The heart of the Scorpion

[Mickoid (Michael)]

On Wednesday night I took advantage of some clear skies and travelled out to a darker site ( about Bortle 4-5 ) just 30mins from home. The sky glow from LP was much less and the Milky Way was considerably brighter. I managed just under 1 hour on the Rho Ophiuchi region with a mixture of 1 and 2 minute subs at 1600iso using a 50mm f1.8 lens and a modded Canon 550d mounted on a Sightron Nano tracker. Transparency and seeing weren't great and there was a fair bit of wind but it beats trying to get this object from my backyard. The close up is a crop of the wide field.

[PKay (Peter)]

Nice one Mick

[AdamJL]

I always like a bit of Rho

Good work!

[Mickoid (Michael)]

Thanks Peter and Adam, glad you liked it. Obviously this was put together with limited data and most of the more spectacular versions around of Rho incorporate hours of data. I shot these between f4 and f5.6 to reduce lens aberrations at the edges and CA. The trade off of course, was reduced signal but there is a chance to add more over the coming weeks, weather permitting.

[Anth10 (Anthony M)]

Nicely framed - like the dust trails leading into the Milky Way band- star colours are always a standout in this region -

Well done Mick.

[AlextheMartian (Alex)]

Great shot Michael, nice amount of detail

[JA]

Very nice Mick. Love the colour in that region.

Best
JA

[leon]

Splendid work Mick, love it.

Leon

[Mickoid (Michael)]

Originally Posted by AlextheMartian

Great shot Michael, nice amount of detail

Thanks Alex, the Canon Nifty Fifty is always a reliable producer.

Originally Posted by Anth10

Nicely framed - like the dust trails leading into the Milky Way band- star colours are always a standout in this region -

Well done Mick.

Thanks Anthony, yes one of the most colourful regions in the sky to capture at almost any focal length.

Originally Posted by JA

Very nice Mick. Love the colour in that region.

Best
JA

Cheers JA, a very popular target that is always pleasing to the eye.

Originally Posted by leon

Splendid work Mick, love it.

Leon

Thanks Leon, it's a simple set up that can create impressive results if you take it to some darker skies.

[Baobab (Bohdan)]

what a beauty, well done

[astronobob (Bob)]

Real nice Michael, the 50mm lens & field suits this target perfect.
Have you tried the F1.8 50mm @ F3 - F3.5 -
Most fast lenses should work well enough at this apeture ?

Great colour stars, nebs and contrast with the tails, good job.