My first mosaic, Eta Carina to NGC 3293

[tilbrook@rbe.ne (Justin Tilbrook)]

Hi,
This is my first attempt at a mosaic, to say I struggled with it is an understatement!
This image from Eta Carina through to NGC 3293 is made up of 3 panels and cropped. It really needs 4 panels as the orientation of the images is not ideal.
I downloaded a tutorial for photoshop but found it daunting, so I stuck with using DSS to do the mosiac. The rest of the processing was done in photoshop, using mainly healing brush and brush tools to work on the overlaps.
Three images.
Original mosiac.
Cropped image.
Context image.
Equipment.

Skywatcher ED80, orion mini guider, orion field flattener, HEQ pro 5 mount.
Unmodded canon 1100D, 8 minute subs at iso 800, total 80 minutes.
Darks, flats and bias frames applied.
Stacked in DSS and processed in PS7.

Cheers,

Justin.

[Larryp (Laurie)]

Looks superb, Justin!
I can't believe what you get out of that unmodded 1100D

[tilbrook@rbe.ne (Justin Tilbrook)]

Originally Posted by Larryp

Looks superb, Justin!
I can't believe what you get out of that unmodded 1100D

Thanks Laurie!

Dark skies are what help me.

Cheers,

Justin.

[RickS (Rick)]

Great first attempt at a mosaic, Justin! I must try one soon too.

[David Fitz-Henr]

Great first attempt at a mosaic Justin! The cropped mosaic looks fairly seamless to me; in the original mosaic there is a fan shaped region in the centre bottom that appears distorted - is that an alignment issue?

[tilbrook@rbe.ne (Justin Tilbrook)]

Originally Posted by RickS

Great first attempt at a mosaic, Justin! I must try one soon too.

Thanks Rick!

Originally Posted by David Fitz-Henr

Great first attempt at a mosaic Justin! The cropped mosaic looks fairly seamless to me; in the original mosaic there is a fan shaped region in the centre bottom that appears distorted - is that an alignment issue?

Thanks David!

Not sure how to fix the alignment issue yet, don't know enough about mosaics. I have a hunch it is to do with the angle of the images. Next time I'll do at least four images alignied on the same axis.

Cheers,

Justin.

[BlackWidow (Mardy)]

Wow Justin that's really nice. You just lifted the bar for me. Now I have to look at how to do these. I have an F10 LX200 so even with a focal reducer I am often too close to the object to get it all in the view. This is the answer!

Very nice image


Mardy

[Ross G]

Congratulations on your first mosaic Justin.

It looks great.

It's been something I have been wanting to do for a while but seems too difficult.

Good luck.

Ross.

[tilbrook@rbe.ne (Justin Tilbrook)]

Originally Posted by BlackWidow

Wow Justin that's really nice. You just lifted the bar for me. Now I have to look at how to do these. I have an F10 LX200 so even with a focal reducer I am often too close to the object to get it all in the view. This is the answer!

Very nice image


Mardy

Thanks Mardy!

Mosaics are a good option with a smaller FOV.

Originally Posted by Ross G

Congratulations on your first mosaic Justin.

It looks great.

It's been something I have been wanting to do for a while but seems too difficult.

Good luck.

Ross.

Thanks Ross!

Always so much to learn in this hobby.

Cheers,

Justin.