The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
We’ve had an unprecedented run of clear skies near the dark of the moon that may stretch to a week or more, and we’re getting into the season for the “large” objects that my rig is suited to. Most are nebulas (intricate clouds of matter illuminated by nearby stars) but this is a nearby galaxy, only 2.5 million light years away. I’ve shot it before but now the software for both processing and acquisition control is improved so I had to try it again. The astro camera can be rotated and I chose to fit it into the frame as best I could from the very dim test shots, so the long side was about 5 degrees off of celestial north, and then I rotated it 180 degrees as many people do because it is more interesting with the darker bands appearing to be toward the viewer. So the bottom of the frame is “up.”
Specific Feedback
All comments welcome!
Technical Details
Trust me, you don’t want the details. The telescope is a 400mm focal length refractor (basically a telephoto lens fine-tuned for pinpoint stars across the field) less expensive than some comparable wildlife lenses and the sensor is APS-C sized in a cooled astro camera run at -10 deg F – the ZWO ASI2600MC Pro. It looks like a large soup can on the back end of the refractor. About 3 hours of 45 second exposures on the SkyWatcher EQM 35 tracker, with the shooting sequence run with the ASIAir computer (about the size of two decks of cards) and an iPad. Processed in PixInsight with calibration frames.
Critique Template
Use of the template is optional, but it can help spark ideas.
I don’t think it matters how you rotate the view on these, Diane. Up and down get pretty arbitrary when you start talking about space (try telling an Aussie he’s upside down). In any case it’s a beautiful example of what can be done and a gorgeous image.
Thanks, @Dennis_Plank and @elizabeth! As you know, Dennis, I can be a bit obsessive. I’m always torn between orienting things artistically in the frame and putting the north celestial pole at the top. But artistic usually wins. (Two halves of the brain in continual combat.)
Elizabeth, from the maps we’re Bortle 4, but looking north (as this was) is darker than south. I’ve never felt the need for any of the filters, especially the light pollution ones, as they filter out relatively broad bands and distort colors. And these days there are a lot of wavelengths in LP. Some people claim that LP can be mitigated by longer acquisition times. This one wasn’t very long – two nights of only a little over an hour before temperature changes degraded focus. I have an autofocuser on order – should have gotten it long ago. It’s not bad in winter but in summer there can be something like a 40 degree drop over 6 hours.
Processing is equally important as acquisition, and the tools in PixInsight are amazing.
Upside down, downside up, most people probably wont give it a second thought Diane because it’s a classic image of a deep space body/object (what is the correct word?).
I’m very impressed, it shows the awe inspiring beauty of the universe.
I read the technicals with interest… I still have a lot to learn!
Man that’s nice! I remember my Dad showing me that with binoculars in the dark skies of Southeastern Arizona on a drive back home from Tucson way back when; this brings back good memories.
