Barry-Wilson Posted May 13, 2017 Share Posted May 13, 2017 When I was gathering the last few RGB subs for my MW3, Volcano Nebula, M81/82 mosaic, I was only able to track the four panels for about 1.5 hours before they disappeared behind a tree. The moon was making its presence felt at that point but I made use of the clear skies by switching to target the globular cluster M3 for the balance of the astro dark. We have all lost the skies at the moment with the moon and weather and true astro darkness will soon diminish (or disappear for those in the UK or has disappeared for our more northern colleagues ), however many of us will be able to enjoy NB targets galore soon, so a smash and grab M3 after my mosaic madness was a cathartic counterpoint and a sign-off before Nebula season. The data only amounts to 15 x 300s luminance and 8 x 300s each RG&B, a total of 3hrs 25mins, but just about do-able for a wide-ish look at M3. The FSQ106 at F3.6 and QSI683 giving 2.8"/px isn't the tool for resolution to the core but it is a fun image nevertheless. I have decided against cropping to show the concentrated globular aggregation of stars in context against the starfield. Can you imagine being on a planet orbiting a star within? Just think of the radiation! According to Wikipedia, "Many amateur astronomers consider it one of the finest northern globular clusters, following only Messier 13.[1] . . . This cluster is one of the largest and brightest, and is made up of around 500,000 stars. It is estimated to be 8 billion years old. It is located at a distance of about 33,900 light-years away from Earth.[citation needed]. . . It contains 274 known variable stars; by far the highest number found in any globular cluster." Having recently read "The Glass Universe" by Dava Sobel which documents the extraordinary work of the female 'human computers' at Harvard University cataloguing stars, their positions, their spectra and their significant contributions to astronomy and especially variable stars and their brightness/periodicty relationship, it is rather pleasing to capture M3 with its abundant stars and variables. CS! Barry 27 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allinthehead Posted May 13, 2017 Share Posted May 13, 2017 Very nicely done. Enjoyed the write up too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gnomus Posted May 13, 2017 Share Posted May 13, 2017 A cracker. The star colour and overall processing is spot on. (I'd have a go, but my last night of astro dark is ... tonight... ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steppenwolf Posted May 13, 2017 Share Posted May 13, 2017 This is a nicely balanced image and, personally, I prefer to see these globular clusters in a wide field context. Very nice indeed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toxic Posted May 13, 2017 Share Posted May 13, 2017 very nice indeed Barry and i enjoyed the info Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeODay Posted May 13, 2017 Share Posted May 13, 2017 Great image. Love the colours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barry-Wilson Posted May 14, 2017 Author Share Posted May 14, 2017 Thank you all. It's always satisfying when a smash and grab image works out (they don't always as we know). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PatrickGilliland Posted May 19, 2017 Share Posted May 19, 2017 Nice work Barry as always - a GC needs fizz and finesses both seen here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rodd Posted May 19, 2017 Share Posted May 19, 2017 Love the star color and depth of M3--all the way to the core. Impressive, as always. Are the stars in the lower half of the image a tad comafied? (is there is a hint of lobishness expanding toward the bottom?) . I am full of fancy words today! Could be my screen. Rodd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geoflewis Posted May 19, 2017 Share Posted May 19, 2017 On 13/05/2017 at 19:10, Barry-Wilson said: however many of us will be able to enjoy NB targets galore soon Hi Barry, firstly I love your M3 which is beautifl, but my post is more about your comment on NB imaging as if I read you right, is this something that you can do during astronomical twilight? I've come from DSLR imaging, but this past 9 months moved to CCD imaging with a QSI583wsg-5, but never did NB other than to add Ha to RGB. I tend to think of the next couple of months as an astroimaging holiday, other than planetary, lunar or a few quick DSLR grabs of brighter targets, so please could you expand on '....enjoy NB targets galore....' Maybe I need to invest in SII and OIII filers to go with my Ha and put the RGB filters away. Cheers, Geof Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ollypenrice Posted May 22, 2017 Share Posted May 22, 2017 Good one, Barry! Like Steve, I think a bit of context suits the globulars. Lots of luvverly astro darkness down here at Lat 44... Olly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swag72 Posted May 22, 2017 Share Posted May 22, 2017 (edited) 4 hours ago, ollypenrice said: Lots of luvverly astro darkness down here at Lat 44... Olly Even more down here at Lat 38 Its a very nice M3 Barry..... Did this one myself as a first ever glob, I'm a bit hooked now if the truth be known Edited May 22, 2017 by swag72 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toxic Posted May 22, 2017 Share Posted May 22, 2017 4 hours ago, swag72 said: Even more down here at Lat 38 Its a very nice M3 Barry..... Did this one myself as a first ever glob, I'm a bit hooked now if the truth be known not so good at lat 54 though but we manage lol 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barry-Wilson Posted May 22, 2017 Author Share Posted May 22, 2017 10 hours ago, swag72 said: Even more down here at Lat 38 Its a very nice M3 Barry..... Did this one myself as a first ever glob, I'm a bit hooked now if the truth be known Yes, I saw your's on your site and your big 'frac has really done justice to resolving into the core. Like you I found that I could image with a some moonlight without suffering overwhelming gradients. 14 hours ago, ollypenrice said: Good one, Barry! Like Steve, I think a bit of context suits the globulars. Lots of luvverly astro darkness down here at Lat 44... Olly Thanks Olly. Cheers Chris, Rodd and Paddy. On 19/05/2017 at 21:05, geoflewis said: Hi Barry, firstly I love your M3 which is beautifl, but my post is more about your comment on NB imaging as if I read you right, is this something that you can do during astronomical twilight? I've come from DSLR imaging, but this past 9 months moved to CCD imaging with a QSI583wsg-5, but never did NB other than to add Ha to RGB. I tend to think of the next couple of months as an astroimaging holiday, other than planetary, lunar or a few quick DSLR grabs of brighter targets, so please could you expand on '....enjoy NB targets galore....' Maybe I need to invest in SII and OIII filers to go with my Ha and put the RGB filters away. Cheers, Geof I find that I can gather Ha when astro darkness disappears, certainly 20min subs without too much loss of contrast. The length of the capture time in any one evening is quite curtailed and really is centred around midnight/1am. Last year when Gnomus and I collaborated on a 4-panel Sadr/Crescent mosaic we managed HaRGB but not and OIII, it was just washed too out. So with some planning you can limp through until darkness returns. HTH. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jedi2014 Posted May 23, 2017 Share Posted May 23, 2017 Hi Barry, a very nice image with tiny stars and beautiful color. Well done. Jens Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geoflewis Posted May 23, 2017 Share Posted May 23, 2017 On 22/05/2017 at 18:04, Barry-Wilson said: I find that I can gather Ha when astro darkness disappears, certainly 20min subs without too much loss of contrast. The length of the capture time in any one evening is quite curtailed and really is centred around midnight/1am. Thanks Barry, so really no different to what I've been used to with my DSLR, just a couple of hours from say 11:30pm - 1-30am, or maybe 2:00/2:30am at a push. Cheers Geof Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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