Bears, batteries and M4

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Kanadalainen
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Bears, batteries and M4

#1

Post by Kanadalainen »


M4 globular cluster in Scorpius

Last weekend is a holiday for most residents in Canada, Canada Day = July 1. It was also new moon and so I headed out to my favourite dark site in the southeast corner of the province - a largish park named Sandilands (ancient glacial sand esker). While much of the sky was clouded out on both evenings of July 1 and 2 last week, the only targets that were clear were located down in Scorpius and Sag in the southern skies. So, I made lemonade from the cloudy lemons.

Bears: A large one came to say hello as we were setting up - regarded us for a while and decided we were not worth his time, and so shuffled off into the bush. This fellow frequents the area, and we have seen him more than once.

Batteries: I always come with an extra, and was able to lend one to my buddy Kevin (one of several Kevins in attendance).

M4:

34 x 120" lights OSC - 68 min integration, 120 mm apo, 2600 mc camera, Pixinsight processing.
30 darks
30 flats
80 bias

M4 is a beauty, easily seen even with a small scope. 75 light years across, packed with 11th mag stars, and only a hop/skip away from us @ 7200 lya. A summertime treat for us.

The auroral displays were very active on the second night. You can see my image of some of them here: https://astrob.in/yyndpa/C/

This was processed using the workflow that I derived from the advice of KathyNS... thanks! :P


M4 two JUL 1 and 2_redu_small.jpg
Ian

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Thefatkitty Canada
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Re: Bears, batteries and M4

#2

Post by Thefatkitty »


Great shot Ian, and such a casual report... "Bears: A large one came to say hello as we were setting up"... OMG!! So how large and dare I ask what type; though I'm thinking black bear? Buddy, you're made of stronger stuff than I for sure!

Well, glad you survived the Canada Day weekend, and look forward to more of your images! Again, nicely done.

All the best mon ami,
Mark

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Re: Bears, batteries and M4

#3

Post by Bigzmey »


Nice shot Ian! Good that the bear was friendly. Do you carry guns in case they are not?
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Re: Bears, batteries and M4

#4

Post by messier 111 »


well done Ian thx .
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Re: Bears, batteries and M4

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Post by Juno16 »


Really cool image Ian. M4 looks like a nice glob to capture.

When I read your imaging posts, I picture a beautifully serene dark (and wild) landscape. In my minds eye, it doesn’t get much better than that. Thanks Ian!
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Re: Bears, batteries and M4

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Post by Kanadalainen »


Thefatkitty wrote: Mon Jul 04, 2022 10:38 pm Great shot Ian, and such a casual report... "Bears: A large one came to say hello as we were setting up"... OMG!! So how large and dare I ask what type; though I'm thinking black bear? Buddy, you're made of stronger stuff than I for sure!

Well, glad you survived the Canada Day weekend, and look forward to more of your images! Again, nicely done.

All the best mon ami,
Mark! This guy looks like a 2 or 3 year old, maybe 300 pounds, no behemoth but no shrinking violet either. :D He's a typical black bear - lots of them in this part of Manitoba. They are literally all over the place, and the young ones are feckless and will bumble into your area. The older guys like this one, hold back to within 50 or 100 meters, and don't risk anything. They are quite passive if they have not been exposed to garbage.

We survived. :D

I
Last edited by Kanadalainen on Tue Jul 05, 2022 1:46 am, edited 1 time in total.
Ian

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Re: Bears, batteries and M4

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Post by Kanadalainen »


Bigzmey wrote: Mon Jul 04, 2022 10:54 pm Nice shot Ian! Good that the bear was friendly. Do you carry guns in case they are not?
Thanks Andrey. The bears are quite passive, at least this local variety. No - I don't pack any heat. :D

I grew up on a farm and am very familiar with firearms. I inherited my Dad's long gun collection years ago but never take any of them out - in fact they are locked away in a big safe. They are mostly Italian, British and US made stuff (some of them are beautifully crafted pieces of weaponry) and I had to apply to a national registry to keep them all. In Canada the laws are very tight on ownership and use of firearms - Dad had handguns that I was required to sell (the RCMP let me know with an official letter) - as I am not qualified for their use. Its been 10 years since I have handled anything in the collection.
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Re: Bears, batteries and M4

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Post by Kanadalainen »


messier 111 wrote: Mon Jul 04, 2022 11:20 pm well done Ian thx .

Thanks!
Ian

Fracs: Stellarvue 70T f6; SW 120mm Esprit f7; "Mark Mk. II" - 60 mm Tasco f6; C80 frac f 11.4
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Post by Kanadalainen »


Juno16 wrote: Mon Jul 04, 2022 11:37 pm Really cool image Ian. M4 looks like a nice glob to capture.

When I read your imaging posts, I picture a beautifully serene dark (and wild) landscape. In my minds eye, it doesn’t get much better than that. Thanks Ian!

Thanks Jim, I'm happy to be able to paint those images... its fun to get out there. :D
Ian

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Post by STEVE333 »


Interesting account of your evening! Bears!!-YIKES!!!
Lovely M4 with nice separation of the stars right into the core. Nice colors in the stars too.

Steve
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Post by BABOafrica »


That's a great M4 image you got there after wrestling with the bear.

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Post by Kanadalainen »


BABOafrica wrote: Tue Jul 05, 2022 1:53 pm That's a great M4 image you got there after wrestling with the bear.

BABO
:lol: :lol:
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STEVE333 wrote: Tue Jul 05, 2022 5:23 am Interesting account of your evening! Bears!!-YIKES!!!
Lovely M4 with nice separation of the stars right into the core. Nice colors in the stars too.

Steve
Thank you steve... that processing is all due to advice provided by Kathy on this list.
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Post by Kanadalainen »


M4 v4_small.jpg


Here is a slightly jumped up version of M4.
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Post by MariusD69 »


Awesome! Well done! In my mountain town, brown bears come frequently, even during the day. Romania has the largest number of bears from EU.
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Post by Kanadalainen »


MariusD69 wrote: Tue Jul 05, 2022 4:23 pm Awesome! Well done! In my mountain town, brown bears come frequently, even during the day. Romania has the largest number of bears from EU.
Cool!
Ian

Fracs: Stellarvue 70T f6; SW 120mm Esprit f7; "Mark Mk. II" - 60 mm Tasco f6; C80 frac f 11.4
SCT: C8 Edge f10 or f7 with reducer
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Mounts - Ioptron Skyguider pro, Astro Physics GTO900
Cameras and lenses - ZWO 2600 mc, 290 mm mini, Canon 60D modded with Rokinon 10mm 2.8; Rokinon 135mm f2

Skysafari 6 Pro, Astro Pixel Processor, Pixinsight - using Mac tablet and ASIair pro to run the AP rig.

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Post by ic_1101 »


Very nice capture Ian!
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Post by Kanadalainen »


ic_1101 wrote: Thu Jul 07, 2022 12:35 am Very nice capture Ian!
Thanks!! It was really a fun capture. Lots going on aside from the main image, with aurora, wildlife.
Ian

Fracs: Stellarvue 70T f6; SW 120mm Esprit f7; "Mark Mk. II" - 60 mm Tasco f6; C80 frac f 11.4
SCT: C8 Edge f10 or f7 with reducer
Dob: 14.5" homebuilt strut dob (f4.5 ZOC mirror), Nexus II, Moonlite focuser
Mounts - Ioptron Skyguider pro, Astro Physics GTO900
Cameras and lenses - ZWO 2600 mc, 290 mm mini, Canon 60D modded with Rokinon 10mm 2.8; Rokinon 135mm f2

Skysafari 6 Pro, Astro Pixel Processor, Pixinsight - using Mac tablet and ASIair pro to run the AP rig.

"Mothers! It is there!" - Rafael Gonzales-Acuna, 2018.
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