Large 2M pic of Carina

avandonk · #1 23-09-2005, 09:25 PM

Hi all finally got round to organising a site to host pictures.You will find a 2M picture of Carina that I have put up previously, 150k does not do it justice.Tell me what you think.

http://users.bigpond.net.au/avandonk/Carina02.jpg

Bert

RB (Andrew) · #2 23-09-2005, 09:31 PM

Absolutely breathtaking Bert!
Well done.

Andrew

h0ughy (David) · #3 23-09-2005, 09:38 PM

yes exactly what RB said, I got lost finding the edge......

the clarity and the definition o fthe dark nebulae is wonderful

atalas · #4 23-09-2005, 09:51 PM

Looks great Bert ! makes me feel like exploring with a magnifier ,very 3D looking .

Louie

seeker372011 (Narayan) · #5 23-09-2005, 09:58 PM

stunning image..guess it was a mosaic?was it?

what scope/camera/exposure did you use?

iceman (Mike) · #6 23-09-2005, 10:04 PM

Wow! The keyhole is so clear!

You must be very happy with that shot! It's a stunner. Congrats!

avandonk · #7 23-09-2005, 10:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by seeker372011

stunning image..guess it was a mosaic?was it?

what scope/camera/exposure did you use?

No not a mosaic.This was taken with a 20D and a Canon 300mm F2.8L at F2.8.The camera was piggy back on a saxon 600mm F5 on a HEQ5 autoguided mount.Toucam to Guidedog to parallel port relay box wired into hand controller.
I used a Hutech nebula filter NBN-PV.The exposures were for 6x271 sec at an ISO of 800.Noise reduction was by a method Tornado33 put me onto using Photoshop.I used registar for stacking and Photoshop for adjusting.Then used GradientXterminator for any residual variation of the 20D's sensor.
It has taken me six months to get to this stage.This is what astrophotography is all about,always learning more.It would have to be the most difficult and demanding form of photography.
I am pleased with one thing, the quality of the optics of the Canon 300mm F2.8L is all they say it is,almost perfect.Try zooming in,you will see what I mean.
All images were RAW to Tiff (25m) and the final image is a 25m tiff which converts to about a 7m jpg.All image manipulation was done in tiff.

Bert

beren · #8 23-09-2005, 11:09 PM

Wow ...super

gaa_ian (Ian) · #9 23-09-2005, 11:09 PM

I love It

I now have a new wallpaper for my Laptop

avandonk · #10 23-09-2005, 11:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gaa_ian

I love It

I now have a new wallpaper for my Laptop

Feel free to use it.They haven't privatised the sky yet have they?

Bert

astro_south (Andrew) · #11 23-09-2005, 11:52 PM

Wow

ditto to the wallpaper idea

Itchy · #12 24-09-2005, 12:08 AM

Very nice indeed Avandonk

Is your 20D modified? If not, the nebula filter has done a great job of bringing out the Ha. Of course a great processing effort as well. Congratulations.

Cheers

gaa_ian (Ian) · #13 24-09-2005, 12:23 AM

Hi Andrew, how's your sky down there ?
I have just been out for a quick peek at Andromeda & Mars !
Clear skies but seeing is average.

avandonk · #14 24-09-2005, 12:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Itchy

Very nice indeed Avandonk

Is your 20D modified? If not, the nebula filter has done a great job of bringing out the Ha. Of course a great processing effort as well. Congratulations.

Cheers

No it is not modified,but when 'processing' kept in mind not to introduce artefacts.The Hutech filters are very good.I can change the nebula filter for the LPR filter and focus does not change!The nice thing about the Canon 300mm F2.8L it has a rear filter holder 48mm ie 2" eyepiece filtersize.Which makes it a very useful astrophotography optic.I am still learning what this system is capable of.What i was attracted to was the fast (F2.8) capabilities of this lens for imaging faint nebulae.
This image was produced in my backyard in Eltham Vic.(20kfrom Melbourne) What it would do at a dark sky site I have yet to find out.

Bert

astrojase · #15 24-09-2005, 04:32 AM

which relay box is it bert? kitsrus?

davidpretorius · #16 24-09-2005, 07:36 AM

Yes I also now have a new wall paper, stunning image, have you submitted to AS&T?

What magnification, you have your camera piggybacked, so you are not using your optics of your scope, just the stability of your mount???

Striker (Tony) · #17 24-09-2005, 08:13 AM

Awesome Shot Bert....I love it

That 300mm F2.8 must of cost a pretty penny.

avandonk · #18 24-09-2005, 08:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by davidpretorius

Yes I also now have a new wall paper, stunning image, have you submitted to AS&T?

What magnification, you have your camera piggybacked, so you are not using your optics of your scope, just the stability of your mount???

I was thinking of submitting to AS&T finally as in the past I still thought I could do better.The field of view is the full 20D sensor 23.8x15 mm with a 300mm optic gives 4.58x 2.86 degrees.
Yes it is the kitsrus relay box.
Even though the saxon is only an achromat (600mm F5) with the toucam capable of being moved laterally can always find a guidestar without changing the framing of the target object.There is a focal reducer in front of the toucam to give a final focal length of 350mm for the guidescope.
Here is a picture of the setup.

Bert

davidpretorius · #19 24-09-2005, 08:29 AM

thanks for the scope picture Bert, very informative for me.
i was not thinking of you using a telephoto on your camera!! silly me!

Please submit it, we can then take all your glory!!!

acropolite (Phil) · #20 24-09-2005, 08:34 AM

Fantastic result, I wouldn't bother waiting before submitting; your image is way above the pack. Ok before the uninitiated race out to buy a DSLR and 300mm F2.8 L lens, I'm going to ask the obvious.... Just how much does the 300mm F2.8 Lens cost...