Corona Australis (oops)

strongmanmike (Michael) · #1 22-10-2011, 02:47 AM

Well it's been some 3 months since my last image (40min Lum on Corona Australis with the AG12)....so while I wait for my new lap top (being replaced under insurance) to arrive so I can get out there again proper, I decided to do what I have been known to do ocassionally and that's...REPRO

Well it's not really a repro as such but rather a new compilation....

I had wanted to image the Corona Australis region in full colour with the F3.8 AG12 under darker skies but the season for it has disappeared, so alas I have resorted to digging up some old RGB data taken back in 2007 with the Starfire and ProLine11002.

Considering the AG12 luminance data used here was only 8X5min worth taken from horribly light polluted skies in poor seeing when the region was low in the sky

... I added a sythetic lum made out of the Starfire RGB to the 40min of AG12 Lum, to provide a bit of extra punch.

Anyway not the best Corona Australis ever taken and some noise present due to the short exposure and crap conditions (and I like to avoid too much smoothing) but I am just happy to be clicking the mouse around Astroart5 and Photoshop again, yay!

Due to the different field sizes and orientations of the two data sets cropping was required so it is significantly less than the full field of view of the AG12 and PL16803

Here's a version 50% of full size you can shrink to what ever fits on your moniter best Corona Australis

atalas · #2 22-10-2011, 07:34 AM

Dude! quite excellent.

gregbradley · #3 22-10-2011, 08:47 AM

Mate, I thought I was seeing things - an image from Mike

Stunning as usual.

Looking forward to seeing more once you get all your gear setup again.

Greg.

Hagar (Doug) · #4 22-10-2011, 09:01 AM

Ripper Mike. May be a new old one but as usual great image.

tornado33 · #5 22-10-2011, 10:03 AM

gee amazing for only 40 mins, these fast corrected astrographs sure are the go thesedays.

I see you use a Lum filter, I assume its clear to visible but blocks IR light. Have you thought about trying fully unfiltered luminance shots of Corona Australis. With my modded DSLR, if I do not use an IR cut filter, I seem to get a lot more of that dust, I was wondering with your fast rig, doing fully unfiltered luminance will bring in more dusty detail. Cheers
Scott
PS, for a super fast laptop, throw in it a SSD. My 4 year old dell Inspiron boots faster then any mechanical drive equipped laptop now and runs much faster too.

Lester · #6 22-10-2011, 10:09 AM

Very, very nice image Mike. Been cloudy over your way too?

All the best.

desler · #7 22-10-2011, 10:44 AM

Something from mike, glad to see you having a play. It came out really well for such short subs and the compiling of different data sets.

Well done!

Darren

strongmanmike (Michael) · #8 22-10-2011, 01:12 PM

Thanks for checking it out boys, just had to keep the hand in

it kinda looks pretty I guess so I'll take it as a keeper

but 40min Lum in 5min subs plus a bit of synthetic Lum can only be pushed so far.

Scotty, you might be right there but certainly dark skies are the best route to capturing faint dust...t'will happen eventually

Mike

sjastro · #9 22-10-2011, 01:46 PM

Excellent image Mike.

Regards

Steven

bmitchell82 (Brendan) · #10 22-10-2011, 04:03 PM

mmmm om nom nom dust nom.

strongmanmike (Michael) · #11 22-10-2011, 04:30 PM

Ooops, I just realised I posted the wrong version last night

I had processed the image for the stars separately and pasted them back in but then re-sized and posted the version without the stars pasted back in, doh!

...wondered why the stars looked so lifeless today

Have another look if you like

...should "respect the light" more now too

Mike

TrevorW · #12 22-10-2011, 06:19 PM

Very nice indeed

Ross G · #13 22-10-2011, 06:44 PM

A striking photo Mike.

I love the way you have brought out the dust and colours.

Nice composition as well.

Ross.

Paul Haese · #14 22-10-2011, 11:02 PM

Not bad given the exposure time. More data and it is going to be nice.

strongmanmike (Michael) · #15 22-10-2011, 11:19 PM

Thanks guys.

Ross, yes, with so little to work with and given my site it was a challenge to get out even this much.

Paul, will have to wait till next year now I think..?

Cheers

Mike

multiweb (Marc) · #16 24-10-2011, 05:45 PM

Very very cool - love the res and colors in that cluster too. Top shelf

strongmanmike (Michael) · #17 24-10-2011, 06:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by multiweb

Very very cool - love the res and colors in that cluster too. Top shelf

Hey thanks Marc

How you feeling after nearly beating the Kiwi's yesterday huh?? Vive la France

Mike

multiweb (Marc) · #18 24-10-2011, 07:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by strongmanmike

Hey thanks Marc

How you feeling after nearly beating the Kiwi's yesterday huh?? Vive la France

Mike

Great game. They surprisingly played very well.