Wishing Well Cluster

[TrevorW]

Target: NGC3532 Wishing Well Cluster
Camera: Canon 350d modified Baader 2” Skyglow filter
Exposure Capture: DLSR Focus
Scope: Orion 80 ED
Mount: EQ6 Pro
Exposure Setting: Prime focus, ISO800 ICNR off Daylight WB
Exposures: 10 x 330s total 55m taken 03/04/09 between 7:30pm and 8:30pm
Seeing: Average, waxing gibbous moon 65%
Guiding: Orion Starshoot Autoguider using PHD
Focus: DSLR Focus
Stacking: DSS 3darks, 1flats, no bias applied stacking time 15-20 minutes
Processing: PS CS3, PS7, Maxim Dl, Neat Image, NC Actions applied


IMO open clusters are the hardest to process and obtain an appealing result without adding diffraction spikes, any help here with a step by step guide would be appreciated


Info: Situated in the Carina

Right Ascension 11 : 06.4 (h:m) Declination -58 : 40 (deg:m) Distance 1.3 (kly) Visual Brightness 3.0 (mag) Apparent Dimension 55 (arc min)
Discovered by Lacaille 1752. The considerable southern open cluster NGC 3532 is one of the Southern Sky's finest Jewels. NGC 3532 was discovered by Abbe Lacaille on January 25, 1752 from South Africa, and cataloged as Lacaille II.7.
NGC 3532 got it's nickname "The Wishing Well Cluster" because the twinkling stars in this Open Cluster resemble silver coins shimmering at the bottom of a Wishing Well.

[leinad (Dan)]

Nice Job Trev!,
If you don't mind some feedback...
Black point(levels) looks a little too aggressive.

I hope you don't mind, but I did a quick edit in PS CS3 to clear up the darker areas for you a bit.

[spearo (Frank)]

well done
looks good
frank

[Rigel003 (Graeme)]

Nice photo, Trevor, but maybe clipped at the black end with the sky background pretty dark as has been mentioned. My visual memory of that bright star on the edge of the cluster is that it's distinctly orange. Maybe a little more saturation in the star colours?
I hadn't ever heard of the "wishing well" name for NGC3532. A quick web search shows it was made up by amateur Ray Palmer in 2006 as a personal whim to popularise the cluster. http://www.ngc3532.com/idea.htm

[TrevorW]

Originally Posted by Rigel003

Nice photo, Trevor, but maybe clipped at the black end with the sky background pretty dark as has been mentioned. My visual memory of that bright star on the edge of the cluster is that it's distinctly orange. Maybe a little more saturation in the star colours?
I hadn't ever heard of the "wishing well" name for NGC3532. A quick web search shows it was made up by amateur Ray Palmer in 2006 as a personal whim to popularise the cluster. http://www.ngc3532.com/idea.htm

Surprisingly all main stream web sites with data about NGC3532 now refer too it a the Wishing Well Cluster. Yes it is a orange star but had too much halo so and too remove this I had to take some color out, I put it back maybe a bit much now

[TrevorW]

Originally Posted by leinad

Nice Job Trev!,
If you don't mind some feedback...
Black point(levels) looks a little too aggressive.

I hope you don't mind, but I did a quick edit in PS CS3 to clear up the darker areas for you a bit.

Thanks distinctively better, some times hard to seperate noise from data and tend to darken background too much

[jase (Jason)]

Not a bad job there Trev. As others indicate, a little dark, but star colours are looking good. Well done.

[rogerg (Roger)]

Nice shot Trevor, I like your new process attempt at it.

Nice cluster, well suited to the FOV.



Roger.

[TrevorW]

Thanks Roger I just had a look at your version and it appears some of what I processed out of the orignal thinking it was noise may not have been. Hard to get right sometimes without referring to what others have captured

Regards

[rogerg (Roger)]

Originally Posted by TrevorW

Thanks Roger I just had a look at your version...

Haha...I had no idea/forgot that I had photographed it!

I just did a google search on my site and found it

Yours is better

[Hagar (Doug)]

Nice image Trevor. I would have liked to see a little more of the outer star field but the colour seems quite good.

Great work.