M7- sapphires amongst gold

richardo (Rich) · #1 01-06-2011, 11:02 PM

Managed to get something in between horrid weather.
I really like this cluster as it just seems to swim in amongst the stars.
I kept the exposures very short as the conditions were very dewy and the seeing a little iffy, helped to keep the stars fairly small.
Really not much processing went into this.

Have my new focuser in now. Removed my old DC motor focuser and I'm still waiting for my new stepper motor focus system to arrive. So this was focused by hand; forgot how time consuming it is when the weather is all over the place, especially at F4.

For a look, just hit the thumb nail on my front page
http://www.baytop-observatory.com/

all the best
Rich

DavidU (Dave) · #2 01-06-2011, 11:09 PM

A fine image Richardo. Great colours, amidst a fog of background stars.
Nice one.

strongmanmike (Michael) · #3 01-06-2011, 11:34 PM

Wonderful star density, it seems to never end, just continues into the image background... and the cluster just pops out, lovely shot

Mike

telemarker (Keith) · #4 02-06-2011, 12:22 AM

Another fine image Rich. Even with the rusty the focusing skills, there's nothing wrong with your eye, the focus is spot on. Its a pretty cluster that I must image rather than keep going past for more exotic fare. You've done it justice.

richardo (Rich) · #5 02-06-2011, 12:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DavidU

A fine image Richardo. Great colours, amidst a fog of background stars.
Nice one.

Thanks David!
I'm not a great open cluster fan, but last year when testing my new ccd, I fell in love with this one. So, thought I'd get at least a colour image of it this year.

Quote:

Originally Posted by strongmanmike

Wonderful star density, it seems to never end, just continues into the image background... and the cluster just pops out, lovely shot

Mike

Thank you Mike!
No hours worth of data here, but these intense areas, the signal just cancels out the noise so it's really great to not have to spend hours to get something reasonable. Of course having a fast newt certainly helps

Quote:

Originally Posted by telemarker

Another fine image Rich. Even with the rusty the focusing skills, there's nothing wrong with your eye, the focus is spot on. Its a pretty cluster that I must image rather than keep going past for more exotic fare. You've done it justice.

Thanks for that Keith!
It certainly is a pretty object! With a wider field you'll get some great dark rifts as well, plus there's a PN in amongst the star field somewhere..
Yeah, my eyes arn't too bad, but the FWHM does also help... although the numbers were jumping around a lot so went for the star spikes in the end to confirm I was at least close.

Thanks guys for the comments!

All the best
Rich

SkyViking (Rolf) · #6 02-06-2011, 08:05 AM

That's a very nice image of one of the most beautiful clusters out there. Very smooth, with great colour contrast - well done!

multiweb (Marc) · #7 02-06-2011, 08:34 AM

Knowing your image scale and the FL you usually image at I was looking for something special and I'm not disappointed. As Mike said where does it end? So many stars. Top stuff!

gregbradley · #8 02-06-2011, 09:16 AM

A very pretty image and you got those background stars looking fabulous which isn't that easy to do.

Greg.

Greg Bock (Greg Bock) · #9 02-06-2011, 09:17 AM

Wow, well done Rich.
How many times have I looked at this by eye and in images, but I've never seen it look so wonderful!
BTW, it's great to see a home-built scope deliver such a high quality.

Hagar (Doug) · #10 02-06-2011, 09:49 AM

What a Rich star field. Pun intended. The colours are just striking. Lovely crisp sharp image with detail to die for.

Doomsayer · #11 02-06-2011, 10:30 AM

Just lovely! A veritable sea of jewels.
guy

suma126 (Shane) · #12 02-06-2011, 02:07 PM

beautiful well done

richardo (Rich) · #13 02-06-2011, 05:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SkyViking

That's a very nice image of one of the most beautiful clusters out there. Very smooth, with great colour contrast - well done!

Cheers for the comments Rolf!

Quote:

Originally Posted by multiweb

Knowing your image scale and the FL you usually image at I was looking for something special and I'm not disappointed. As Mike said where does it end? So many stars. Top stuff!

Thanks a heap Marc!

Quote:

Originally Posted by gregbradley

A very pretty image and you got those background stars looking fabulous which isn't that easy to do.

Greg.

Cheers Greg! I did do some tests and found that the short exposures really brought out what I wanted. I didn't want the continuous carpet look, where it was hard to define one star from another, but to leave a little background to give depth.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Greg Bock

Wow, well done Rich.
How many times have I looked at this by eye and in images, but I've never seen it look so wonderful!
BTW, it's great to see a home-built scope deliver such a high quality.

Thanks Greg!
I remember my days when looking through the eye piece.. those cold crisp nights with seeing to die for almost falling into some of these clusters as the depth revealed itself.. nice to try and reproduce it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hagar

What a Rich star field. Pun intended. The colours are just striking. Lovely crisp sharp image with detail to die for.

Thanks Doug.. (<BG>)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doomsayer

Just lovely! A veritable sea of jewels.
guy

Thanks Guy!

Quote:

Originally Posted by suma126

beautiful well done

Cheers Shane!

Thanks guys for taking the time to comment.
Always appreciated

All the best
Rich

atalas · #14 02-06-2011, 05:20 PM

Beautiful work mate.

John Hothersall · #15 02-06-2011, 06:51 PM

That is a great result and love the brown star background as contrast, glorious image of this cluster.

John.

Peter Ward · #16 02-06-2011, 11:39 PM

What's not to like? Very well executed

richardo (Rich) · #17 03-06-2011, 06:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by atalas

Beautiful work mate.

Hey Louie, cheers mate....
Straight out of the camera with nothing special in the way of processing.. gotta love it when it's that simple!

Quote:

Originally Posted by John Hothersall

That is a great result and love the brown star background as contrast, glorious image of this cluster.

John.

Thank you John!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Peter Ward

What's not to like? Very well executed

Thanks for that Peter...

Cheers you guys for all your comments!!
All the best

Rich

Paul Haese · #18 03-06-2011, 06:40 PM

Superb image Rich. Great colour and a really flat field to the edges. Really nice work.

Stevec35 (Steve) · #19 03-06-2011, 06:40 PM

Very nice Rich. The star colours are just about perfect.

Cheers

Steve

richardo (Rich) · #20 04-06-2011, 12:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paul Haese

Superb image Rich. Great colour and a really flat field to the edges. Really nice work.

Hi Paul, cheers mate for the complements! Yes I ran about 5 lums through CCD inspector and was really happy with how flat things are especially since I've just upgraded my focuser. My old ML focuser just wasn't handling the extra weight I have these days. Very happy with the Feather Touch.
Hear you might be purchasing a new CCD... If so I can only vouch that it would be a great buy.. Rob & I are best of buds.. he did mention you were interested. It would be an excellent match with your new 12" RC with out a doubt!
Certainly be looking forward to what you will be cranking out soon!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stevec35

Very nice Rich. The star colours are just about perfect.

Cheers

Steve

Thanks Steve... with such a short amount of data it made adding extinction factors fairly precise to my rgb weights so the colours should be fairly good.
Nice if all objects came together this easily

, Still where would the fun be in that!

Thanks guys for taking the time to comment

All the best
Rich