M45 and part of the Molecular Cloud in Taurus

[peter shah]

I havent posted for a while its so good to finally get going again..... Ive been wanting to image a wide field of M45 for years.... managed to get tenough over the past 4 weeks now it is rising early in the morning.......total 12hrs  comprised of 300s, 180s and 60s exposures. Imaged with a  105mm 1.4 Sigman lens @ f2 with an ASI2600 OSC. Cmos

Processed in Pixinsight, Photoshop,and lightroom

Thanks for looking

Peter

Edited September 17, 2020 by peter shah

[DaveS]

Wow! Wotalota dust! Not used to seeing M45 surrounded like that, really brings home what a dusty part of the spiral arm this is.

[Craig a]

Holy moly what a cracking image Peter! I can see the baby eagle in there too, excellent result, these new cmos osc sensors are excellent arnt they 

[peter shah]

31 minutes ago, Craig a said:

Holy moly what a cracking image Peter! I can see the baby eagle in there too, excellent result, these new cmos osc sensors are excellent arnt they 

They certainly are...shorter subs and lots of them......It does take some getting used to, its a different approach to CCD. The down side is the processing power needed.......my old i7 couldnt do it so I had to get a new PC.... 384x light frames to calibrate debayer and stack is not for the average computer....It took over 3hrs just to stack in Pixinsight.......

1 hour ago, DaveS said:

Wow! Wotalota dust! Not used to seeing M45 surrounded like that, really brings home what a dusty part of the spiral arm this is.

Thank you Dave......

[MarkAR]

Superb.

[Craig a]

Blimey peter a whole new pc this image has cost you 😆, my 10 year old Samsung lappy running celeron would explode then!  I’ve just got the asi 533 and even that is so different from the dslr I was using, but the low noise these new sensors give is a joy high dynamic range a decent full well, whats not to like 

[DaveS]

Something to consider when thinking about these new CMOS cameras, it's not just the cost of the camera, or even the filters, you may need to factor in the cost of a new computer, and storage.

[kirkster501]

One of the most amazing pictures by an amateur I have ever seen, Peter.  Utterly spectacular.

I have also acquired the QHY version of this sensor.  Not had first light as yet.

I run an i7-8700K with 64Gig of RAM and terrabyes of storage so I think I should be OK.

[simmo39]

That is just magic!

[peter shah]

 

Thank you everyone,......I am so pleased with it.....as I said Ive wanted to do this for years.....

 They latest generation sensors are just amazing....the only thing for me is the pixel size is an issue for longer focal length scopes....I will be getting one for my 12inch Newtonian as soon as they bring out a reasonably priced one that has 9un pixels or bigger, who knows when that will be. 

3 hours ago, DaveS said:

Something to consider when thinking about these new CMOS cameras, it's not just the cost of the camera, or even the filters, you may need to factor in the cost of a new computer, and storage.

No kidding....Ive ordered a Nas Storage system to cope with the massive data sets

2 hours ago, kirkster501 said:

One of the most amazing pictures by an amateur I have ever seen, Peter.  Utterly spectacular.

I have also acquired the QHY version of this sensor.  Not had first light as yet.

I run an i7-8700K with 64Gig of RAM and terrabyes of storage so I think I should be OK.

That should do it... mine only has 32G ram....good luck with first light.....

 

5 hours ago, Craig a said:

Blimey peter a whole new pc this image has cost you 😆, my 10 year old Samsung lappy running celeron would explode then!  I’ve just got the asi 533 and even that is so different from the dslr I was using, but the low noise these new sensors give is a joy high dynamic range a decent full well, whats not to like 

My old PC as good a s it is its just not up to the task.... and Pixinsight after doing all the stages of pre-process leaves you with a mountain of data.......I know it can be delete it but I like to keep it for a short amount of time just in case I need to reprocess

[DaveS]

Thinking about the 455 sensors, they can be binned 3x3 to give you effective pixels that are in excess of 10 um, while till having a respectable resolution.

[peter shah]

2 hours ago, DaveS said:

Thinking about the 455 sensors, they can be binned 3x3 to give you effective pixels that are in excess of 10 um, while till having a respectable resolution.

Yes I have thought about that. its is a stunning camera, back illuminated as well.......the modern sensors are really coming along.....The ZWO do struggle to cool to low temperatures but to be honest the noise levels are so low you dont have to cool them very far anyway.

[gorann]

That is an excellent WF Peter! Love the colours.

[Mick J]

Stunning Peter, not seen M45 presented like that before.

[bob-c]

That is amazing Peter, and nice to see you posting again.

Bob.

[peter shah]

25 minutes ago, bob-c said:

That is amazing Peter, and nice to see you posting again.

Bob.

Thank you Bob....I'd like to post more often I think need to find more time.

[tomato]

Superb, all that detail and rich colour in ‘just’ 12 hours, another big tick in the box for the new generation of OSC CMOS cameras.

[peter shah]

10 hours ago, tomato said:

Superb, all that detail and rich colour in ‘just’ 12 hours, another big tick in the box for the new generation of OSC CMOS cameras.

I do think Cmos is the way forward...... they seem to be worlds apart from CCD. Id like to see a nice big square sensor with bigger pixels......that is within a budget reachable by mere mortals of course

[Allinthehead]

Good to see you posting images again Peter, and a fine one at that. Dusty, sharp and detailed. Worth the wait.

[Ouroboros]

That is a truly gorgeous photograph.  The wide field is new (to me) perspective on a very familiar object. 
 

Is the red nebulosity at the same distance as the blue nebulosity near M45 or in the background?   

[astro mick]

Your right to be pleased with this Peter.Never seen M45 quite like this ever.

Mick.

[peter shah]

1 hour ago, Ouroboros said:

That is a truly gorgeous photograph.  The wide field is new (to me) perspective on a very familiar object. 
 

Is the red nebulosity at the same distance as the blue nebulosity near M45 or in the background?   

Thank you.... As far as I'm aware its all part of the same molecular cloud. I am assuming that variation in densities and depths is why the light from those  young blue stars only extend to certain areas ........If anyone knows any different please say I would love to know.

41 minutes ago, astro mick said:

Your right to be pleased with this Peter.Never seen M45 quite like this ever.

Mick.

I knew the fluff was there having seen it in other images...... but its very different actually capturing it yourself then pulling it out of the data.

1 hour ago, Allinthehead said:

Good to see you posting images again Peter, and a fine one at that. Dusty, sharp and detailed. Worth the wait.

Thank you....it has been a long time....Ive not been away from astronomy or imaging just not been able to do my own stuff...... I am now starting to find the time for myself now.

[DaveS]

4 hours ago, peter shah said:

I do think Cmos is the way forward...... they seem to be worlds apart from CCD. Id like to see a nice big square sensor with bigger pixels......that is within a budget reachable by mere mortals of course

Ah, the budget question, lol.

There is, of course, the FLI Kepler 4040, but maybe not for us mere mortals.

For myself I think a 28mm square (Like the old 126 format. Remember it?) sensor with 4 micron pixels hits my sweet spot, and could be binned 2x2 for 8 microns.

[peter shah]

6 minutes ago, DaveS said:

Ah, the budget question, lol.

There is, of course, the FLI Kepler 4040, but maybe not for us mere mortals.

For myself I think a 28mm square (Like the old 126 format. Remember it?) sensor with 4 micron pixels hits my sweet spot, and could be binned 2x2 for 8 microns.

I wondered if someone would mention the Kepler lol.......well now there is a camera.......I met a chap who had one.......just wow.....may be one day!.....I have to say out of all formats square is my favourite.

[Allinthehead]

What are your thoughts on the 2600 Peter?