Deneb area mosaic cont'd with IC1396

[minimalist]

Well, I think I'll take a little break posting progress after this one. I think I got most of the interesting objects in it, next I'll just fill in the gaps around the edges. The original size is now over 9000x5000 pixels, and getting pretty unwieldy to work with. This version I also punched up the luminance a bit to show better contrast, hope I didn't ruin it.

So, now you can see IC1396 to the left, puts it in nice perspective to the rest. It is actually quite dim compared to NGC7000, now I know why it's still noisy after 5 hours of exposure.

Ok, about 16% size image here (2.5MB):

http://2wcg2g.bay.livefilestore.com/y1pIgfu7G79EA1o70ylJ5qGAiopJu7oD9seFSlEEPw7uw4bRbpEfiNgBd5LAwVvT8ADfnUnw1V2T1_DVbljMiOCCkMzPAv0pzNb/Deneb%20Sadr%20Gienah%20M39%20IC1396small.jpg

And 50% size here, where you can actually see some detail in IC1396, including the teeny Trunk just above the bright central star. Warning, 16MB pic!

http://2wcg2g.bay.livefilestore.com/y1pqukHopgoEtPBRN24VHvaRfA7VZGLjMMAWAyeibKZ1oyYg-C74NvTVAsy3Beq5Lfb-jtO6h2OtHohqciIBEaJ4OroT6j882Ry/Deneb%20Sadr%20Gienah%20M39%20IC1396.jpg

Let me know how you like this color vs the last one, I am constantly experimenting to find the right balance. Not sure I got it right yet.

Daniel

[Aza]

Fantastic job! Very well done on the project.

[Beyond_Vision]

What an awesome mosiac it has been seemlessly stitched together. So many familiar objects you can get lost in it for ages

Regards

Kevin

[Psychobilly]

Simply Brilliant :)

[Deneb]

Im not going to even dare to count those stars, that is so cool.

[barkis]

Incredible piece of costruction Daniel.

Beautifully put together, and as fine a galactic image as I've seen.

If you don't get this published on completion, then there's no justice.

Might need two centre pages to print it though.

Well done.

Ron.

[ZOG]

Now that is special !!! Great work and a true candidate for POTW

[minimalist]

Thanks all, very much appreciated. As for publishing, well, I'm not a publishing sort. As a matter of fact this is the only forum I've posted this, just like to share that's all. Just to keep my head from swelling too much though, I chanced on this mosaic from Bob Gendler:

APOD: 2007 September 20 - Northern Cygnus

As you can see, I have a long ways to go before I achieve that level of imaging. He's always an inspiration to me to try and outdo myself, whenever I get complacent.

Thanks again all, be looking for a finished version in about a month or so, after the moon gets out of the way.

Daniel

[PH-R]

That photograph is fantastic! you have inspired me. Can I ask what equpment did you use and how many hours did it take you to get this far?

Regards,

Paul

[Starflyer]

Cracking image Daniel and a great job on the mosaic - stunning

[Starstrike]

Wonderful mosaic Daniel, shows what a rich nebula area cygnus is. Paul

[Sam]

Really awesome image! very nicely put together!

[minimalist]

Many thanks guys!!

Paul, I do apologize, I really should have posted all the info as I progressed.

The imaging equipment is a Canon 70-200 f2.8 lens, used at 70mm and stopped down to f5, and modded Canon 1000D (filter removal only) and Astronomic CLS-CCD clip filter. The guider is a William OPtics ZS66SD and original Meade DSI Pro camera. This is all mounted on a Celestron CGE on a pier.

I used 20min subs at iso400. The first three panels (the top ones) had 8 hours of exposure each. The last two had 5 hours each (I am getting impatient, lol).

Let me mention that if you have a dark sky and don't need to use a light pollution filter, your exposure time is about half. I wish I could do that, this mosaic would've been finished by now. But, it is doable with fairly modest equipment. You don't have to use the expensive Canon lens, an old manual prime lens like the takumars will do as well if not better for a fraction of the cost. The CGE mount is nice, but an eq6 or even heq5 would do just as well.

Btw, if anyone is interested (and let me know where it's appropriate to post), I can describe my field kit, which uses very inexpensive bits and can give you images this good. It is why I choose to call myself the Minimalist Astronomer.

Hope this helps.

Daniel

[PH-R]

Hi Daniel,

Thank you very much for the very comprehensive and insightful detailing of your image captures. Also well done again on the brilliant picture, if I am able to produce something half that size and as half as good, I would be really happy. I just need some clear skies, 3 weeks of clouds and rain is getting to me now.

I look forward to more of your work in the future.

Kind regards,

Paul

[brendant]

A stunning mosaic Daniel , excellent detail and well processed.

Brendan

[arad85]

Brilliant... What do you use to stitch the images together?

BTW the second image link doesn't work for me...

[minimalist]

Cheers guys! Nice to see you around these parts Brendan.

Arad, I used the Photomerge feature in Photoshop CS3. It works ok as far as matching the pics, but it won't do any blending of different brightness or colors at the joins, so you must painstakingly match that manually. A bit tedious if you have gradients or the skies are not dark, but it can be done. A gradient removal tool like Xterminator helps a lot.

Ok, one more try with the large version:

http://2wcg2g.bay.livefilestore.com/y1pVxee96MdEwnocnIAVkDOMfptr011_yCX_OUi8O3lvBkGNhwaVzc9Ykmq7TBQSPqDDgoSzrAIfBRsYjgtcKpgvw/Deneb%20Sadr%20Gienah%20M39%20IC1396.jpg

Daniel

[arad85]

Hi daniel,

Thanks for the info. I was hoping fro something more automagical than PS . Big link works now - and looks awesome - thanks

[minimalist]

Yeah, I know. Some folks on here swear by Registar, which might be better but not tried it yet.

Daniel

[brendant]

Hi Dan, good to see you posting, still producing superb images, the large image is stunning. Don't know how you manage with your LP - superb processing

Brendan

[Petervde]

Superb image, Daniel !

Peter

[Dave Moulton]

Impressive Daniel, not seen anything quite like it. The scale of this puts all those DSO's in proper perspective. Great stuff

Dave

[minimalist]

Thanks guys!

Dave, yep, it's why I got hooked on doing it, I wanted to see how all those objects really look in relation to each other. I wish I had the patience and time to do the entire area, but I'm itching to do some closeups, maybe even add enough data to my Crescent to be good enough to post.

Brendan, I don't know how I do it either, tbh, I never thought I could capture this much before. On the darkest nights I still don't see but a faint hint of the milky way at the zenith, and this summer there have been no really dark nights so far. I'm beginning to think it's a combo of the new CLS filter and the modded cam, that has helped this year.

Daniel

[Aza]

Let me mention that if you have a dark sky and don't need to use a light pollution filter, your exposure time is about half. I wish I could do that

I have given up imaging at home, even with the CLS.

Seems preferable to me to drive a while, and get a MUCH better set of data from a darker site.

I dont have a permanent set up, if I did, my opinion on that may change

And also being out on your own in the middle of nowhere is not always fun (or warm!)

[minimalist]

I feel your pain, if there was a good dark site 10-15mins from here I would do the same. From what I've seen your lp is definitely more severe, mine is doable. One thing I've noticed working on Tim's narrowband is that I still have a long way to go in learning post processing... his results are simply stunning given the data, mine were miserable, compared. So, there's still hope for me yet.

Daniel