FLI PL16803 - A window on the Universe M104

[gregbradley]

Nice shot Mike. Whilst not the ideal setup for galaxies it turned out very well.

I don't think those white spots are globs but small edge stars in our galaxy - or at least I don't think they are.

As far as alignment goes I found the CCDIS plug in for CCDstack gets super accurate alignment and if it is from misalignment it will fix it for sure.

Greg.

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

Originally Posted by RobF

Wonderful start Mike. I wondered when we'd start to hear from you and the new rig. Thanks for sharing early efforts. Cool to see the new Enterprise come up to lightspeed, but I'm sure we'll be seeing Warp 9 images in months/years to come too

Cheers Rob yes I am looking forward to doing some fields that really take advantage of the masive chip

Actually this is my second image with the new rig. I imaged the Centaurus Galaxy Cluster back in April:

http://www.pbase.com/strongmanmike20...galaxy_cluster

Mike

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

Originally Posted by TrevorW

Nice FOV, plenty detail, good colour, shame about the flaring on the stars.

Cheers Trev

The flaring on bright stars has always been a mystery...., must be an obstruction somewhere in the light path but I have never bothered to really track it down....I have grown used to it now and don't really notice it any more

Mike

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

Originally Posted by bratislav

That's why I was asking!
I thought about misalignment, but then noticed that red 'edge' always points towards the center. That is classic lateral CA. If it was misalignment, red flare would be always on the same side, regardless of position in the frame.
4" FF may be, but it could have been designed with 25 micron film resolution in mind, not giant small pixel CCD chips.

OK I'll ignore it You can't see it unless image is about meter wide anyway.

Bratislav

I don't see the radial nature you are suggesting Brat, to me it is not a chromatic aberation issue. It is a simple registration issue that I will have to show more care with next time, registration with such large swaths of sky at this focal length needs a little more care. My first image of the Centaurus Galaxy Cluster doesn't show it...must have taken more care that time

Mike

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

Originally Posted by gregbradley

Nice shot Mike. Whilst not the ideal setup for galaxies it turned out very well.

I don't think those white spots are globs but small edge stars in our galaxy - or at least I don't think they are.

As far as alignment goes I found the CCDIS plug in for CCDstack gets super accurate alignment and if it is from misalignment it will fix it for sure.

Greg.

Cheers Greg

Maybe not "ideal" but this image scale (1.4"/pix) is more than adequate while stll allowing for a good swath of sky coverage. The seeing here is rarely if ever good enough to take advantage of this image scale anyway . Even with reasonably crappy seeing, I think this crop compares reasonably well with other shots of M104 out there taken at much longer focal lengths

http://www.pbase.com/strongmanmike20...85837/original

with better seeing available I would have to agree that is when a longer focal length would really help.

Oh they are deffinitely globulars you see there, quite a few are visible actually!

Astroart usually does very well in the registration department, I was just a tad careless this time...doh!

I have held off with the praise of this new camera until I had a couple of imaging sessions under my belt but now I mist say it is really a fantastic platform and I am very excited about the future.

Mike

[gregbradley]

Yes I agree, your crop does stand up to longer focal length versions. yet again your setup punches well above its weight - 3 cheers to Roland Christen for the super scope and to your skill.

I was having trouble occassionally with sub misalignment then when CCDPIS plug in for CCDstack got released that ended that. It does a super job and quite fast too.

I like the PL as well. I can't fault its performance functionwise. Only thing I would like to see improved is its weight.
I think I get very slight flex with my FSQ setup that I didn't with the U16M. Also because the chip is a bit deeper inside the camera it meant a different type of adapter which is more likely to flex -its like a bucket that fits inside the drawtube.

Seeing this time of year though is typically better isn't it? Skies seem pretty calm around my area at the moment.

Greg.

[RobF (Rob)]

Originally Posted by strongmanmike

Actually this is my second image with the new rig. I imaged the Centaurus Galaxy Cluster back in April:

http://www.pbase.com/strongmanmike20...galaxy_cluster

Mike

Thanks Michael - I'd missed those
Just awesome. FOV and resolution of these next generation CCDs (on a fantastic OTA) is just....awesome

[multiweb (Marc)]

Nice shot mike. Must be good to be out imaging again.

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

Originally Posted by multiweb

Nice shot mike. Must be good to be out imaging again.

Oh I dunno...whad a ya recon? ...first real test run for the freezer suit too - warm!

[DavidU (Dave)]

A fantastic image Mike.
Your rig must be a lot of work to transport & setup ! (and if you remember the laptop).
Your dedication is A+.

[h0ughy (David)]

Originally Posted by strongmanmike

Oh I dunno...whad a ya recon? ...first real test run for the freezer suit too - warm!

Love the look Mike - very fashionable on a winters night - you can even sleep in it
i like the shot, but i think the seeing has crueled you a lot with the field. it hasnt been great of late

love to see more...... REpro #

[Garyh]

Oh, I love that freezer suit! I want one!
Nice image and framing Mike! What a big piece of sky that ccd captures!
The detail you have captured in the galaxy is quiet good for 1.4" per pixel..

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

Originally Posted by DavidU

A fantastic image Mike.
Your rig must be a lot of work to transport & setup ! (and if you remember the laptop).
Your dedication is A+.

Yes it is a bit of work to get my images, in fact it can be daunting at times. On Friday night I packed the car and went to my sons school for a function with the intention of going out to my dark site afterwards, well when I was finished at about 9pm and went out side it was crystal clear and getting cold but the idea of driving nearly an hour and then setting up in the dark to be ready for maybe 11.30pm or so was just not attractive...so I just drove home ....unpacking the car on Saturday morning with a still crystal clear blue sky above was a little heart breaking too

I really wish I had an observatory

[gregbradley]

Got to admire your dedication to travel and setup like that then break it all down and take it back. I have been doing similar when I travel and image at my dark site. But then I usually stay there for 3 nights. Annoying though when bad weather moves in for all 3 nights and you travelled 3.5 hours each way.

Gee makes me feel slack when I didn't image last night with everything setup already outside and clearish skies but the moon was still up a bit!

Greg.

[bratislav (Bratislav)]

Originally Posted by strongmanmike

I don't see the radial nature you are suggesting Brat, to me it is not a chromatic aberation issue. It is a simple registration issue that I will have to show more care with next time, registration with such large swaths of sky at this focal length needs a little more care. My first image of the Centaurus Galaxy Cluster doesn't show it...must have taken more care that time

Mike

You're right, no signs of lateral chromatism in that image. What made me suspicious - see the crops from left and right sides of your M104. Red fringe innermost on both (to the right of the left corner crop, to the left at right corner crop). I still can't understand how (mis)alignment can produce something like that. One possibility is that red light image was done at shorter f.l. , either caused by ambient temperature shift of some other weird combination of parameters.

Bratislav

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

I see the confusion Brat but I wouldn't have thought lateral chromatism would be that obvious anyway..?

When I have composed my red, green and blue sets I manually mark three stars in the master Lum and then the same three stars in each of the red green and blue frames and coregister each of them with the Master Lum. If I select less than optimal alignment stars the coregistering, particularly of such a large image, can be a bit wonky. I should have checked before going any further and reselected the three stars but given this wasn't as big an issue with my previosuly smaller chips I neglected to pan around into the corners to see

I think this may be the reason.

I also had a litlle bit of egging in two of the red frames (I only took three) so perhaps that has contributed too?