Centaurus Extreme Wide Field - Katoomba Airfield

[AstroJason (Jason)]

Hey all,

It's been a while since I have posted any astro photo related images, largely due to work commitments. Before last week the last time I was under a dark sky was in March at Wiruna and the conditions weren't great the night I was there.

It had also been so long that I had forgotten some of my image processing techniques, but it is starting to come back to me.

Last time I imaged this area was about 2 years ago when I mistakenly took 1 sub... it was off centre of my intended target which at the time was Omega. When I got home and checked my images I noticed I had also captured Centaurus A and NGC 4945 in what I thought at the time was a "stuffed up sub". Ever since then I always wanted to try this field again by capturing all 3 objects in the 1 image.

So this was the result of almost 2 hours of exposures. Pretty happy with how this turned out. The approaching tree line on the side of the airfield stopped me from getting my full 2 hours with of images.

A much higher res image can be found here. It is worth a look to see all the small galaxies that dot the field also.

Feedback much appreciated.

Thanks for looking,

Jason

[Paul Haese]

That is a great field of view. If you could get some really deep subs I imagine you would find some cirrus in the field. I like the colour too.

[topheart]

Very interesting field of view for sure!!

Well done,
Tim

[peter_4059 (Peter)]

I like wide field Jason. I don't think I've seen all three of these objects in a single image before.

[AstroJason (Jason)]

Originally Posted by Paul Haese

That is a great field of view. If you could get some really deep subs I imagine you would find some cirrus in the field. I like the colour too.

Thanks Paul, glad you like the field of view and colours. That is interesting, If that's the case I will definitely try longer subs next time, nothing like galactic cirrus through an image. It will no doubt need prob upwards of 5 hours worth to get it.

Originally Posted by topheart

Very interesting field of view for sure!!

Well done,
Tim

Thanks Tim, glad you find it interesting mate.

Originally Posted by peter_4059

I like wide field Jason. I don't think I've seen all three of these objects in a single image before.

Thanks Peter, I really like the wide field stuff too. I still don't have an imaging scope so I am relegated to using my 200mm lens but it is giving me lots of wide field imaging experience. I doubt this is the first time all 3 objects have been captured in a single image though.

[AlexN]

If you went 15% wider again and aimed slightly farther to the east you would have got cg12 in the frame too.

Very nice.

[RickS (Rick)]

That's great, Jason! Really nice to see at a very different scale.

[multiweb (Marc)]

Great field. I tried this one years ago and came up with nothing interesting. Top shelf.

[troypiggo (Troy)]

I agree. That's a fantastic field showing all 3 of the favourites, and deep too. Lovely.

[clive milne]

Beautiful composition Jason....
much respect.
c

[Camelopardalis (Dunk)]

Beautiful mate

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

I really like this Jason, it's very rare to see these three signature southern objects in the same view and well resolved liked this... it's almost like a super naked eye view

An yes, there is certainly plenty of galactic cirrus all around Centaurus A, so if you have the patience and dark skies...go for it mate, would be amazing to see at that field size

Mike

[AstroJason (Jason)]

Originally Posted by AlexN

If you went 15% wider again and aimed slightly farther to the east you would have got cg12 in the frame too.

Very nice.

Interesting, might be worth doing a bit of a mosaic of the area to hit it all in. Cheers.

Originally Posted by RickS

That's great, Jason! Really nice to see at a very different scale.

Thanks Rick, its a little different seeing these familiar objects at this scale. The last few subs I took had the trees in them. I kind of wish I had taken a static frame of the trees at this focal length, you would really get a sense of the scale then.

Originally Posted by multiweb

Great field. I tried this one years ago and came up with nothing interesting. Top shelf.

Thanks Marc, you should try the field again, I am sure you'll be able to get something similar.

Originally Posted by troypiggo

I agree. That's a fantastic field showing all 3 of the favourites, and deep too. Lovely.

Thank you Troy, glad you like it. Going to go deeper next time I think!

Originally Posted by clive milne

Beautiful composition Jason....
much respect.
c

Thanks Clive, I did my best to frame them evenly to fit them all in.

Originally Posted by Camelopardalis

Beautiful mate

Cheers mate, our convo inspired me to process at least one of my shots!

Originally Posted by strongmanmike

I really like this Jason, it's very rare to see these three signature southern objects in the same view and well resolved liked this... it's almost like a super naked eye view

An yes, there is certainly plenty of galactic cirrus all around Centaurus A, so if you have the patience and dark skies...go for it mate, would be amazing to see at that field size

Mike

Thanks heaps Mike, glad you like it mate. I really wish I did include the trees because then it really would look like a super naked eye view. The subs I chucked that had the trees in them (they were streaks obviously) still gave a sense of scale. These really are huge objects on the sky.

All this talk of galactic cirrus has me inspired to gather more data for this. I will definitely be having another go next time I get under dark skies which will hopefully be in 2 weeks time!

Many thanks again all for the kind words.

Jason

[plantnerd (Luis)]

Nice Jason did you use the 70-200 for this one?
I have a similar shot myself

[Regulus (Trevor)]

Superb,

[AstroJason (Jason)]

Originally Posted by plantnerd

Nice Jason did you use the 70-200 for this one?
I have a similar shot myself

Cheers Luis, yes I used the 70-200mm lens for this one at 200mm. You should post your picture, I would like to see it.

Originally Posted by Regulus

Superb,

Thanks Trevor

[Rex]

NIIIIICE!!! That's a really cool image Jason. Great detail for such a wide field, and I think you've processed this nicely. It really puts the relative size of these objects into perspective.

[edwards33 (Roger)]

Hi Jason,

Well done, you should be very proud of yourself

Roger

[AstroJason (Jason)]

Originally Posted by Rex

NIIIIICE!!! That's a really cool image Jason. Great detail for such a wide field, and I think you've processed this nicely. It really puts the relative size of these objects into perspective.

Thanks so much for the kind words Rex. Yes it does help put the relative sizes of each object into perspective. I find it surprising just how large those two galaxies are compared to Omega Centaurus.

Originally Posted by edwards33

Hi Jason,

Well done, you should be very proud of yourself

Roger

Cheers Roger.

[Rod771 (Rod)]

Love this Jason! Super field!

Nice to get something out after a few months eh!