Southern Cross

[gregbradley]

I was taking some shots with my Nikon D800E and Nikkor 180mm F2.8ED lens on a Polarie.

I thought this one turned out quite well. There was some cloud and thats what that grey area is not deep sky.

30 seconds ISO6400.

http://www.pbase.com/gregbradley/image/148297666

Greg.

[iceman (Mike)]

Great framing! The focal length was perfect.
Love the colours.

Shame about that cloud!

[RickS (Rick)]

Great colours and composition, Greg.

[Garbz (Chris)]

Beautiful single exposure. Mind me asking where the location is? The background to the southern cross is the best I've seen from such a short exposure! I assume zero light pollution?

[David Fitz-Henr]

Nice one Greg! You should do it again when the clouds are gone.

[Larryp (Laurie)]

Great image, Greg. And such a short exposure.

[Meru (Michael)]

Holyyyy crap! Beautiful image Greg. I've always tried with my D800 but can never seem to quite get there, atleast not in the colour palette your images brings. How many subs?

Agreed with Mike, perfect FL well done!

[gregbradley]

Originally Posted by iceman

Great framing! The focal length was perfect.
Love the colours.

Shame about that cloud!

Thanks. Yes just after I got it a lot of cloud set in and I didn't get a 2nd chance. I don't mind the cloud that much.

Originally Posted by RickS

Great colours and composition, Greg.

Cheers Rick. I was hapy it turned out like that.

Originally Posted by Garbz

Beautiful single exposure. Mind me asking where the location is? The background to the southern cross is the best I've seen from such a short exposure! I assume zero light pollution?

Thanks.
It was at my dark site observatory near Crookwell NSW and yes its very very low light pollution.

Originally Posted by David Fitz-Henr

Nice one Greg! You should do it again when the clouds are gone.

I am glad you like it as I wasn't at first going to publish it being a short image and all. I used the Vixen Polarie and I had just finished drift aligning it so the stars were nice and round at 30 seconds and 180mm focal length which is pushing that system a bit.

Originally Posted by Larryp

Great image, Greg. And such a short exposure.

Thanks Larry. I was surprised it turned out well.

Greg.

[gregbradley]

Originally Posted by Meru

Holyyyy crap! Beautiful image Greg. I've always tried with my D800 but can never seem to quite get there, atleast not in the colour palette your images brings. How many subs?

Agreed with Mike, perfect FL well done!

Its a single image 30 seconds ISO6400, Nikkor 180mm F2.8ED at F2.8 and Vixen Polarie mount drift aligned.

Greg.

[jjjnettie (Jeanette)]

30 seconds!!!!
Extreme imaging.

[gregbradley]

Originally Posted by jjjnettie

30 seconds!!!!
Extreme imaging.

Yeah I know. I was surprised.

Greg.

[Ross G]

Nice photo Greg.

Great looking colours.

Ross.

[gregbradley]

Originally Posted by Ross G

Nice photo Greg.

Great looking colours.

Ross.

Thanks Ross. I was happy with it. It was an astro happy snap!

Greg.

[multiweb (Marc)]

Love the colors you've got on this one. Nice saturation.

[gregbradley]

Originally Posted by multiweb

Love the colors you've got on this one. Nice saturation.

Thanks Marc. The Nikon 180mm F2.8ED lens gets good reviews and is regarded as one of Nikons sharpest. Its also not that expensive 2nd hand. I was pleased the Polarie worked well enough to handle it.

Greg.