Rho Ophiucus with Polarie.

alocky (Andrew lockwood) · #1 30-06-2013, 08:21 PM

Hi all,
Last night I finally got a chance to try out my Polarie under dark skies. I used the polar alignment scope to get a half decent alignment, stuck the D800 with the Nikon 180mm f2.8 ED D series on it, and took 30x2 minutes subs at ISO 1600. Processing in pixinsight was stacking, a bit of levels and curve stretching, plus some of the bottled de-noise routines. I'm fairly impressed with the accuracy of the guiding at 180mm fl. Not bad for completely unattended imaging with minimal setup time.
Constructive comments appreciated, and the high-res version is at
http://www.astrobin.com/46565/B/
Cheers,
Andrew.

alpal · #2 30-06-2013, 08:30 PM

That's a great photo.
Makes me want to put a camera lens on the front of my QHY9.

DavidTrap (David) · #3 30-06-2013, 09:00 PM

Noice Andrew - very impressive tracking. I had a fiddle with a Polaria recently and was very impressed.

I was also experimenting today with my 14-24 attached to my QSI. I figure with the recent wet weather, the seeing is unlikely to be fabulous this winter and was planning to shoot some Milky Way widefields.

DT

alocky (Andrew lockwood) · #4 30-06-2013, 09:11 PM

Thanks guys - I've been thinking about doing exactly the same thing with my QSI - but I'm reasonably impressed with the D800's red response, and you have to buy a different front cover for the QSI to use Nikon lenses. I had a crack with the D800 and the 14-24 f2.8 as well at the galactic centre last night. Here -'tis... Don't know if I want to go spending any more money...
cheers,
Andrew.

RickS (Rick) · #5 30-06-2013, 09:23 PM

Both nice shots, Andrew! I haven't tried my D800 for astro work yet. Looks like I should.

Cheers,
Rick.

DavidTrap (David) · #6 30-06-2013, 09:53 PM

Nice shot of the galactic centre!

Must try the same with my D800 when under dark skies. The field of view with the full frame chip vs the 8300 is impressive.

DT

gregbradley · #7 30-06-2013, 10:08 PM

Beautiful image. That's superb.

The D800 rocks, I love mine to bits.

Greg.

IanP · #8 01-07-2013, 12:24 PM

Gee, that looks GOOD !!!

pvelez (Pete) · #9 01-07-2013, 12:51 PM

These images highlight the value in getting out of town

I need to book a family weekend away soon!

Great shots

Pete

Nortilus (Josh) · #10 01-07-2013, 01:33 PM

it looks so 3d...amazing image

pmrid (Peter) · #11 01-07-2013, 02:09 PM

Those are pretty darned impressive. A question? Did you use any kind of filter with those? ND or similar?
Peter

alocky (Andrew lockwood) · #12 01-07-2013, 02:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pmrid

Those are pretty darned impressive. A question? Did you use any kind of filter with those? ND or similar?
Peter

Thanks Peter, no filters at all, but I had to do a bit of work to tone down the blue response.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nortilus

it looks so 3d...amazing image

Thanks!

Quote:

Originally Posted by pvelez

These images highlight the value in getting out of town

I need to book a family weekend away soon!

Great shots

Pete

Thanks Pete,
The difference between suburbia and semi dark means I could take 2 minute subs instead of 20 secs. Heaps easier to process too.

Quote:

Originally Posted by IanP

Gee, that looks GOOD !!!

Thanks Ian!

Quote:

Originally Posted by gregbradley

Beautiful image. That's superb.

The D800 rocks, I love mine to bits.

Greg.

Thanks Greg,
Yep - v. Nice camera !

multiweb (Marc) · #13 01-07-2013, 06:55 PM

Superb rendition. Very vivid colours.

h0ughy (David) · #14 01-07-2013, 09:08 PM

i miss dark skies. i miss clear skies. thanks for reminding me whats up there.

Ross G · #15 02-07-2013, 10:14 PM

Great looking photo Ray.

So detailed and sharp.

Very nice colours and I love the wide composition.

The Nikon 180mm F2.8 is a great lens for astrophotos.

Ross.

Ryderscope (Rodney) · #16 02-07-2013, 10:22 PM

Beautiful.

alocky (Andrew lockwood) · #17 02-07-2013, 10:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ryderscope

Beautiful.

Thanks!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ross G

Great looking photo Ray.

So detailed and sharp.

Very nice colours and I love the wide composition.

The Nikon 180mm F2.8 is a great lens for astrophotos.

Ross.

Who's Ray? But yes - that 180mm was operating at f2.8 with minimal distortion, and what was left was easy to fix using the lens correction in photoshop. Fantastic lens, and picked up for a very reasonable price here on iceinspace thanks to Meru.

Quote:

Originally Posted by h0ughy

i miss dark skies. i miss clear skies. thanks for reminding me whats up there.

I had a bottle of shiraz, some nice D'argental chees and crackers, some music, and I sat in my camping chair using my 10x80mm binos while the polarie and the intervalometer did their thing. And no kids

. Looks like I finally get to drag the big dob out this Friday for some real observing too!

Quote:

Originally Posted by multiweb

Superb rendition. Very vivid colours.

Thanks - I did hit the saturation button a little, maybe a bit too much.

Ross G · #18 03-07-2013, 07:35 AM

Oops!...sorry Andrew!

I had been looking at Ray (SHIRAZ)'s photo just before yours...end of a very long day!

What version of Photoshop are you using to correct the lens?

Thanks.

Ross.......or call me Bob!

alocky (Andrew lockwood) · #19 03-07-2013, 10:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ross G

Oops!...sorry Andrew!

I had been looking at Ray (SHIRAZ)'s photo just before yours...end of a very long day!

What version of Photoshop are you using to correct the lens?

Thanks.

Ross.......or call me Bob!

Not offended at all

I have PS6, but adobe raw gives a good level of control. I did take flats, darks and bias, so the vignetting box needed to be unchecked and only distortion removed.
Cheers,
Andrew.

jjjnettie (Jeanette) · #20 03-07-2013, 11:41 AM

A very sweet looking image.