The Swan RGB QHY8 and FSQ106ED @530mm

Hagar (Doug) · #1 22-07-2009, 03:33 PM

Well the sky cleared a couple of nights back and I managed to capture 100minutes of M17 the Swan Nebula with my QHY8 OSC and FSQ106ED.

I still have a bit of learning to do with regard to wider field image processing as it is a little diferent from up close imaging with so much to work on in such a big field.
This was a dificult image to squeeze down to 200KB so I have posted a link to a higher res image below.

Hope you enjoy.

Comments welcomed and appreciated.
Higher res version at: http://www.darkskyau.com/cm/displayi...174&fullsize=1
Beware this is 3.5MB but worth taking a look at.

renormalised (Carl) · #2 22-07-2009, 03:35 PM

Nice shot, Doug....great colour and definition

telecasterguru (Frank) · #3 22-07-2009, 03:41 PM

Great image and nice framing.

Frank

Craig_L · #4 22-07-2009, 03:53 PM

Wow. Nice one Doug. Lot of stars there.

Alchemy (Clive) · #5 22-07-2009, 04:11 PM

looks good doug.... thanks for the size warning , most civilized of you

no clear skies here for so long, i think i need a new hobby.

Jen · #6 22-07-2009, 05:40 PM

nice pic Doug

Tamtarn · #7 22-07-2009, 06:33 PM

Good to see you had a clear night Doug.

Very nice widefield

AlexN · #8 22-07-2009, 06:56 PM

looks awesome.. well worth the 3.5mb! Good job mate

Hagar (Doug) · #9 22-07-2009, 07:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by renormalised

Nice shot, Doug....great colour and definition

Quote:

Originally Posted by telecasterguru

Great image and nice framing.

Frank

Quote:

Originally Posted by Craig_L

Wow. Nice one Doug. Lot of stars there.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alchemy

looks good doug.... thanks for the size warning , most civilized of you

no clear skies here for so long, i think i need a new hobby.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jen

nice pic Doug

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tamtarn

Good to see you had a clear night Doug.

Very nice widefield

Thanks everyone, finally got a couple of hours of half decent weather although it is bucketing down again now so I am adding to my dark library again.

spacezebra (Petra) · #10 22-07-2009, 07:10 PM

Stunning Doug!

Cheers Petra d.

Tandum (Robin) · #11 22-07-2009, 07:53 PM

That's a big chunk of sky there doug, looking good.

Lester · #12 22-07-2009, 08:06 PM

Very nice image, showing a heap of detail.

Thanks Doug.

Hagar (Doug) · #13 22-07-2009, 09:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlexN

looks awesome.. well worth the 3.5mb! Good job mate

Thanks Alex. I thought the wider field deserved an image of reasonable scale. To get it down to 200K almost ruined the image but that is what happens when a lot of the large image is not black or at least a mono tone.

Quote:

Originally Posted by spacezebra

Stunning Doug!

Cheers Petra d.

Thanks Petra, I hope you enjoy your new scope as much as I am enjoying this one. I just hope the weather improves for us both. Come on BSG.

Hagar (Doug) · #14 23-07-2009, 07:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tandum

That's a big chunk of sky there doug, looking good.

Thanks Robin, I also have the 0.73 reducer for this scope so when I get around to trying this out the chunck will be bigger again.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lester

Very nice image, showing a heap of detail.

Thanks Doug.

Thanks Lester, This certainly is a nice scope to image with. I just wish I could get some good seeing to really try it out with.

TheDecepticon · #15 23-07-2009, 08:27 AM

Lots of stars in that one! Looks great!

sjastro · #16 23-07-2009, 08:47 AM

Very nice wide field Doug.

Regards

Steven

Hagar (Doug) · #17 23-07-2009, 11:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheDecepticon

Lots of stars in that one! Looks great!

Quote:

Originally Posted by sjastro

Very nice wide field Doug.

Regards

Steven

Thanks Guys. A fun scope to play with. Such good quality fittings make it a real pleasure.

Omaroo (Chris Malikoff) · #18 23-07-2009, 11:57 AM

Great shot Doug - I really like the star quality in your hi-resolution version.

h0ughy (David) · #19 23-07-2009, 12:04 PM

wow gives me food for thought for qld astrofest this year. thanks for the nice sharp image to tease me

Martin Pugh · #20 23-07-2009, 12:09 PM

Hi Doug

nice image, but may I suggest a couple of things?

Firstly, with widefield images, particularly those taken in and around the Milky Way, can be overwhelmed with stars. To bring the subject forward, it is often a good idea to make a star selection and run a minimum filter on them to drop them into the background.

Secondly, the FSQ is a fine instrument with a very, very small CFZ prone to rapid focus changes. Your stars do look a little soft, so focussing regularly, when temp changes, and most certainly between filter changes is critical with this telescope.

nice work though mate.

cheers
Martin