabarabran last week.

I haven't been able to get there since March and I was rewarded with 3 beautiful nights.

This is my first photo from the trip, the Pleiades. Also the first time I have photographed them.

Please excuse the field rotation, my latitude setting was out by 2.5 degrees on the first night. No wonder my PHD graph was a zigzag show all night!
However my new EQ6 mount handled it well on its first outing.

What do you think?

http://smu.gs/PI3Uvs

Thanks for looking.

Ross.

A COMBINATION OF 10MIN, 5MIN & 2.5 MIN EXPOSURES.
25 FRAMES TOTALING 120 MINUTES.

WO110 MEGREZ REFRACTOR.
EQ6 MOUNT.
WO66 GUIDE SCOPE.

QHY8L CCD.
ORION STARSHOOT GUIDE CAMERA.

PHD.
EZYCAP.
DSS.
PHOTOSHOP CS2.

[Larryp]

That's a superb image, Ross:thumbsup:

[RickS]

Nice colours and you captured a lot of nebulosity, Ross!

[tilbrook@rbe.ne]

Beautiful Ross!
Very nice colour saturation.

Cheers,

Justin.

[atalas]

Looks great Ross....love the fluffy background.

[multiweb]

Superb shot Ross. You got the colours just right. Love the dark nebs in the background. No small feat to capture when you have those bright stars in the foreground flooding everything with light. One for the pool room. :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

[Stevec35]

Nicely done Ross

Cheers

Steve

[Rigel003]

Beautiful image, Ross. Well done. You don't see that faint outlying nebulosity in most photos.

[alpal]

Looks nice Ross - you lucky devil imaging from Coonabarabran! :)

[Irish stargazer]

Stunning shot :bowdown:

[David Fitz-Henr]

Great shot Ross! You've captured a lot of extended nebulosity there as well - well done.

[ourkind]

A beautiful image!!

[cybereye]

Ross,

What a fantastic shot!! You're really setting the standard for we QHY8L users! :thumbsup:

Cheers,
Mario

[alan meehan]

What a lovely shot Ross one of the best i have seen ,great nebulosity in the background ,stunning
AL

[strongmanmike]

Good one Ross, great location = great shot, even with the field rotation, nice blues in that.

Mike

[naskies]

Great work - all the wispy grey nebulosity is fantastic.

I like your Dark Horse Nebula rendition too... I happened to take one a few months ago (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=91391) with virtually identical composition so it caught my eye :lol:

[Ross G]

Thanks Larry.



Hi Rick,

The dark skies at Coonabarabran really brought out the nebulosity.

Thank you.



Thanks Justin.

I was very pleased with the depth of colour. Glad you like it.

[Ross G]

Hi Louie,

Thank you, I'm glad you like it.

The dark Coona skies really brought out the faint detail..

[Ross G]

Hi Marc,

Really happy that you like it.

The dark skies really helped.

Thank you.

[Ross G]

Hi Graeme,

Thanks for the good comments. Glad you like it.



Hi Allan,

Coonabarabran is a great spot. Unfortunately I have only gotten there twice this year. I think your mountain site would be even better.

Glad you like the photo.

Thanks.



Thanks Steve.

[Ross G]

Hi John, thanks for the great comment.

Good to hear from a fellow Cherrybrookian.

Know any good local spots?



Thank you David, glad you like it.

The Coona skies have brought out so much detail. Nothing beats a dark sky.

[Ross G]

Thank you Carlos. Glad you enjoyed it.



Hi Mario,

Thanks for the kind comments. You have been producing some great photos yourself with the QHY8L. I think it's a great camera.



Hi Alan,

Thank you for your encouraging comments.

I think the dark Coonabarabran skies deserve the credit.

Glad you like the photo.

[Ross G]

Hi Mike,

Thank you, I am glad you like the photo.

You are right about a good location.
The dark Coonabarabran skies have brought out so much unexpected detail in all the photos I took.
Even my Ha widefields show much more detail than from Sydney.

I'm looking forward to processing and showing the rest of them.

[Ross G]

Hi Dave,

Thank you, I'm glad you like it. The beautiful dark skies at Coonabarabran really brought out detail I was not expecting.

Our Dark Horse Nebulas are identical and were taken with nearlly identical equipment. Mine was a Nikon 180mm F2.8 lens on a QHY8L ccd....great minds think alike!
A friend of mine also has a Canon 135mm F2.0 that he uses on a Canon 5D Mk1. It is such a great combination for astro work and shows very little CA.

[stardust steve]

just superb:thumbsup:

[marco]

Excellent Ross! This is an amazing result considering the relatively low elevation of M45 from Coona.. now you make me think about trying that as well :)

Clear skies
Marco

[alpal]

Ross,
Hi Allan,


Hi Ross,
Coonabarabran is a famous site.
Don't worry - I'll be back to Mt Baw Baw as soon as I can -
this time armed with a QHY9.:)

[John Hothersall]

Great image lots of faint gas and glorious colour, probably the best gal cluster. Many get asteroid trails in their M45 images.

John.

[iceman]

Stunning image Ross. Well captured and processed!

This is now IOTW (http://www.iceinspace.com.au).

[cybereye]

Congratulations Ross on IOTW!! :thumbsup:

[multiweb]

Whohoo! Well done Ross! :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

[lacad01]

Lots of nice detail, great stuff :thumbsup:

[stardust steve]

congrats on :thumbsup: IOTW!

[alan meehan]

:thumbsup:Grongratulations Ross on IOTW,well deserved
AL

[David Fitz-Henr]

A well deserved IOTW Ross - Congratulations!

[Ross G]

Thank you Steve.

Glad you like it.

[Ross G]

Hi Marco,

Really happy that you like it and thanks for the kind comments.
I have to thank the amazing Coonabarabran skies for the amount of detail I was able to capture.
If you think M45 was low, I imaged M31 for the 3 nights also and it just managed to clear the trees!

Good luck with imaging M45, you should be able to produce something really special.

Thank you.

[Ross G]

The QHY9 should capture you some amzing photos from your dark mountain.
I had my QHY9 imaging Ha with a Nikon 180mm lens at Coonabarabran. I'm still to process those shots.

[Ross G]

Hi John,

Thanks for the kind comments and advice.

Glad you like the photo.

[Ross G]

Hi Mike,

Thank you very much.

I have gotten home from a long and not too nice day so this has been a pleasant surprise.
I have a smile on my face!

Thanks.

[Ross G]

Thanks Mario.

Check your pm's.



Thank you Marc....love your crystal ball!



Thank you Adam. Glad you like it.



Thank you Steve.



Thanks Alan.



Thank you David, although I have to say it was the amazing Coonabarabran skies that should take the credit.

[alpal]

Hi Ross,
If I can get a low wind night on Mt Baw Baw -
there is hardly a better site - at 5,000 feet the sky is overwhelming.
see a pic with my Canon EOS 1000d & kit lens from there:
http://s262.photobucket.com/albums/ii119/alpal2002/?action=view&current=SouthernCrossabovetreesatBa wBawmediumsize.jpg

click to see the full 1944 x 1296 size -
so many stars that you don't see the Southern Cross immediately.

I'd like to see your QHY9 Ha images if you post them.
Congratulations on the IOTW - well deserved.

cheers
Allan

[RickC]

Great image Ross, framing and extra nebulosity make this a winner
Congratulations on IOTW

Richard

[astronobob]

Magic Capturing & IOTW, It has an astounding amount of Neb Ross, Awesome & Congratts !

[Martin Pugh]

Hi Ross
congrats on IOTW - well deserved, great image.

cheers
Martin

[atalas]

Congrats on your IOTW Ross!

[Ross G]

Hi Allan,

Thank you.

Mt Baw Baw sounds and looks like a great site.

I did take Ha photos with the QHY9 and Nikon 180mm at Coonabarabran.

I will post once I process them. The initial shots show a lot of detail.

[Ross G]

Hi Richard,

Thanks for the kind comments.

A shame you couldn't make it to Coonabarabran. You were really missed.

[Ross G]

Thanks Bob,

Glad you liked the photo.

Ross.

[Ross G]

Hello Martin,

Thank you for your encouraging comments.

Glad you like the photo.

[Ross G]

Hi Louie,

Thank you...it was you who suggested I photograph The Pleiades.