Milkyway Ha 100mm

[multiweb (Marc)]

I shot this one from home. There's a big version here. 7 panels of approx 10x5min each with Baader 7nm and SMC Pentax-M 100mm.

First time I used PI star generator after reading Bert's very helpful post about keeping large mosaics rectilinear and also big thanks to RobF for a few tips and pointers on PI tutorials. PI is certainly hard to get around for a new comer (fromk CCD Stack) as it is a process based with a very different flow, but once you get around it it's pretty cool. Something new.

I didn't stop the 100mm lens enough again but it shows potential and I think I'll nail it next session.

Last night I went to Crago. Just got back now. And this time I did from Eta Carina to M16 in Ha non stop with a 50mm this time, which I stopped down correctly and it looks pretty cool. Will post later.

The wind started howling at 4:00am with some gusts strong enough to shift my G11 tripod but I was done by then. I had it wrapped in rags and it must have acted as a sail and shifted the legs off the pads.

[Mighty_oz (Marcus)]

Man that's just so good ! Keep them coming, love your work What did u use for getting the mosaics lined up ?

[avandonk]

I felt a wetness in my pants then I realized I had spilt my beer!

good work !

Bert

[DavidU (Dave)]

Very tidy work Marc ! You are doing very well with the wide stuff.

[leon]

Super stuff Marc, man i wish i could do that sort of stuff, excellent work.

Leon

[midnight (Darrin)]

You've been very busy Marc! Lovelly image and the detail in Ha is something you don't see everyday.

Darrin...

[dugnsuz (Doug)]

Sweet stuff Marc - I love seeing these objects in relation to one another.
Mosaics are the new 'black' I reckon.
Doug

ps...Bert..stay dry!

[DavidU (Dave)]

Originally Posted by avandonk

I felt a wetness in my pants then I realized I had spilt my beer!

good work !

Bert

[Ross G]

Hi Marc,

Wow..amazing photo. So much detail and so sharp.

A roadmap of the heavens. It is so good to be able to see all the objects in relation to each other.
Much better than a star map.

You are pushing astroimaging to extremes. The winds would have been howling at Crago last night!


Thanks.


Ross.

[jjjnettie (Jeanette)]

Epic!!

[Ric]

Fantastic Marc

That is stunning, wonderful work.

[multiweb (Marc)]

Originally Posted by Mighty_oz

Man that's just so good ! Keep them coming, love your work What did u use for getting the mosaics lined up ?

Thanks mate. For this one I used registar and the cat paws area as the reference frame then I used the auto-blend feature in PS to get rid of the seams.

Originally Posted by DavidU

Very tidy work Marc ! You are doing very well with the wide stuff.

Thanks David. It's new and really a lot of fun. Still learning a lot, especially about the f-stops but I'm getting there now.

Originally Posted by avandonk

I felt a wetness in my pants then I realized I had spilt my beer!
good work !
Bert

Thanks Bert. That's why I only drink coffee.

Originally Posted by leon

Super stuff Marc, man i wish i could do that sort of stuff, excellent work.

Leon

Thanks Leon. You know what? If I had the various skies you must be under along your travels I'd get the Canon on a tripod and start doing timelapses. That would be awesome. I'm sure you've kept some great glass with you. Get out there and start shooting.

Originally Posted by midnight

You've been very busy Marc! Lovelly image and the detail in Ha is something you don't see everyday.

Darrin...

Thanks Darrin. Ha brings a lot of contrast and is very good to catalogue the faint stuff.

Originally Posted by dugnsuz

Sweet stuff Marc - I love seeing these objects in relation to one another.
Mosaics are the new 'black' I reckon.

Thanks Doug. Yes that what's got me into doing widefields. Seeing all the commonly imaged targets meshed and linked into one another with a lot more other stuff around not commonly seen. It all puts it back into perspective very nicely and you can take it all in one big viewing. Spatial arrangement, relative brightness, etc...

Originally Posted by Ross G

Hi Marc,

Wow..amazing photo. So much detail and so sharp.

A roadmap of the heavens. It is so good to be able to see all the objects in relation to each other.
Much better than a star map.

You are pushing astroimaging to extremes. The winds would have been howling at Crago last night!


Thanks.


Ross.

Thanks Ross. It is surprisingly easy to guide while doing 50mm shots. The guider at times was all over the place but it still came back to guiding. You have to make the box big enough in PHD so you don't lose that star. Nothing shows in the subs at that image scale which is 32 asp. The FOV is 27x18 degrees. On the down side you polar alignment accuracy does matter because the field being so big, field rotation will be obvious on 5-10min subs.

Originally Posted by jjjnettie

Epic!!

Thanks a lot JJJ. Glad you liked it.

Originally Posted by Ric

Fantastic Marc

That is stunning, wonderful work.

Thanks for the comment Ric.

[CoolhandJo (Paul)]

Love it! Ultra wide!

[JohnH]

Oh that is good, really, really good. Just a little field curvature at the corners as you say - fixable with a stop down....but I just love the billowing clouds of gas and the definition. Stunning!

[multiweb (Marc)]

Originally Posted by CoolhandJo

Love it! Ultra wide!

Originally Posted by JohnH

Oh that is good, really, really good. Just a little field curvature at the corners as you say - fixable with a stop down....but I just love the billowing clouds of gas and the definition. Stunning!

Thanks guys. I'm glad you like the result. This one turned out ok. I'm having a real bIIch of a time with the one I've just completed with the 50mm lens from last Saturday Crago session which IMHO is going to be better than this one because of the extended field. Waiting on a few pointers and posted in other forums for help too.