Ara ED80 widefield

[multiweb (Marc)]

Here's my second shot from Ilford. 2 panels mosaic in RGB of NGC6188, NGC 6165 and a couple of clusters around. I cropped the area around the main attraction but the full field here [4.8MB] has everything.

I've also uploaded a smaller more download friendly size here [2MB]

It took me a while to process because there are so many stars and they are different colors in different areas. More yellow on the top left and a lot more blue stars to the right of the field as you get closer to the clusters.
And there's always these underlying red nebs in the background too.

As I had a bit of Ha on a similar field from home I blended in the area around the red nebulosity to get deeper colors while keeping the blues and purples in the reflection areas, without affecting the stars. If anybody's interested here's the steps I used. You can try them on your own pic if you have some RGB and a Ha lum. Let me know how it goes.

1_ Load RGB in one layer.
2_ Load Ha in another layer.
3_ Duplicate RGB on another layer on top of the two.
4_ Copy grayscale Ha in the red Channel of the RGB duplicate.
5_ Blend new RGB on to original RGB as lighten mode.
6_ Hide the Ha layer.

Because the stars will turn darker in the blend only the nebulosity is enhanced. Stars being brighter in the original won't change when the lighten blend mode is applied.

Hope you like the shot.

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

Now that's a nice photo of the sky!

Almost not worth posting the low res IIS attachment as it must be looked at much larger than that. The big versions you posted are excellent.

Mike

[danielsun]

Yes , very nice image Marc and the high res is a great view.

Cheers Daniel.

[h0ughy (David)]

lovely, pure delight to look at (and secretly note in book for me to get a hack later on)

[iceman (Mike)]

Interesting field, lovely work! That's a really nice image.

What camera did you use? And subs?

[troypiggo (Troy)]

Totally agree, the hi-res is wonderful. Well done!

PS - thanks for posting the PP technique too. Filed that one away, yoink!

[SkyViking (Rolf)]

Beautiful Marc, excellent image. Very soft and well processed and still heaps of detail.

[CoolhandJo (Paul)]

Your star fields are amazing! this is no exception (one of your best). The high res is soo flat and pin point! You colours are spot on to me. Great processing detail - thanks will keep that for myself also!

[multiweb (Marc)]

Originally Posted by strongmanmike

Now that's a nice photo of the sky!

Almost not worth posting the low res IIS attachment as it must be looked at much larger than that. The big versions you posted are excellent.

Mike

Thanks Mike. Yeah it seems that you can only fit that many stars in 200kb I'm also slowly becoming more aware of the right resolution to post the "big" shots too rather than 1:1 with all the gritty details

Originally Posted by danielsun

Yes , very nice image Marc and the high res is a great view.

Cheers Daniel.

Thanks Daniel. Glad you liked it. I'm a big fan of your work latest work.

Originally Posted by h0ughy

lovely, pure delight to look at (and secretly note in book for me to get a hack later on)

Thanks David. You'll be there in no time with your ED. Once you've found that sweet spot for the FF, set and forget. Have fun.

Originally Posted by iceman

Interesting field, lovely work! That's a really nice image.

What camera did you use? And subs?

Thanks Mike. I use the QHY8 OSC. The Orion ED80 with the WO P-flatIV set at 66mm and an additional spacing of 47.20mm. I shot 60x2min subs for each panels. No filters. Just a clear UV/IR cut.

Originally Posted by troypiggo

Totally agree, the hi-res is wonderful. Well done!

PS - thanks for posting the PP technique too. Filed that one away, yoink!

Thanks Troy. Go the ED80!

Originally Posted by SkyViking

Beautiful Marc, excellent image. Very soft and well processed and still heaps of detail.

Thanks Rolf. Glad you like the processing. It was tedious for me as I have only 2GB of RAM and 120 subs to debayer and align/stack in each channel. So I'm glad it's over.

Originally Posted by CoolhandJo

Your star fields are amazing! this is no exception (one of your best). The high res is soo flat and pin point! You colours are spot on to me. Great processing detail - thanks will keep that for myself also!

Thanks Paul. Glad you liked the process tip too. Eta would be a good candidate because RGB shots of it are swamped with stars and there's so much details in Ha. I'd be interested to see the results on your pics. You just need to make sure you co-register the Ha on the RGB. I used registar for that.

[Paul Haese]

Lovely field shot of this area. I really like the planetary located in the field as this adds to the things to look at.

[telecasterguru (Frank)]

Marc,

Great image. I can't wait to get to Wiruna and some dark skies.

Frank

[TrevorW]

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

Thanks Mike. Yeah it seems that you can only fit that many stars in 200kb I'm also slowly becoming more aware of the right resolution to post the "big" shots too rather than 1:1 with all the gritty details

Ahhhh!...lot of pressure on when you want to post full res, huh?..com'on dunna be a chicken ...download time is a bit off putting to some though

Mike

[multiweb (Marc)]

Originally Posted by strongmanmike

Ahhhh!...lot of pressure on when you want to post full res, huh?..com'on dunna be a chicken ...download time is a bit off putting to some though

Mike

I've done my bit with the chickening. That was 1:1

[multiweb (Marc)]

Originally Posted by Paul Haese

Lovely field shot of this area. I really like the planetary located in the field as this adds to the things to look at.

Thanks Paul. Much appreciated.

Originally Posted by telecasterguru

Marc,

Great image. I can't wait to get to Wiruna and some dark skies.

Frank

Thanks Frank. For sure. You got to bring your beast so it can take a good dose of clear skies.

Originally Posted by TrevorW