Preliminary Eagle

[Dave882 (David)]

Ooh that’s really cool. I think sometimes a Ha image can stand nicely on its own and this is a good example with great subtle detail and control of those bright areas.

[petershah (Peter Shah)]

super job Mike...saw this one on FB...it has so much potential and cant wait to see it all done up up with some Strongman magic!!....Unfortunately for us although we can see it up here in the North it still hangs pretty low down....even at the observatory in Spain...but I did have a run of really nice seeing and have attempted the Pillars just last week..

looking forward to seeing it finished

Peter

[Nikolas (Nik)]

Looking forward to the final result mate

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

Thanks Dave, Pete and Nik...as bad luck would have it, currently looks and feels like a great night, cold crisp and clear...but drum roll...crap seeing ...yeeees Eagleview is human ...oh well, it might improve, worst it has ever been...it was 3.5" a few minuts ago..but seems to be improving Doh!...so, I'm collecting RGB, even with the Moon, grumble grumble.

The beer is cold and sliding down like velvet though.....

Mike

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

Originally Posted by strongmanmike

Thanks Dave, Pete and Nik...as bad luck would have it, currently looks and feels like a great night, cold crisp and clear...but drum roll...crap seeing ...yeeees Eagleview is human ...oh well, it might improve, worst it has ever been...it was 3.5" a few minuts ago..but seems to be improving Doh!...so, I'm collecting RGB, even with the Moon, grumble grumble.

The beer is cold and sliding down like velvet though.....

Mike

...ok...down to 2.5" ish now...holding breath....

Mike

[petershah (Peter Shah)]

Originally Posted by strongmanmike

...ok...down to 2.5" ish now...holding breath....

Mike

fingers crossed for you Mike....no point in rushing it

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

Originally Posted by petershah

fingers crossed for you Mike....no point in rushing it

Meah...seeing struggled to stay under 3"... mostly just over, shight conditions, clear but became very windy...managed to grab 40min each of pretty soft RGB but by the end of that, the wind was too strong, 25-30km/hr gusting to 40km/hr...some of it got in the dome too, creating some very interesting star shapes

Oh well, we've all been there...

On a good note, after packing it in, I made a lovely ravioli stuffed with Italian pork sausage, in a Gorgonzola and Parmesan cream sauce...YUM!

Mike

[petershah (Peter Shah)]

Originally Posted by strongmanmike

On a good note, after packing it in, I made a lovely ravioli stuffed with Italian pork sausage, in a Gorgonzola and Parmesan cream sauce...YUM!

Mike

I'll be right over

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

Originally Posted by petershah

I'll be right over

It's not that far past Spain...... you should just keep driving, on your next maintenance run, for a down under visit

Mike

[markas (Mark)]

I eagerly await the complete image!

I also like the B&W as it stands.......I have an Halpha image of M16 as my screensaver

(Re BlurX, I agree it's often overdone, but used carefully I think it causes less damage than is often seen with standard decon or USM - and it is a lot easier and quicker to get it right - with the proviso that the speed depends on using the computer graphics hardware.)


Mark

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

Thanks Mark and yep on Blur Ex

Comparing last nights data with Monday nights is quite alarming... its like they were taken from completely different locations with completely different gear

Mike

[multiweb (Marc)]

Really cool close up. Lots of details at the tip of the pillars. Top shelf.

[markas (Mark)]

Mike,

At my site at 680m altitude on the North side of Mt Macedon, the range of seeing is 1.5" - 3.3" - after which I give up......It just isn't worth it on galaxies of any distance
Mark

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

Originally Posted by markas

Mike,

At my site at 680m altitude on the North side of Mt Macedon, the range of seeing is 1.5" - 3.3" - after which I give up......It just isn't worth it on galaxies of any distance
Mark

Yeah that's pretty much where I gave up too

I've had so much good seeing up there, this was the first time since first light last October, where I essentially had a full night of ordinary to crap seeing (2.5"-3.5" and windy!)...guess I've been spoiled with seeing mostly in the 1.4" - 1.8" range, only sometimes going just over 2"....hope it was just a blip

Drove west of you recently, from Kyneton to Apollo Bay, looked over to Macedon ranges and thought about astronomers over there ...Bert Candusio's observatory was up there too if I recall?

Mike

[marc4darkskies (Marcus)]

Originally Posted by strongmanmike

.... not sure if I'll do a narrowband only or LHaRGB don't really want to spend too much time on it...

Mike

No brainier. Natural palatte augmented with with Ha and maybe even Oiii. The Hubble palette version is sooo 1995. 🥱. BTW, your Ha data looks great!

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

Originally Posted by marc4darkskies

The Hubble palette version is sooo 1995. 🥱.

He he...ah yes, Batman Forever...A Kiss from a Rose...they were the daaays...

BTW, your Ha data looks great!

Cheers, yeah, the 1.4" sub was awesome when it came down, sculled a beer to celebrate ...complete opposite two nights later, when the 3.5" sub came down..very forlorn, I think I cussed for most of the night

Mike

[JA]

Originally Posted by strongmanmike

... yeah, the 1.4" sub was awesome when it came down, sculled a beer to celebrate ...complete opposite two nights later, when the 3.5" sub came down..very forlorn, I think I cussed for most of the night

Mike

Look on the bright side Mike, you are still in a VERY VERY DARK location, so just put off your small image scale work until you get the seeing you'd like and pull out the medium-field and/or wide-field gear, for which the seeing matters less.

Even the 3.5" seeing is only about one pixel worth of wobble/inexactness at a 300mm focal length on full-frame or 2 pixels worth at 600mm. Excepting small image scale work or planetary I'd say it's all good bro, especially below 300mm focal lengths for much wider fields or nightscapes.. Such a dark sky setup is not easy to come by so Live it up

Best
JA

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

Originally Posted by JA

Look on the bright side Mike, you are still in a VERY VERY DARK location, so just put off your small image scale work until you get the seeing you'd like and pull out the medium-field and/or wide-field gear, for which the seeing matters less.

Even the 3.5" seeing is only about one pixel worth of wobble/inexactness at a 300mm focal length on full-frame or 2 pixels worth at 600mm. Excepting small image scale work or planetary I'd say it's all good bro, especially below 300mm focal lengths for much wider fields or nightscapes.. Such a dark sky setup is not easy to come by so Live it up

Best
JA

He he yeah you are quite right, and I did consider it but you know, I kept hoping..hoping..then the wind picked up and then the wind picked up some more ...now it's getting laaate, the seeing hasn't improved, what do I want to doooo?... DOH! I haven't used the FSQ106/FLI16803 kit yet, the seeing quality has blown me away so much up there, I have been so excited to just hit things at high res, it's just been so thrilling to see such sharp data come down so regularly ...maybe now I know that the seeing isn't aaaalwaaaays great ...I'll get her out

You are right the skies are dark and transparent so when I do use the 3.5"/pix fast wide field FSQ rig, it will be sitting pretty, bullet proof...even if the seeing softens

Mike