IC 4603 - The Turbulent Heart of the Rho Ophiuchi Complex

[SkyViking (Rolf)]

Hi All,

We had a nice run of clear skies last week so I managed to collect 19 hours of data
More images are in the pipeline, but here is the result of the first target: A close-up of IC4603. This is something I could never capture with the old ToUCam. The Rho Ophiuchi clouds are rather faint and are typically imaged with much wider fields. But why miss a good chance to steer slightly off the beaten path, so I hope you like this zoom view

Hi-res image is here: http://www.pbase.com/rolfolsen/image/143590845/original
(50% size, 516 kB)

Image details:
Date: 22-24 May 2012
Exposure: LRGB 400:60:50:50, total 9hrs 20mins
Telescope: 10" Serrurier Truss Newtonian
Camera: QSI 683wsg with Lodestar guider
Filters: Astrodon Tru-Balance LRGB E-Series Generation 2

This image shows the core region of the Rho Ophiuchi Complex, centered around the prominent blue reflection nebula IC 4603. This is one of the nearest star forming regions and the intricacies of the dense interstellar dust clouds in the area provides a spectacular display of light and colours.
The bright star is 7.9 magnitude SAO184376 which is the main source of light for the blue reflection nebula. The contrasting red areas towards the top are primarily due to reflected light from the hearby red giant star Antares, which lies outside the field of view. The entire area is also littered with hundreds of dim reddish stars, which are typically very young T Tauri stars.

Comments and critique welcome as always,

Regards,
Rolf

[dvj (John)]

1st class image you have there!

[Octane (Humayun)]

Your finest image to date, Rolf.

A work of art.

So pleased to see you not doing things in half-measures.

H

[Martin Pugh]

Lovely rich colours and smooth

I have just started a 4 panel mosaic on this nebula so I am looking forward to this.

well done
Martin

[RickS (Rick)]

A very striking image, Rolf!

[Osirisra (Ken)]

epic!

[rogerg (Roger)]

Very nice! I love the smooth blue and contrast of the golden stars.

[TrevorW]

Yes that is a keeper, top shot

[astronobob (Bob)]

Farr ouuuut ! ! ! ! !

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

Great stuff Rolf, lovely colours and details in the dust there ..one I want to do with the AG12 but I really need dark skies to do it justice

...19hrs?? yeh? looking froward to the rest

Mike

[LightningNZ (Cam)]

It's like an astronomical water-colour painting! Such a different view of a well photographed object.

Thanks so much for posting,
Cam

[SkyViking (Rolf)]

Originally Posted by dvj

1st class image you have there!

Thank you John

Originally Posted by Octane

Your finest image to date, Rolf.
A work of art.
So pleased to see you not doing things in half-measures.
H

Thanks for your kind words H, glad you liked it. Yeah no half-measures here, I enjoy spending adequate time on each subject.

Originally Posted by Martin Pugh

Lovely rich colours and smooth

I have just started a 4 panel mosaic on this nebula so I am looking forward to this.
well done
Martin

Thanks very much Martin, looking forward to your result, what image scale will it be?

Originally Posted by RickS

A very striking image, Rolf!

Thank you Rick, glad you liked it

Originally Posted by Osirisra

epic!

Thank you Ken

Originally Posted by rogerg

Very nice! I love the smooth blue and contrast of the golden stars.

Thanks Roger, I am also quite happy with this contrast myself, complementary colours!

Originally Posted by TrevorW

Yes that is a keeper, top shot

Thank you Trevor

Originally Posted by astronobob

Farr ouuuut ! ! ! ! !

Thanks Bob, yeah it's quite 'far out' - about 500 light years

Originally Posted by strongmanmike

Great stuff Rolf, lovely colours and details in the dust there ..one I want to do with the AG12 but I really need dark skies to do it justice
...19hrs?? yeh? looking froward to the rest
Mike

Thank you Mike, looking forward to your version then! BTW, I was actually quite surprised by the amount of 'live action' when imaging this. There were some 7-8 MP trails in total, though I haven't identified them yet. There is lots going on when one is imaging with a big chip

Originally Posted by LightningNZ

It's like an astronomical water-colour painting! Such a different view of a well photographed object.
Thanks so much for posting,
Cam

Thank you very much Cam, yeah it does look like that indeed, it's a beautiful piece of sky to photograph.

[marco (Marco Lorenzi)]

Great image of a great subject Rolf, kudos to you

Clear skies
Marco

[iceman (Mike)]

Gorgeous and smooth!
Well done Rolf!

[jjjnettie (Jeanette)]

Oh my.... that is superb. So much whispy detail.

[Paul Haese]

Nice work Rolf. It is a bit smoother than my version from a year ago. I like your colour saturation too.

[multiweb (Marc)]

Superb shot Rolf. Love the framing. It looks like waterfalls. Really cool.

[SkyViking (Rolf)]

Originally Posted by marco

Great image of a great subject Rolf, kudos to you

Clear skies
Marco

Thank you very much Marco, glad you liked it

Originally Posted by iceman

Gorgeous and smooth!
Well done Rolf!

Thank you Mike, I did my best to put in the hours required to make it smooth at this image scale

Originally Posted by jjjnettie

Oh my.... that is superb. So much whispy detail.

Thank you JJJ There are some nice interesting swirls in there, it actually reminds me of Jupiter's atmosphere in places.

Originally Posted by Paul Haese

Nice work Rolf. It is a bit smoother than my version from a year ago. I like your colour saturation too.

Thanks Paul, I worked quite a bit on the colour so am glad you liked that aspect

Originally Posted by multiweb

Superb shot Rolf. Love the framing. It looks like waterfalls. Really cool.

Thanks a lot Marc Yes, I'm really pleased with how it turned out and there aren't many images of this area at this scale I think.

[Lester]

Very nice View Rolf, so smooth with vibrant colours. All the best.