Star field inside the tail of Scorpio

[gregbradley]

A wonderful image Mike. A lovely rich starfield with that terrific Ha background. I agree with Martin you got a fabulous Ha colour there. Not easy to achieve.

Greg.

[madbadgalaxyman (Robert)]

Very very interesting. Nebulosity thru the entire field.
I can't say I have ever "been there"(or even "done that"), when it comes to this interesting field.

High quality Amateur nebula images like yours are now so much deeper even than the H-alpha surveys of the Milky Way that the "pros" did a few years ago.....I wonder if there could be some scientific value in this type of photography.

The H-alpha emission throughout your field is probably best thought of as "diffuse Hydrogen alpha emission" rather than as being an isolated nebula.
( I seem to recall that the diffuse component of the H-alpha emission of a spiral galaxy is about 50 percent of the galaxy's total Hydrogen alpha emission....but don't quote me on this)

In some circumstances, this sort of very very diffuse and very very extended H-alpha emission is at a particular velocity in our line-of-sight and this velocity can be translated to a distance estimate for the layer of H-alpha emitting gas. (obviously a velocity requires a spectrum with an H-alpha line on it)
Layers of very-extended and very diffuse H-alpha emission have been used by some professionals to trace the spiral arms of our galaxy.

I note that many amateur images of various HII regions were used in "Handbook of Star Forming Regions", a superheavyweight "professionals" guide to nebulae and gas/dust clouds in our Galaxy. Obviously, the amateur images were the best available for the objects in question!
(this book is characterized in my recent post in the "Science" forum entitled "Our Galaxy - Some recent Resources)

[naskies (Dave)]

A beautifully rich field! I saw this region as just a little red blob in my wide field... fascinating to see it in such detail.

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

Originally Posted by DJT

Hi Mike

Great framing with the cluster and neb. Nice to see something not named after an item on a menu..though not sure about cats paw..

I would have named it something had anything jumped out at me...but alas even my warped mind didn't see anything in this ink blot

Originally Posted by telemarker

Eh?

Can't comment on the image though (blocked at work).

Regards
Keith

Yep, moving back to the Capital soon

Originally Posted by Rob_K

Amazing image Mike, but what's with this "Scorpio" business? Are you having a lend of us?

Cheers -

Scorpio it is

Originally Posted by Martin Pugh

You've blended the Ha well there Mike - just the right flavour for me.

cheers
Martin

Cheers Martin

Originally Posted by gregbradley

A wonderful image Mike. A lovely rich starfield with that terrific Ha background. I agree with Martin you got a fabulous Ha colour there. Not easy to achieve.

Greg.

Glad you liked it Gregles

Originally Posted by madbadgalaxyman

Very very interesting. Nebulosity thru the entire field.
I can't say I have ever "been there"(or even "done that"), when it comes to this interesting field.

High quality Amateur nebula images like yours are now so much deeper even than the H-alpha surveys of the Milky Way that the "pros" did a few years ago.....I wonder if there could be some scientific value in this type of photography.

The H-alpha emission throughout your field is probably best thought of as "diffuse Hydrogen alpha emission" rather than as being an isolated nebula.
( I seem to recall that the diffuse component of the H-alpha emission of a spiral galaxy is about 50 percent of the galaxy's total Hydrogen alpha emission....but don't quote me on this)

In some circumstances, this sort of very very diffuse and very very extended H-alpha emission is at a particular velocity in our line-of-sight and this velocity can be translated to a distance estimate for the layer of H-alpha emitting gas. (obviously a velocity requires a spectrum with an H-alpha line on it)
Layers of very-extended and very diffuse H-alpha emission have been used by some professionals to trace the spiral arms of our galaxy.

I note that many amateur images of various HII regions were used in "Handbook of Star Forming Regions", a superheavyweight "professionals" guide to nebulae and gas/dust clouds in our Galaxy. Obviously, the amateur images were the best available for the objects in question!
(this book is characterized in my recent post in the "Science" forum entitled "Our Galaxy - Some recent Resources)

Considering we can do this sort of thing even from heavily light poluted skies speaks volumes for teh progress in imaging we have enjoyed over the last decade

Originally Posted by naskies

A beautifully rich field! I saw this region as just a little red blob in my wide field... fascinating to see it in such detail.

That's great to hear.

Mike

[marco (Marco Lorenzi)]

Originally Posted by strongmanmike

Hallelujah it's a new image .....

I went a little off the beaten track this time and shot a nice open cluster and quite faint surrounding nebulosity inside the tail of Scorpio.

Here is the Full Frame

Here is a crop of the open cluster NGC 6281

Not a super dooper wowy object and a difficult one from the burbs but I hope you like it none the less

Mike

Wowy! I really like this one Mike, not a common field imaged yet spectacular, there is an amazing network of gasses and dusts in there, excellent choice of an unusual target and great processing

Marco

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

Originally Posted by marco

Wowy! I really like this one Mike, not a common field imaged yet spectacular, there is an amazing network of gasses and dusts in there, excellent choice of an unusual target and great processing

Marco

Thanks Marco, yes the entire 1.8deg X 1.8deg is full of nebulosity and it keeps going...make a nice mozaic I guess?

Mike

[SkyViking (Rolf)]

Great image Mike and nice choice of target. It looks really impressive in full screen and the crop is great too. I like the smooth natural look with just the right amount of colour everywhere.

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

Originally Posted by SkyViking

Great image Mike and nice choice of target. It looks really impressive in full screen and the crop is great too. I like the smooth natural look with just the right amount of colour everywhere.

Thanks Rolf might go for the area just next to this next outing, I can squeeze the Bug nebula in even...although the rest of the field is pretty faint neb

Mike

[alpal]

Galaxyman,

I note that many amateur images of various HII regions were used in "Handbook of Star Forming Regions", a superheavyweight "professionals" guide to nebulae and gas/dust clouds in our Galaxy. Obviously, the amateur images were the best available for the objects in question!
(this book is characterized in my recent post in the "Science" forum entitled "Our Galaxy - Some recent Resources)

I doubt that those deep sky surveys put in the number of subframes & time -
including processing that
many amateurs do for one target. i.e.

Ha RGB= 150 50 50 50min RGB

It's a great wide field photo.

[madbadgalaxyman (Robert)]

Originally Posted by alpal

Galaxyman,

I doubt that those deep sky surveys put in the number of subframes & time -
including processing that
many amateurs do for one target. i.e.

Ha RGB= 150 50 50 50min RGB

It's a great wide field photo.

Maybe southern imagers should get together and publish their own H-alpha atlas of the southern Milky Way! The nebulae between Ara and Circinus are little known, being mostly RCW and Gum objects. I don't even think the 19th and 18th century observers ever had a proper look at this section of the Milky Way.......hardly any NGC/IC objects in many parts of it.

cheers,
Robert

Not to forget that there are a number of brightish galaxies seen in low extinction windows in this part of the Milky Way, that were entirely missed in the NGC/IC.
e.g. Circinus Galaxy,
and ESO 137-010 and ESO 137-008
(the last two on this list are part of a very rich, but obscured, cluster of galaxies. Minus extinction, it would look like the Coma Cluster..... but only brighter!!)

[Lester]

Another wonderful view Mike. Thanks. I look forward to seeing more from your set-up. All the best.

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

Originally Posted by Lester

Another wonderful view Mike. Thanks. I look forward to seeing more from your set-up. All the best.

Cheers Lester, I look forward to the next session too

Mike

[rogerg (Roger)]

Nice. Jewel's in among the pink mist.

[stevous67 (Steve M)]

It's a very attractive view, well done Mike.

Steve

[avandonk]

Originally Posted by madbadgalaxyman

Very very interesting. Nebulosity thru the entire field.
I can't say I have ever "been there"(or even "done that"), when it comes to this interesting field.

High quality Amateur nebula images like yours are now so much deeper even than the H-alpha surveys of the Milky Way that the "pros" did a few years ago.....I wonder if there could be some scientific value in this type of photography.

The H-alpha emission throughout your field is probably best thought of as "diffuse Hydrogen alpha emission" rather than as being an isolated nebula.
( I seem to recall that the diffuse component of the H-alpha emission of a spiral galaxy is about 50 percent of the galaxy's total Hydrogen alpha emission....but don't quote me on this)

In some circumstances, this sort of very very diffuse and very very extended H-alpha emission is at a particular velocity in our line-of-sight and this velocity can be translated to a distance estimate for the layer of H-alpha emitting gas. (obviously a velocity requires a spectrum with an H-alpha line on it)
Layers of very-extended and very diffuse H-alpha emission have been used by some professionals to trace the spiral arms of our galaxy.

I note that many amateur images of various HII regions were used in "Handbook of Star Forming Regions", a superheavyweight "professionals" guide to nebulae and gas/dust clouds in our Galaxy. Obviously, the amateur images were the best available for the objects in question!
(this book is characterized in my recent post in the "Science" forum entitled "Our Galaxy - Some recent Resources)

Robert Mikes system and expertise in extracting exquisite faint nebular data etc. is about as good as it gets. I am hoping to get up to speed soon with slightly faster system at half the focal length. I have the added advantage of 3nm NB filters so a wide field survey of HA vs NII distributions is one possibilty. Since it was Mike who first tempted me to buy what I am trying to master, it is fitting that my little off topic interruption is warranted.

Mike has shown that with care amateurs can show the really faint stuff with a high signal to noise. His Cent A and Helix Neb images are just two examples. It also helps to know what is real and artefact!

Nice image Mike and yes it is in Scorpio.

Bert

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

Cheers Roger and Steve

Bert...gee, I love you too man

You have an incredible beast in your hands there.

Mike