Just for Fun: Just for fun I thought I would post a couple shots. The Milky Way shows some pretty nice Dust Lanes I think right in the heart of the Galaxy. Both were taken with the...

CraigFair Loc: Santa Maria, CA.

Just for fun I thought I would post a couple shots.
The Milky Way shows some pretty nice Dust Lanes I think right in the heart of the Galaxy.
Both were taken with the Nikon D800E Camera.
#1 Milky Way Galaxy with a Tokina 16-28mm Lens @ 16mm, f/2.8, ISO 320, 46 sec.
#2 Ring Nebula with a Meade 8" Telescope @ 2000mm, f/10, ISO 3200, 121 sec.

Milky Way Galaxy

(Download)

Ring Nebula

(Download)

astroturf Loc: vacaville ca.

very nice capture of the milky way :thumbup: :thumbup:

CraigFair Loc: Santa Maria, CA.

astroturf wrote:

very nice capture of the milky way :thumbup: :thumbup:

Thank you very much Darren. It was a fun shot.

Oknoder Loc: Western North Dakota

All I can say is wow, is #1 a composite of multiple shots?
This is an almost perfect shot as far as composition.
On #2 are you sure that is the Ring Nebula, it looks very much like the dumbell nebula, could be wrong though.

Either way congrats on capturing the remnant star in the middle.
Matthew

CraigFair Loc: Santa Maria, CA.

Hi Matthew thank you for the compliments and no it is a single shot of the MW.
I shot at f/2.8 and I used the Dehaze slider in Effects of Lightroom.
It brought the sky out very nicely.
You are right I'm wrong, it is the Dumbbell Nebula. Sorry :oops:
I am kind of proud of the Remnant Star coming out so well.
It was a real surprize when I first saw it.

Oknoder Loc: Western North Dakota

I think your mount is tracking very well as evidenced by your image, it does look like it had a hiccup since the stars show an egg shape, almost like it started and lost track for a few seconds. Looks very similar to mine before training my PEC. But then again you are using a focal length almost double mine. I tend to like my inherent errors, since I have no illusions of being a pro yet.

Well done on both images,
Matthew

CraigFair Loc: Santa Maria, CA.

Oknoder wrote:

I think your mount is tracking very well as evidenced by your image, it does look like it had a hiccup since the stars show an egg shape, almost like it started and lost track for a few seconds. Looks very similar to mine before training my PEC. But then again you are using a focal length almost double mine. I tend to like my inherent errors, since I have no illusions of being a pro yet. Well done on both images, Matthew

Yea I do hope I can get someone in our club to walk me through the PEC sequence. I finally got a Autoguide scope and Camera setup so I 'can' Autoguide. Getting there slowly but surely.

JimH123 Loc: Morgan Hill, CA

Very nice! I really like the wide angle Milky Way shot. The setting is perfect.

You know what your doing. You're raising the bar higher and higher that the rest of us have to go out and out do.

SonnyE Loc: Communist California, USA

Those are gorgeous, Craig!
:thumbup: :thumbup:

Oknoder Loc: Western North Dakota

there are programs that record the autoguiding corrections made over one full cycle of the index gear which is how it creates the PEC. If I remember correctly I recorded roughly 6 full cycles and averaged them together and it smoothed out the rough edges a bit. Not perfect but hey it is a beginner mount and I am definitely a beginner. It is much harder to follow out or guide through written text as opposed to standing there with you and the equipment.

Matthew

Albuqshutterbug Loc: Albuquerque NM

CraigFair wrote:

Just for fun I thought I would post a couple shots.
The Milky Way shows some pretty nice Dust Lanes I think right in the heart of the Galaxy.
Both were taken with the Nikon D800E Camera.
#1 Milky Way Galaxy with a Tokina 16-28mm Lens @ 16mm, f/2.8, ISO 320, 46 sec.
#2 Ring Nebula with a Meade 8" Telescope @ 2000mm, f/10, ISO 3200, 121 sec.

Nice shots Craig.
I like the composition on your Milky Way and the shot of Dumb bell held up well to the hard crop.
Nice job.

hettmoe Loc: Rural ND

I really like your MW shot, Craig. The sky has always been my passion, and you do a wonderful job of capturing it for us. Thanks.

CraigFair Loc: Santa Maria, CA.

JimH123 wrote:

Very nice! I really like the wide angle Milky Way shot. The setting is perfect.

You know what your doing. You're raising the bar higher and higher that the rest of us have to go out and out do.

Thank you Jim H I could not have found a better location.
It's where we go for our Club Star Parties. 4500 ft elevation.
Craig

CraigFair Loc: Santa Maria, CA.

SonnyE wrote:

Those are gorgeous, Craig!
:thumbup: :thumbup:

Thank you very much Sonny.
Can't wait to see some of your recent work too.
Craig

CraigFair Loc: Santa Maria, CA.

Albuqshutterbug wrote:

Nice shots Craig.
I like the composition on your Milky Way and the shot of Dumb bell held up well to the hard crop.
Nice job.

Thank you Jim it is a fun location to Star Gaze from up on the Mountain.
And yes the Dumbbell Nebula is seriously Cropped and Processed.
Sorry I Spaced Out and called it the Ring Nebula.
Craig