Centaurus Chain of Galaxies

[gregbradley]

Originally Posted by marc4darkskies

Very nice image Greg! Did you do long subs? At a dark site I'd shoot for 30 minutes!

Cheers, Marcus

You know I probably will do that next time. I was stoked I was getting perfectly round stars at full camera resolution using the MMOAG. The guide scope was a bit hit and miss due to flexure but was OK at short focal lengths.

I also had the camera at -45C, so it is virtually noiseless (its a very clean chip to start with) and it almost doesn't need darks.

I will check that out next time to see if I get a better signal to noise ratio. I used to take 15 minutes as standard.

The only problem with 30 minutes is the fact that the 8300 chip has small wells - only 20,000 electrons. The 16803 has over 100,000!.

What that means is bright stars oversaturate very easily and at 30minutes it may make them look a bit messy plus I might lose colour in a lot of the stars. But 15 minutes should be fine in most scenes.

What's the theory of long subs at dark sites? Lower % of read noise to signal allowing more detail in dim areas? Less overall noise?

Greg.

[ballaratdragons (Ken)]

Originally Posted by Ross G

Again, I am rushing to the Star Atlas to see where it is.

So much detail and such a variety of objects, it's like 50 photos in one!

Ross.

Ross, the cluster is really easy to find without GoTo.

I have made a map for you showing how to star hop to it.

1. Travel out the top of Crux the distance of the length of Crux to the 2 stars next to each other.

2. Travel the same distance and direction to the next star as bright as the previous two.

3. Travel back a tad and to the right.

I have circled where the cluster is in red.

That is Omega Centauri Glob and Centaurus 'A' Galaxy on the left of the map.

and also another map showing some of the Galaxies in there

[Stevec35 (Steve)]

Extremely nice Greg!

Cheers

Steve

[Paul Haese]

Superb work Greg. I reckon the two main galaxies are fantastic. Star colours are great and the background has that lovely grey look to it too. Well done.

[mithrandir (Andrew)]

The centre of frame is at RA 12:42:49.885 Dec -40:34:17.142
The image is 0:48:01.616 by 0:35:48.320 degrees.

Nice image Greg.

[Hagar (Doug)]

Greg, this is fantastic. Detail right down to the tiny galaxies.

I love your setup and just looking at your equipment photos I am drooling and gealous.
My wife would kill me.

[Tom Davis (Tom)]

Stunning image, Greg!! Excellent detail!

Tom

[renormalised (Carl)]

Fantastic shot there, Greg . Lots of galaxies....I like the interacting pair on the far right of the piccie and the tight spiral right of centre. The nebulous irregular patch in the top right hand area is an interesting one as well.

[SkyViking (Rolf)]

Fantastic image with so much to see and very beautifully processed. According to my count there are around 70 galaxies in that field alone - impressive! Congratulations on yet another stunning image.

[Ross G]

Hi Ken,

Thank you for the map, it makes it easy to find.


Regards


Ross.

[atalas]

Very nice field Greg.

[richardo (Rich)]

Top work Greg.
Very nicely processed and there are some amazing galaxy details.
Every galaxy has a different profile... incredible area.

All the best
Rich

[gregbradley]

Originally Posted by ballaratdragons

Ross, the cluster is really easy to find without GoTo.

I have made a map for you showing how to star hop to it.

1. Travel out the top of Crux the distance of the length of Crux to the 2 stars next to each other.

2. Travel the same distance and direction to the next star as bright as the previous two.

3. Travel back a tad and to the right.

I have circled where the cluster is in red.

That is Omega Centauri Glob and Centaurus 'A' Galaxy on the left of the map.

and also another map showing some of the Galaxies in there

Thanks for doing that Ross.

Greg.

[gregbradley]

Originally Posted by ballaratdragons

Ross, the cluster is really easy to find without GoTo.

I have made a map for you showing how to star hop to it.

1. Travel out the top of Crux the distance of the length of Crux to the 2 stars next to each other.

2. Travel the same distance and direction to the next star as bright as the previous two.

3. Travel back a tad and to the right.

I have circled where the cluster is in red.

That is Omega Centauri Glob and Centaurus 'A' Galaxy on the left of the map.

and also another map showing some of the Galaxies in there

Originally Posted by Stevec35

Extremely nice Greg!

Cheers

Steve

Thanks Steve. There are some unusual galaxies that are worth further imaging at longer focal length. Its in a good position for imaging at the moment.

Originally Posted by Paul Haese

Superb work Greg. I reckon the two main galaxies are fantastic. Star colours are great and the background has that lovely grey look to it too. Well done.

Thanks Paul. It did take a bit to get everything right but it was good data in the first place. I actually used a Takahashi field flattener and it seems to work very well.

Originally Posted by mithrandir

The centre of frame is at RA 12:42:49.885 Dec -40:34:17.142
The image is 0:48:01.616 by 0:35:48.320 degrees.

Nice image Greg.

Thank you. I was pleased the offaxis guider worked so well. It improves the quality of the images noticeably.

Originally Posted by Hagar

Greg, this is fantastic. Detail right down to the tiny galaxies.

I love your setup and just looking at your equipment photos I am drooling and gealous.
My wife would kill me.

Cheers Doug. I have a renewed like of my TEC scope now the offaxis guider is working so well. The power of that scope is showing through better.

Originally Posted by Tom Davis

Stunning image, Greg!! Excellent detail!

Tom

Cheers Tom. I'm looking forward to more RH shots from you.

Originally Posted by renormalised

Fantastic shot there, Greg . Lots of galaxies....I like the interacting pair on the far right of the piccie and the tight spiral right of centre. The nebulous irregular patch in the top right hand area is an interesting one as well.

It is an odd collection of galaxies. The most unusual I have seen.

Originally Posted by SkyViking

Fantastic image with so much to see and very beautifully processed. According to my count there are around 70 galaxies in that field alone - impressive! Congratulations on yet another stunning image.

Cheers mate. The seeing this time of year when it gets a bit cold is pretty stunning. Even stars low on the horizon were hardly blinking at all and near the zenith they were rock solid.

Originally Posted by Ross G

Hi Ken,

Thank you for the map, it makes it easy to find.


Regards


Ross.

Originally Posted by atalas

Very nice field Greg.

Cheers Louie. I used some inverted masks which I learned from your tutorial so thank you!

They are very very handy.

Originally Posted by richardo

Top work Greg.
Very nicely processed and there are some amazing galaxy details.
Every galaxy has a different profile... incredible area.

All the best
Rich

Everything was working well. The camera was at an incredible -45C and is just almost completely clean at that temp. The mount was guiding incredibly well with very low guide errors and the offaxis guider was working well. The scope is amazing but I haven't always gotten the best out of it. I understand the scope better now and how to match the scope and camera and get the best out of it. It can take a while of using gear to really get to know it and play to its strengths.

Greg.