A series of deep space widefields

[gregbradley]

Here is a series of deep space objects I took widefield last weekend.

D800E, Nikon 180mm F2.8ED or 24-70 F2.8ED.

http://upload.pbase.com/gregbradley/image/149284965 Saggitarius

http://upload.pbase.com/gregbradley/image/149284952 Eta Carina

http://upload.pbase.com/gregbradley/image/149284721 The Large Magellanic Cloud
http://www.pbase.com/gregbradley/image/149295415 The Southern
Cross
http://www.pbase.com/gregbradley/image/149225470 Rho Ophiuchi area (posted separately already)

All done on a Polarie mount.

Greg.

[toryglen-boy (Duncan)]

very nice Greg, thanks for sharin'

[RickS (Rick)]

A wonderful collection of images, Greg!

[IanP]

Great series, Greg !!!
It looks like D800E doesn't need any modds for astrophoto, at least for widefields ..

[gregbradley]

Originally Posted by toryglen-boy

very nice Greg, thanks for sharin'

Thanks for that!

Originally Posted by RickS

A wonderful collection of images, Greg!

Thanks Rick. I reprocessed a couple to correct an incorrect histogram on 2.

Originally Posted by IanP

Great series, Greg !!!
It looks like D800E doesn't need any modds for astrophoto, at least for widefields ..

It has surprisingly good Ha performance for a DSLR. Still nothing like a CCD cam but as you say for widefields the gain from a mod may not be that great (I am about to modify a Sony Nex 6 so I will know for sure soon!).
Greg.

[multiweb (Marc)]

Awesome shots Greg. Saggitarius would be my fav although the colors in the cross and coalsack are great.

[David Fitz-Henr]

Yes, all great images Greg!

In order of my preference:
1. Sagittarius / Rho Ophiuchus / Large Magellanic Cloud
2. Southern Cross
3. Eta Carina

... but not much between them.

[Stevec35 (Steve)]

Great stuff Greg - like them all although Eta Carina is a bit burnt out in the centre. Maybe a bit of shadow highlight? BTW Sagittarius only has one g.

Cheers

Steve

[gregbradley]

Originally Posted by Stevec35

Great stuff Greg - like them all although Eta Carina is a bit burnt out in the centre. Maybe a bit of shadow highlight? BTW Sagittarius only has one g.

Cheers

Steve

LOL. I knew I'd mispelt Sagittarius but I thought it had 2 r's!
I'll check out that burnt core.

Thanks Steve.

Originally Posted by multiweb

Awesome shots Greg. Saggitarius would be my fav although the colors in the cross and coalsack are great.

Thanks Marc and thanks for your help on the histograms - I learnt something new today!

Originally Posted by David Fitz-Henr

Yes, all great images Greg!

In order of my preference:
1. Sagittarius / Rho Ophiuchus / Large Magellanic Cloud
2. Southern Cross
3. Eta Carina

... but not much between them.

Thanks David. Eta looked great on the camera LCD but not quite as good in the processing.

I have a few more to do. Small Magellanic Cloud, Orion and I took some Milky Way panoramas. Its quite tiring though as I didn't finish until 5am. It'll get easier as it rises earlier though.

I think I'll pick a target and set the intervalometer to do lots and see what happens. Maybe a mosaic of a few panels centred on Sagittarius would be the go.

Greg.

[Larryp (Laurie)]

Great series of images, Greg

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

Yeh great stuff Greg, you must be happy with those! I like'em all.... except the Rho region one, it looks a tad too white'sh and a bit harsh but in the end a great collection ...bit jealous actually, my Nikon needs a good lens or two

Mike

[seeker372011 (Narayan)]

Lovely pictures

[gregbradley]

Originally Posted by Larryp

Great series of images, Greg

Thanks Larry.

Originally Posted by strongmanmike

Yeh great stuff Greg, you must be happy with those! I like'em all.... except the Rho region one, it looks a tad too white'sh and a bit harsh but in the end a great collection ...bit jealous actually, my Nikon needs a good lens or two

Mike

Yes the lens makes a big difference. I'll reshoot the Rho one next time its dark and I am at my site and do longer exposures. Its just not enough exposure time to capture all those lovely subtle colours.

Originally Posted by seeker372011

Lovely pictures

Thanks for that!

Greg.

[rogerg (Roger)]

Saggitarius Milky Way core: Great!

Eta Carina: OK but ... saturation? busy? contrast? ... not sure what it is but feels a bit straining on the eye

The Large Magellanic Cloud: Great for 30s 6D was giving me this kind of result.

The Southern Cross: Nice, but like Eta the stars field is a bit overwhelming

Rho Ophiuchi: Stunning, not sure if this or the first is my favorite

[iceman (Mike)]

Fantastic shots. Doing well with the polarie!

[gregbradley]

Originally Posted by rogerg

Saggitarius Milky Way core: Great!

Eta Carina: OK but ... saturation? busy? contrast? ... not sure what it is but feels a bit straining on the eye

The Large Magellanic Cloud: Great for 30s 6D was giving me this kind of result.

The Southern Cross: Nice, but like Eta the stars field is a bit overwhelming

Rho Ophiuchi: Stunning, not sure if this or the first is my favorite

Thanks Roger. I'll have another look at those and see if I can tone down the Eta a bit. Perhaps a bit too heavy on the processing.

Originally Posted by iceman

Fantastic shots. Doing well with the polarie!

Thanks Mike. Its a great little unit once you get used to it.
Greg.

[Leonardo70 (Leonardo Orazi)]

Really nice Greg, amazing image.

All the best,
Leo

[astronobob (Bob)]

Great collection Greg, very deep yet not over done , , Top work ! !

[Joshua Bunn (Joshua)]

Fantastic shots of southern winter sky objects Greg, I like em.

Josh

[ourkind (Carlos)]

Stunning images Greg, I really like both Saggitarius and Rho Ophiuchi!

You are certainly making it hard for me in not purchasing a Polarie anytime soon!