E T A C A R I N A E ( F I N A L E )

Post by **rcj** » Tue Apr 18, 2006 7:40 pm

Hi all,

The mosaic is finally done (and probably ready for full resolution print)! The last session was held last night (17th April) which covered the pheripheral regions of the complex. The final resolution is compable of a print covering 12x15 inches in photographic resolution (300DPI). The entire project was done in four parts, starting from 11th, then 12th and 15th, and finally yesterday, 17th April. As some of you are aware, it is also taken during the nearly full moon period, and with current light pollution conditions in Singapore, there was still a critical need to take care of pollution gradients present in some of the mosaic panels.

Project Details
----------------------
Imaging Instrument: Pentax 75SDHF Astrograph Refractor (F6.7)
Imaging Camera: SBIG ST2000XM (2020)
Imaging Filter: Don Goldman's 6nm H-Alpha Filter
Mount: Losmandy G11
Exposure Comments: 15 mosaic panels, with each being a stack of three sub-frames. Each Sub-frame is 10 minutes in duration. Total exposure time: 450 minutes or 7.5 hours.

Prior to this project, preliminary imaging was done on the central portion to obtain the scale needed to find out how many panels are required to cover the entire nebula extent. As this was my first time doing this project, I was not sure of the extent of the nebulosity. Earlier, I would have thought 9 panels would be enough to cover, but realised that to include the circular nebula (seen at top right), NGC3324, and the small open cluster (NGC3293), and the vast peripheral nebulous loop at bottom right, a final 15-mosaic frame was decided. Imaging was done roughly around the same time each night, so the rotation processing was minimal, and eased alignment of the individual panels. Frequent references was made with The Sky software to aid in the amount of coverage of the CCD camera, and to note which part of the nebula was being imaged at a given time. Some overlap between frames were necessary so that there was leeway to create seams without being seen easily or at all. The flatness of the of the field of view provided by the Pentax 75SDHF was definitely a helper here too, making mosaicing easier without much distortion at the far corners of each panel.

Image Location:
NGC3372

Alternatively, there is a smaller version here.

mrngbss · Post by **mrngbss** » Tue Apr 18, 2006 8:00 pm

The image is incredibly beautiful. Keep up the good work!

starfinder · Post by **starfinder** » Tue Apr 18, 2006 8:31 pm

mrngbss wrote:The image is incredibly beautiful. Keep up the good work!

I concur! It looks so alive too. Fabulous image!

mrngbss · Post by **mrngbss** » Tue Apr 18, 2006 8:34 pm

Hi,

Something else to add to my previous post.

Before I joined this forum, I've always thought all pictures of nebulae and other objects can only be beautifully taken from outside singapore.
Now I can tell my students/friends that we are also able to take beautiful photos like what Remus had done.

kamayok3 · Post by **kamayok3** » Tue Apr 18, 2006 9:47 pm

Well done, bro.

Tommy

Post by **perseid** » Wed Apr 19, 2006 1:29 am

Boey tahan...(can't find a suitable translation)

Simply outstanding image. I can't imaging such image can be taken from Singapore. Although I live in a relatively darker site, I don't think I'll be able to image it in such great detail.

Next time I image Eta Carina, I'll take your image as reference!

JY · Post by JY » Wed Apr 19, 2006 8:36 am

Fantastic shot, very well done !

Cheers

Jean-Yves

Tachyon · Post by **Tachyon** » Wed Apr 19, 2006 9:07 am

For a moment I feel like getting an ST2000XCM... then I realize it's not the SBIG 2000 I need, but it's the Remus 2006!!

Make us proud!

chrisyeo · Post by **chrisyeo** » Wed Apr 19, 2006 9:33 am

Thanks Remus for sharing with us this beautiful image. Really shows what is possible in Singapore.

Canopus Lim · Post by **Canopus Lim** » Wed Apr 19, 2006 10:51 am

That's a really nice image.