The Summer Milky Way in the direction of Sagittarius

[kostas75]

Hi guys

I am a new member at this forum. I post an image of the Summer Milky Way in the direction of Sagittarius. I used a Canon EOS 450D camera, Canon EF 24-85mm USM lens (at 24mm), 10 min, ISO 800
This image was captured on July 25 2009, from Parnonas mountain, Peloponese, Greece.

The image processing steps were the following:

- RAW image calibrated in DeepSkyStacker and converted to TIFF
- Hyperbolic histogram modification of the TIFF image in ImagesPlus
- Levels, Brightness, Contrast adjustment in Photoshop

Have a look at my website for more images.

http://www.albireo.gr/

Regards, Konstantinos

[pixelbasher]

That is SO cool! Awesome stuff Konstantinos !

did I read correct 1 of 10 minute exposure?

And what do you mean by you calibrate the raw in deepsky tracker? What are you calibrating it to?

I won't even ask what Hyperbolic histogram modification is !

[kostas75]

Thank you so much!

Yes it is a single frame of 10 minute exposure.

Let me answer now your questions as simple as possible.

Calibration is the process of removing noise from the image and this is done by subtracting a dark frame in this case which has the same exposure as the light frame.
For more information have a look here http://www.iceinspace.com.au/index.php?id=63,211,1,0,1,0

Hyperbolic histogram modification means that the histogram is modified so that most pixels have a low nonzero intensity value. In order to understand this you have to play with histogram modification in imagesplus programme.

[VIGER]

Nice stuff Konstantinos.

[Adrena1in]

Very, VERY nice! I would SO love to be in a position to get a good look/image of this part of the Milky Way...it's just too low in the sky from where I live and I have too much light pollution to contend with.

[Celestron]

Thats very nice , a little dark in areas but very nice .

[Nighthound]

Welcome to the forum Konstantinos, an outstanding introduction image.

I agree with Ron, somewhere along the process you've lost a great deal of the low end of your histogram. I'm betting there is much more data in the original file that could be preserved in that range.

Really is a well-composed and detail-rich shot.

[kostas75]

I will process this image a different way and upload it again..
thank you for your comments :)

[Harm]

Excellent photo, welcome to the forums.

[Aaagogo]

one of the few nice images of the milky way i've seen.

just a thought, i feel that the silhouette in the bottom takes away the image cause there's no details in it and also it's blurry on the edges

[kostas75]

Hello gentlemen

I upload a better processed version of the Milky Way in Sagittarius. Now the corners are not blacked.
I used Photoshop (set white/black points, levels, curves).

Any comments are welcomed!

[Celestron]

This is really much better being a little lighter . The first image is nice also , just a little too dark . Also i can see M8 just a little better . One thing you might do is perhaps sharpen just a little more to make the stars pop but not too much , maybe just one or two notches on the slider or drop the threshold down a couple notches , which ever give best results . A picture i'd be proud of tho !

[kostas75]

Thank you

And this another version but not of the previous image http://www.albireo.gr/wide_field/parnonas1.htm
I do not know which is the best method to process such images..I think it's always a personal taste at the end :)

[Nighthound]

Much improved Konstantinos. The transition tones between the dark and bright areas are nice and gradual now. Clipping the black point omits the data in that value range making an abrupt transition to black. Much more natural looking in this version. Very well done.

I'm a fan of ground objects to act as a foundation for Milky Way images. The tree line gives the image a touch of Earth that gives the scene perspective. I've seen many that included windmills, farm silos, etc. and they add an element of interest IMO.

[Celestron]

Thank you

And this another version but not of the previous image http://www.albireo.gr/wide_field/parnonas1.htm
I do not know which is the best method to process such images..I think it's always a personal taste at the end :)

True on the personal taste ! This link leads to a very nice MW also !

[MidnightSun]

Beauty K man....Keep em comming.

[RobinSchouten]

Great image.. very nice!

[kostas75]

Hello everybody!

Here you can find more images related to MW..
http://www.albireo.gr/star_parties/parnon/25.07.2009/25.07.2009.htm

My favorite part of the MW is the Horse dark nebula (image attached).

Have fun :)

[NaKiD EyE]

beautiful!

[siddr20]

Just amazing!!! well done

[4g63]

whoa! that is awesome!

[Canon Pete]

Very nice reworks there . What did you have the EOS mounted on ?

[kostas75]

The EOS was mounted on the Vixen ED81S refractor.
I used the Vixen GP mount + Skysensor 2000 PC