Go Back   IceInSpace > Images > Deep Space
Register FAQ Calendar Today's Posts Search

Reply
 
Thread Tools Rate Thread
  #1  
Old 05-03-2008, 02:44 AM
strongmanmike's Avatar
strongmanmike (Michael)
Highest Observatory in Oz

strongmanmike is offline
 
Join Date: May 2006
Location: Canberra
Posts: 17,689
I caught a chicken!

Well...part of a chicken anyway.

Surprisingly good weather last night (and tonight) in Newcastle. I've complained about it in the past, I know, but last night was just about perfect - no moon, no wind, no cloud and good seeing all night. The AP, FLI ProLine CCD and NJP mount all worked bloody flawlesly too

I decided on the Lambda Centaurus "running chicken" nebula near the southern cross becasue while I had done an Halpha image of it a couple of years ago I had never imaged it in colour and the FOV with my camera then (SXV-H9) was pretty small too.

Simple LRGB processing was used in Astroart4 for the HaRGB and surprisingly little Photoshop was necessary and no noise reduction was used at all either. Because I was imaging in the direction of the Newcastle light dome I did the R,G & B when the object was near the meridian to reduce the gradients and it worked - I didn't have to do any gradient removal on this image luckily. I usually save the highest points for the Ha and Lum for maximum detail but I hate gradients - a good comprimise and becasue of the good seeing there is still plenty of detail revealed

We are about to move to a beautiful new home in Newcastle.... in the middle of heavy light pollution and with no sky access (ie not able to use the scope) sooo this may be the last image from me for a while..?

Hope you like it?

Full frame colour image (1.9 meg):

http://www.pbase.com/strongmanmike20...51806/original

Close up of the nebula details in Halpha (1meg):

http://www.pbase.com/strongmanmike20...52388/original

Cheers and see ya all (well at least some of you) at SPSP in a month.

Mike

Last edited by strongmanmike; 05-03-2008 at 03:00 AM.
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 05-03-2008, 05:15 AM
iceman's Avatar
iceman (Mike)
Sir Post a Lot!

iceman is offline
 
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Gosford, NSW, Australia
Posts: 36,799
No access to the skies!? Argh! Surely that's a requirement when moving to a new house?

What will you do? Rent some time on a scope?

Beautiful image, Mike. The conditions have been fantastic the last few nights. The dark globules smacked near the little star cluster are brilliant.
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 05-03-2008, 07:16 AM
h0ughy's Avatar
h0ughy (David)
Moderator

h0ughy is offline
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: NEWCASTLE NSW Australia
Posts: 33,429
Nice one Mike, certainly a sharp focus!! the dark globs really do stand out as too the pizza delivery to the ISS, LOL.
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 05-03-2008, 11:38 AM
RB's Avatar
RB (Andrew)
Moderator

RB is offline
 
Join Date: Aug 2005
Posts: 26,638
LOL they're not dark globs, that's sensor dust on the FLI......

Gorgeous image Mike, love the detail and colour.
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 05-03-2008, 12:01 PM
multiweb's Avatar
multiweb (Marc)
ze frogginator

multiweb is offline
 
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Sydney
Posts: 22,080
Wow! Fantastic image! Love the black stuff next to the small cluster.

You said you got some clear skies in Newcastle? Lucky you. I was out last night in Liverpool until 10:30pm, all balanced, polar aligned, tracking through a light haze but more and more clouds rolled in from the south so I packed up
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 05-03-2008, 01:18 PM
Peter Ward's Avatar
Peter Ward
Galaxy hitchhiking guide

Peter Ward is offline
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: The Shire
Posts: 8,484
Mike,

You are in a different league.

Very cool.

Cheers
Peter
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 05-03-2008, 01:55 PM
marc4darkskies's Avatar
marc4darkskies (Marcus)
Billions and Billions ...

marc4darkskies is offline
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Quialigo, NSW
Posts: 3,143
You're the man Mike - superb shot!

Cheers, Marcus
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old 05-03-2008, 02:30 PM
Bassnut's Avatar
Bassnut (Fred)
Narrowfield rules!

Bassnut is offline
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Torquay
Posts: 5,065
Very smoooooth and sharp Mike, excellent, sort of has a 3d effect.
Reply With Quote
  #9  
Old 05-03-2008, 04:13 PM
EzyStyles's Avatar
EzyStyles (Eric)
I HATE COMA!

EzyStyles is offline
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Melbourne, Victoria
Posts: 3,208
awesome shot mike!! i like the globs alot of details and so crsip.
Reply With Quote
  #10  
Old 05-03-2008, 04:22 PM
tornado33
Registered User

tornado33 is offline
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Newcastle, NSW, Australia
Posts: 4,116
Gee those globules really do stand out. What is amazing is that funny triangular part in the middle of the HA shot, those striations are unusual.
I note youre not binning the RGB 2x2, guess theres no need to by the look of it
How long are the subs you use?

So you cannot access any part of the sky from the new place? Mines fairly limited, ok southern access from backyard from dec -75 to-10, then I have to move to in front of the garage to get to dec +30. Further north I have to squeeze netween shrubs on the front lawn for a very limited 30 wide window with powerlines in the view.

You might have to start imaging from the Newcastle Astronomical Societies Shortland site near 360 degree down to Horizon views, and not too light polluted for a near suburban site.
Scott
Reply With Quote
  #11  
Old 05-03-2008, 05:40 PM
Alchemy (Clive)
Quietly watching

Alchemy is offline
 
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Yarra Junction
Posts: 3,044
Cant believe the DETAIL......... not much to say im speechless
Reply With Quote
  #12  
Old 05-03-2008, 06:54 PM
spearo's Avatar
spearo (Frank)
accepts all donations

spearo is offline
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Braidwood (outskirts)
Posts: 2,281
Woah Mike!
You sure know how to raise the bar for the rest of us!
Amazing
frank
Reply With Quote
  #13  
Old 05-03-2008, 07:42 PM
acropolite's Avatar
acropolite (Phil)
Registered User

acropolite is offline
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Launceston Tasmania
Posts: 9,021
Mike, your chicken is truly inspirational. I can't recall seeing a more interesting deep space image.
Reply With Quote
  #14  
Old 05-03-2008, 07:52 PM
sheeny's Avatar
sheeny (Al)
Spam Hunter

sheeny is offline
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Oberon NSW
Posts: 14,438
It's all WOW!

Al.
Reply With Quote
  #15  
Old 05-03-2008, 09:56 PM
Hagar (Doug)
Registered User

Hagar is offline
 
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Australia
Posts: 4,646
Great image Mike. The detail is magnificent. Focus is spot on.
A real work of art. And yes I like tha satalite trails too. They are there, why not show them.

Great stuff. Love it.
Reply With Quote
  #16  
Old 05-03-2008, 11:13 PM
strongmanmike's Avatar
strongmanmike (Michael)
Highest Observatory in Oz

strongmanmike is offline
 
Join Date: May 2006
Location: Canberra
Posts: 17,689
Quote:
Originally Posted by iceman View Post
No access to the skies!? Argh! Surely that's a requirement when moving to a new house?

What will you do? Rent some time on a scope?

Beautiful image, Mike. The conditions have been fantastic the last few nights. The dark globules smacked near the little star cluster are brilliant.
Oh me o my...can't believe I agreed to this house - has lovely views over Kotara and out to Stockton beach though

Rent-a-scope??? Proably won't be able to enter next years SPSP AIC then

Quote:
Originally Posted by h0ughy View Post
Nice one Mike, certainly a sharp focus!! the dark globs really do stand out as too the pizza delivery to the ISS, LOL.
Thanks mate, you could have found out something really bad about the house for me couldn't you?? ...yeeeh...that's it! it's your fault!

Mike
I hate Houghy

Quote:
Originally Posted by RB View Post
LOL they're not dark globs, that's sensor dust on the FLI......

Gorgeous image Mike, love the detail and colour.
That problem was rectified, the camera is an absolute purler! operating at -35C all year round with 1 sec downloads of 11K pixels and very low noise, heck I am still using the same darks (all 4 of them) I took back in August and the smoothness is great.

Cheers

Mike

Quote:
Originally Posted by multiweb View Post
Wow! Fantastic image! Love the black stuff next to the small cluster.

You said you got some clear skies in Newcastle? Lucky you. I was out last night in Liverpool until 10:30pm, all balanced, polar aligned, tracking through a light haze but more and more clouds rolled in from the south so I packed up
Mate I sympathise with ya! One good thing about living in a place where there is no sky access I guess?....no delema will I won't I? when it comes to deciding on an evenings imaging = simple answer every time "can't" ..........

Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter Ward View Post
Mike,

You are in a different league.

Very cool.

Cheers
Peter
Well not sure what that means exactly Peter... but I am thinking you like the result..?

Thanks

Mike

Quote:
Originally Posted by marc4darkskies View Post
You're the man Mike - superb shot!

Cheers, Marcus
Thanks Marcus, glad you enjoyed it

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bassnut View Post
Very smoooooth and sharp Mike, excellent, sort of has a 3d effect.
I was very happy with the outcome on this one and it went together so easily and effortlessly. The key is good clean data. Taking the colour frames while crossing the meridian (darkest sky for this object) helped here by reducing the gradient problems and it was a particularly transparent night with good seeing. I think good acurate flats helped too, I took the flats imedeately after each filter too so they were perfectly matching.

Quote:
Originally Posted by EzyStyles View Post
awesome shot mike!! i like the globs alot of details and so crsip.
Yes a real feature of this object, cheers

Quote:
Originally Posted by tornado33 View Post
Gee those globules really do stand out. What is amazing is that funny triangular part in the middle of the HA shot, those striations are unusual.
I note youre not binning the RGB 2x2, guess theres no need to by the look of it
How long are the subs you use?

So you cannot access any part of the sky from the new place? Mines fairly limited, ok southern access from backyard from dec -75 to-10, then I have to move to in front of the garage to get to dec +30. Further north I have to squeeze netween shrubs on the front lawn for a very limited 30 wide window with powerlines in the view.

You might have to start imaging from the Newcastle Astronomical Societies Shortland site near 360 degree down to Horizon views, and not too light polluted for a near suburban site.
Scott
No I don't bin the colour, probably should to get more signal but I like to have to do as litttle as possible when processing I have been doing 10min subs in recent efforts...mostly becasue then I can just keep using the same four dark frames I have been using for ages I am inherently lazy

No sadly I have littel sky visible around the house. So where is the Shortland site then? Do memebrs have permanent setups there?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Alchemy View Post
Cant believe the DETAIL......... not much to say im speechless
Yes I was quite happy with the detail, the seeing was particularly good for Newcastle (about FWHM of 2") and the superb tracking of the NJP mount helps too - I was getting average guide errors of less than 0.3" all night - the bulls eye guide star plot pattern in Astroart had the star centroid ploting out a nice tight clump in the central 1/3 of the 1 pixel radius ring!

Quote:
Originally Posted by spearo View Post
Woah Mike!
You sure know how to raise the bar for the rest of us!
Amazing
frank
Glad you like it Frank but I'm not trying to one-up anyone, I just love imaging and since I haven't been able to do much lately this result was rewarding

Quote:
Originally Posted by acropolite View Post
Mike, your chicken is truly inspirational. I can't recall seeing a more interesting deep space image.
That's great! Yes it is a very interesting area but framing is important too, I wanted Lambda Centauri in the image but wasn't sure how the light ring aberations I get with the AP field flattener would be on such a bright star. It turned out that they weren't too bad and the bright star sets off the dramatic scene quite well I recon..? The luminance frame is a combination of the red data and the Halpha data and this is the most detailed of the data so the final colour image retains much of that detail. The detail in the Halpha only shot is testament to the narrow band width, the seeing, the exceptional optics and great tracking I had at my disposal, I was and am very lucky

Quote:
Originally Posted by sheeny View Post
It's all WOW!

Al.

Wow thanks

Quote:
Originally Posted by Hagar View Post
Great image Mike. The detail is magnificent. Focus is spot on.
A real work of art. And yes I like tha satalite trails too. They are there, why not show them.

Great stuff. Love it.
The man made space junk trails remind me of the AAT shots by David malin from the 80's there were often satelite trails in them too
Reply With Quote
  #17  
Old 06-03-2008, 02:16 AM
richardo's Avatar
richardo (Rich)
Love reflection Nebs !

richardo is offline
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Streaky Bay
Posts: 1,070
Man that is a superb result Mike!!
Glad the cloud and weather behaved for you since your moving to a place where the skies aren't so good.
Razor sharp, stars are pin points and just plain good all around.
The Bok globules just stand out a treat.
Top shelf swan song I'd say with no doubts!!

Wish this weather here would be a little kinder like this night you had.

All the best on your move.

regs
Rich
Reply With Quote
  #18  
Old 06-03-2008, 11:20 AM
Ric's Avatar
Ric
Support your local RFS

Ric is offline
 
Join Date: May 2006
Location: Wamboin NSW
Posts: 12,405
What a beauty Mike, well done.

The depth in the nebulosity is looking 3D in some sections and everything is nice and sharp.

Top stuff
Reply With Quote
  #19  
Old 06-03-2008, 02:41 PM
Tamtarn's Avatar
Tamtarn
Barb and David

Tamtarn is offline
 
Join Date: May 2006
Location: Warragul. Victoria.
Posts: 2,293
Thats an absolute gem Mike. Has to be one of the best deep sky images we have seen.

Hope you can get to some dark skies we'll miss your contribution here. At least we have your website we can visit can visit.
Reply With Quote
  #20  
Old 07-03-2008, 12:05 AM
strongmanmike's Avatar
strongmanmike (Michael)
Highest Observatory in Oz

strongmanmike is offline
 
Join Date: May 2006
Location: Canberra
Posts: 17,689
Quote:
Originally Posted by richardo View Post
Man that is a superb result Mike!!
Glad the cloud and weather behaved for you since your moving to a place where the skies aren't so good.
Razor sharp, stars are pin points and just plain good all around.
The Bok globules just stand out a treat.
Top shelf swan song I'd say with no doubts!!

Wish this weather here would be a little kinder like this night you had.

All the best on your move.

regs
Rich
Thanks Rich, it's a great region to image and the Ha/Red blend really brought out the detail.

I'm out imaging again tonight funnily enough, in the same conditions...of course!! Sheesh..I'm moving so the weather is improving DOH!!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ric View Post
What a beauty Mike, well done.

The depth in the nebulosity is looking 3D in some sections and everything is nice and sharp.

Top stuff
Yes Ric, the blending of the Ha data helps here but it is tricky to get right.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Tamtarn View Post
Thats an absolute gem Mike. Has to be one of the best deep sky images we have seen.

Hope you can get to some dark skies we'll miss your contribution here. At least we have your website we can visit can visit.
Cheers!

I want to keep imaging... just got to work out the best option

Mike
Reply With Quote
Reply

Bookmarks


Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT +10. The time is now 03:55 AM.

Powered by vBulletin Version 3.8.7 | Copyright ©2000 - 2025, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Advertisement
Astrophotography Prize
Advertisement
Bintel
Advertisement