Black snakes and clouds in the Milky Way

strongmanmike (Michael) · #1 17-08-2009, 11:11 PM

I have always wanted to image this area and finally with an ongoing run of uncharacteristic clear weather lately I managed to fit a quicky in of it on the weekend

.
The attached low res version will let you decide if you want to look at the much clearer bigger files below

Full frame high res small size (2.7meg)
http://www.pbase.com/strongmanmike20...82738/original

Full Frame high res large size (5.5meg)
http://www.pbase.com/strongmanmike20...83021/original

Closer crop of dark clouds (2.8meg)
http://www.pbase.com/strongmanmike20...83119/original

It isn't a totally opaque cloud here is the snake up close (2meg)
http://www.pbase.com/strongmanmike20...83174/original

Hope you like'em

astroron (Ron) · #2 17-08-2009, 11:20 PM

Nice images Mike

I like them

dugnsuz (Doug) · #3 17-08-2009, 11:47 PM

Top dust lane looks like a sleeping big cat Mike!!
Lovely image...

renormalised (Carl) · #4 18-08-2009, 12:01 AM

Very nicely done, Mike...great definition in the dust clouds

Martin Pugh · #5 18-08-2009, 12:43 AM

Hi Mike
I do like dark nebulae, and this is a nice image. I do think the background is too red though and perhaps you could crop out that very bright star on the left as it certainly draws the eye.

cheers
Martin

strongmanmike (Michael) · #6 18-08-2009, 01:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by astroron

Nice images Mike

I like them

Cool Ronny

Quote:

Originally Posted by dugnsuz

Top dust lane looks like a sleeping big cat Mike!!
Lovely image...

Yeh..?

don't be rediculous...it's clearly a 16" F3.6 corrected Newtonian with carbon fibre tube you looney Doug

Quote:

Originally Posted by renormalised

Very nicely done, Mike...great definition in the dust clouds

Cheers Carl, yes in the early images of this nebula it was uniformly dark, the improved dynamic range of modern CCD imaging makes a difference

Quote:

Originally Posted by Martin Pugh

Hi Mike
I do like dark nebulae, and this is a nice image. I do think the background is too red though and perhaps you could crop out that very bright star on the left as it certainly draws the eye.

cheers
Martin

Yes I agree with you Marti, there is something very attractive about dark dust clouds

, they give a feeling of depth I think and the sudden loss of stars is always fascinating.

This area is full of dust so the very faint background stars would be pretty reddened I think but you might be right..

..I do like it the way it is though

. Oh and as for the bright star, yes, I expected it may produce strong halos that I may have not been able to deal with 100% so I erred on the side of caution and placed it in the corner so I would have the option of cropping it out if need be...it did produce halo's which I managed to mostly deal with...but I don't mind it now..?

Mike

loc46south (Geoffrey) · #7 18-08-2009, 06:28 AM

Like the Clarity and detail of the background stars - nice clear image - well processed

multiweb (Marc) · #8 18-08-2009, 08:05 AM

Nice crisp field with beautiful contrast.

tornado33 · #9 18-08-2009, 10:49 AM

Very nice.
I can seed that the starlight that does make it through the snake is reddened more then the unobstructed background stars. That blob below the snake is particularily dense.

Once again I note stars right to the corners every bit as sharp as in the middle

Scott

marc4darkskies (Marcus) · #10 18-08-2009, 01:57 PM

Very nice Mike.

I don't think it's too red at all, but I don't much like the blue pimple in the bottom left ... tends to draw attention away from the neb. Your close up crop is the most striking image IMO.

Cheers, Marcus

Alchemy (Clive) · #11 18-08-2009, 05:10 PM

crisp as always, thanks for putting up the smaller version, with a 500mb allowance amonth i can get 100 big images or lots and lots of smaller ones.... and can go and save the special ones i want.

cheers clive

gregbradley · #12 18-08-2009, 05:20 PM

Not the most photogenic object, but hey you've already imaged all the good ones!

Colour background seems correct after checking other examples on the net. Its a kind of a reddish sandstone look. The stars look nice.

I like the crop the best.

Greg.

strongmanmike (Michael) · #13 18-08-2009, 05:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by loc46south

Like the Clarity and detail of the background stars - nice clear image - well processed

Thanks Geoff, I find the star field images the easiest to process actually and I think the "millions of tiny dots" look accentuates the high res sharpness too - I like

Quote:

Originally Posted by multiweb

Nice crisp field with beautiful contrast.

Ta Marc I have always wanted to image this bit of Milky Way since seeing EE Barnards version in a book when I ws a teenager, I have captured it in very wide fields before but not up close like this.

Quote:

Originally Posted by tornado33

Very nice.
I can seed that the starlight that does make it through the snake is reddened more then the unobstructed background stars. That blob below the snake is particularily dense.

Once again I note stars right to the corners every bit as sharp as in the middle

Scott

Yes I noticed the densness of that blob too Scott, it has a very "reach out and grab it" feel to it huh?

Quote:

Originally Posted by marc4darkskies

Very nice Mike.

I don't think it's too red at all, but I don't much like the blue pimple in the bottom left ... tends to draw attention away from the neb. Your close up crop is the most striking image IMO.

Cheers, Marcus

Ah that dreaded star

OK, I have posted a version that is pimple-less

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alchemy

crisp as always, thanks for putting up the smaller version, with a 500mb allowance amonth i can get 100 big images or lots and lots of smaller ones.... and can go and save the special ones i want.

cheers clive

The small IIS version is pretty poor in comparison to the larger files. You can go to my Pbase site and select "large" in the "other sizes" menu at the bottom of each image page, this opens a much smaller version of each image but better than what IIS displays, you can then decide if you want to open the "original" size

Quote:

Not the most photogenic object, but hey you've already imaged all the good ones!

Oh you hurt my Snakes feelings Greg, he thinks he is gods gift to girl snakes

Quote:

Colour background seems correct after checking other examples on the net. Its a kind of a reddish sandstone look. The stars look nice.

I like the crop the best.

Greg.

Cheers mate, my thoughts too

strongmanmike (Michael) · #14 18-08-2009, 05:37 PM

For those of you who were distracted by the blue star in the bottom left corner, here is a version with it removed

http://www.pbase.com/strongmanmike20...22573/original

Mike

Bassnut (Fred) · #15 18-08-2009, 05:45 PM

...........wha, wha was that, where, wha,....... a REMOVED star ?

strongmanmike (Michael) · #16 18-08-2009, 07:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bassnut

...........wha, wha was that, where, wha,....... a REMOVED star ?

No don't worry Fred, that particular avenue of please is all yours

I just cropped the side of the image off

Glad you liked the non existent star

I appologise for the rest of the image, real stuff must be alarming to you

Then again maybe I will try some smoke and mirrors and just clone the star out...? hmm? Cheers

Mike

Bassnut (Fred) · #17 18-08-2009, 08:35 PM

Crop?, OK, cool

. And that would be "healing tool" Mike, Ill show you how to use it one day

.

Oh, and by the way, excellent pic

.

BerrieK · #18 18-08-2009, 10:38 PM

Oooh thats beautiful Mike. I prefer the crop with the blue star 'removed', but the full frame hi res is really amazing.

I've just come inside from lying on the lawn admiring our galaxial arm - it really is beautiful. You've really captured the 'feel' of the exquisite visual voids of the dusty nebula, with a smidge of detail poking through the dark. Lovely.

(no man was hurt in the making of this image...

)

Kerrie

DavidU (Dave) · #19 18-08-2009, 11:18 PM

Beautiful just beautiful
Crop, full frame, doesn't matter all superb

strongmanmike (Michael) · #20 19-08-2009, 04:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BerrieK

Oooh thats beautiful Mike. I prefer the crop with the blue star 'removed', but the full frame hi res is really amazing.

I've just come inside from lying on the lawn admiring our galaxial arm - it really is beautiful. You've really captured the 'feel' of the exquisite visual voids of the dusty nebula, with a smidge of detail poking through the dark. Lovely.

(no man was hurt in the making of this image...

)

Kerrie

Ah yes, that blue star..pesky blighter

Hope you were lying on a rug...and were not alone

Actually I tripped on the power cord that night but yes I wasn't hurt

Thanks Kerrie

Quote:

Originally Posted by DavidU

Beautiful just beautiful
Crop, full frame, doesn't matter all superb

Thanks Dave glad you liked them all

Given my FOV I usually manage a few different crops