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Antares and Rho Ophiuchi Region

Started by MarkS, Jun 20, 2017, 23:35:15

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MarkS

I've waited years to catch this - it's just a bit too low in the sky here in the UK so I took this on a recent trip to France. The extra 5 degrees of altitude and the darker sky both made a big difference.

Taken with the usual Sony A7S and Tak Epsilon combination, it's an 8 piece mosaic, each piece comprising 20 x 30sec at ISO 10000.  It was shot over 2 nights: 23/24 May.  To assemble the mosaic I used a trial version of the new Astro Pixel Processor software and followed the (silent) mosaic tutorial video here: https://www.astropixelprocessor.com/video-tutorials/.  I'm really impressed with the result: it automatically positioned and assembled the 8 pieces seamlessly and with the stars perfectly aligned!  It's the easiest mosaic I've ever processed.

As an added bonus, you might be able to find comet 71P/Clark hidden away in the image :) 



Larger versions can be found here
http://www.markshelley.co.uk/Astronomy/2017/antares_2017_05_23_medium.jpg
and here
http://www.markshelley.co.uk/Astronomy/2017/antares_2017_05_23_large.jpg

Enjoy!

Mark

JohnP

Truly amazing Mark - make sure you send to APOD... Can't see any seams - think I spotted the comet - nice. Love the star cluster & colours - truly awe inspiring - you've got to print this & pin on the wall.. John

doug

Absolutely amazing image, Mark. Well done for such a fine capture.

Doug.
Always look on the bright side of life ...

Carole

Wow, well done Mark, beautiful result.  Personally I would increase the colours a little but each to his own taste. 

A you know I tried this at Cairds with a camera lens, but the results were appalling, so I have tried again in Spain at a higher elevation, but won't know the results until I get home as I don't have Photoshop on my mini laptop.  It won't be a patch on yours as all I could get on the plane was the DSLR and Ioptron Skytracker.

Such a beautiful nebula, shame we can't get it in the UK. 

Carole


ApophisAstros

Absolutely stunning Mark , how much time roughly would you say you spent on it?
I can definitely appreciate the work that has gone into this now , more than ever.
Roger
RedCat51,QHYCCD183,Atik460EX,EQ6-R.Tri-Band OSC,BaaderSII1,25" 4.5nm,Ha3.5nm,Oiii3.5nm.

MarkS

#5
Quote from: JohnP
Truly amazing Mark - make sure you send to APOD... Can't see any seams - think I spotted the comet - nice. Love the star cluster & colours - truly awe inspiring - you've got to print this & pin on the wall.. John

I was beaten to it.  Take a look at this:  https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap170527.html
He captured the comet as well in almost exactly the same position.  He was imaging in Spain the very night I was imaging in France!

Annoyingly he hasn't supplied any details of equipment or exposure times.

Quote from: Apophis
Absolutely stunning Mark , how much time roughly would you say you spent on it?
I can definitely appreciate the work that has gone into this now , more than ever.
Roger

It took me 3 evenings.  The first evening to stack the 8 pieces and then another couple of evenings to create the mosaic and do all the post processing.  In other words it took many times longer to process the data than to shoot it in the first place!

Mark

julian


Very nice Mark.
I think the APOD image colour is over enhanced.

MarkS

Quote from: julian

Very nice Mark.
I think the APOD image colour is over enhanced.

I guess it's very much a question of personal taste.  I prefer the more subtle colours which is why I process my data that way.

Mark

Hugh

Well done Mark an absolutely top class picture!  Who needs Hubble?  Well OK, yes we do but this picture makes you wonder.

Whilst the detail is amazing, for me it is all those background stars ~ such a stunner.

Best

Hugh

JohnP

QuoteI prefer the more subtle colours which is why I process my data that way.

...totally agree with you Mark on this one - I hate astro images where saturation is much too in your face.

MarkS

Quote from: Hugh
Well done Mark an absolutely top class picture!  Who needs Hubble?  Well OK, yes we do but this picture makes you wonder.

Whilst the detail is amazing, for me it is all those background stars ~ such a stunner.

Best

Hugh

Much appreciated Hugh.

Mark

MarkS

I've reprocessed this to improve the colour rendition, to brighten it (bringing out slightly more faint dust) and to increase colour saturation.



I'm finally pleased with it.

Large version here:
http://www.markshelley.co.uk/Astronomy/2017/antares_2017_05_23_v2_large.jpg

Mark

Carole

I really like the improved version Mark, it's such a colourful area, it really needs showing off.  The star colours as usual are great and the dark nebula is excellent. 

All in all a great result and despite the long wait, well worth waiting for.

Carole

MarkS

Quote from: Carole
I really like the improved version Mark, it's such a colourful area, it really needs showing off.  The star colours as usual are great and the dark nebula is excellent. 

All in all a great result and despite the long wait, well worth waiting for.

Thanks.  Now submitted to a well known astro magazine ;)

Mark

Carole

QuoteNow submitted to a well known astro magazine ;)