Tuesday, August 8, 2023
Grand Mosaic of the Milky Way is now large than ever
Last Spring I published a large mosaic photo of the Milky Way and it went viral!
A blog post about it can be seen here: https://astroanarchy.blogspot.com/2021/03/gigapixel-mosaic-of-milky-way-1250.html
I have now even a large version of it, the mosaic spans 145 degrees of sky from Orion to Cygnus, the previous version showed 120 degrees of sky.
The new panorama image was published today in Finnish Tähdet ja Avaruus Magazine
The new panorama image was published today in Finnish Tähdet ja Avaruus Magazine
at first time in the World.
.BUY A POSTER
The Grand Mosaic of the Milky Way Galaxy II
This is the only photo in the World showing the Northern Milky Way so deep and detailed, now it's large than ever!
Click for a large image, 7000 x 1150 pixels
Over a decade, 1500 exposure hours and 301 individual frames visible in one image
NOTE, image of the Full Moon as a scale in lover left corner.
NOTE, image of the Full Moon as a scale in lover left corner.
NEW! ZOOMABLE IMAGE
23.000 x 3500 pixels
You can now pan and zoom around the large image. Photo size is reduced to 40.000 x 6000 pixels from original 120.000 x 18.000 pixels to save some bandwidth.
NOTE, all material in this blog is under copyright, any kind of usage without authors permission is forbidden.
NOTE, all material in this blog is under copyright, any kind of usage without authors permission is forbidden.
IMAGE SPECS
- Panorama spans 145 x 22 degrees of sky (Full Moon covers 0,5 degrees of sky)
- Resolution 120.000 x 18.000 pixels
- Photos has 2.2 gigapixels in it, the spatial resolution is equal to 8.8 gigapixel image from color camera since all the channels are in native resolution.
- There are least nine confirmed supernova remnants in this panorama
- About 25 million stars are visible in the photo
- Distance to the nebulae in the image between 350 to 20.000 light years
- Exposure time over 1500 hours between 2009 - 2021
- 301 individual images are stitched together seamlessly
- It took about 12 years to finalize this photo
- Narrowband image from light of ionized elements, hydrogen = green, sulfur = red and oxygen = blue
- Processing time for the whole panorama, way too large part of my life
ORIENTATION
Click for a large image
CLOSEUP SERIES
Click for the large images, it's worth it!
A zoom in series from upper left of the large panorama image above to gives an idea about the overall resolution of the large mosaic image.
All the dots are stars, not the noise!
Closeup of the supernova remnant IC 443
DETAILS
Click for a large image, 5000 x 1500 pixels
There are several very dim and practically unimaged supernova remnants in this panorama.
NOTE, all material in this blog is under copyright, any kind of usage without authors permission is forbidden.
NOTE, all material in this blog is under copyright, any kind of usage without authors permission is forbidden.
NEW! ZOOMABLE IMAGE
11500 x 3400 pixels
11500 x 3400 pixels
The reason I keep doing my slow work is an endless
curiosity, I love to show how wonderful our world really is. That's how I feel at front of
everything I'm able to see through my photography.
Photographed area of sky is showing a large part of Northern Milky Way in high resolution. Beside the size, it's very deep, meaning that it shows extremely dim and unimaged nebulae across the galaxy plane. One of the reasons for this massive panorama project was a fact, that there was no such an image anywhere in the world. I had personal need for the photo like this since I wanted to use it as a map to the new adventures.
Revealing the hidden beauty of our universe is my passion. I stand in rapt adoration before all that I see. When art meets science, the results can be quite mind-blowing.
HOW?
Step 1,
PLANNING
Astronomical
photography is a very time-consuming process. If I want to have a color image,
I have to shoot each target least three times through a different filter to
have all three-color channels needed for color image. Also, the exposure times
can be very long, in my case even hundreds of hours for some very dim
objects. An average exposure time is around 25 hours per image. Also everything has
to be carefully pre planned.
I made imaging plans over ten years ago, I
wrote first ideas about this imaging project to my little black Moleskin
notebook. I was aware at the time, that it will take a decade to be
finalized but it doesn't bother me since I love long projects, they are
giving a purpose and the goal to my work as an artist.
My little black notebook and first plans
for the project at 2008
A notebook page opening from Autumn 2008
I needed to develop many new working
methods to be able to control this massive project. I needed to get them ready
first since ones started, the project can't be changed anymore without
canceling it. Everything needs to be spot on, the planning of composition and
its relation to the Milky Way objects, many technical aspects, like how to
handle a data from different optics with a different spatial resolution etc. I
won't go very deep into technical details, since the complex technique needed
is just a tool to make my art.
I like to compare my long imaging projects to a relationship. This project was like that too but not just between two entities. This is like a relationship with the whole family, a large Klan. There might be a nasty drunk uncle or other difficult persons in a family but
you must be able to get along with them too. I felt like that, when I was stitching pieces
together and some of them didn't fit the way I wanted and I had to reshoot them. That easily took months, or years. but at the end, everything slides together smoothly without any visible seams.
I'm a perfectionist, when dealing with my photography. This feature is essential for the great results but it also can cause problems. This photo could be ready maybe five years earlier, if I could leave some extremely dim targets out or leave them less detailed but I simply couldn't do that. When the photo was ready, I didn't remember all of those sleepless cold nights, I remembered the joy I felt when the most difficult parts got ready.
you must be able to get along with them too. I felt like that, when I was stitching pieces
together and some of them didn't fit the way I wanted and I had to reshoot them. That easily took months, or years. but at the end, everything slides together smoothly without any visible seams.
I'm a perfectionist, when dealing with my photography. This feature is essential for the great results but it also can cause problems. This photo could be ready maybe five years earlier, if I could leave some extremely dim targets out or leave them less detailed but I simply couldn't do that. When the photo was ready, I didn't remember all of those sleepless cold nights, I remembered the joy I felt when the most difficult parts got ready.
Step 2,
COLLECTING THE MATERIAL
2009 - 2021
NOTE
Each photo in the posters is a slow and complex battle of its own
Click for a large image
Some of my individual photos shot between 2009 and 2021 are collected here. Most of them are now part of the Large Mosaic Image of the Milky Way galaxy.
NOTE, all material in this blog is under copyright, any kind of usage without authors permission is forbidden.
NOTE, all material in this blog is under copyright, any kind of usage without authors permission is forbidden.
Step 3,
2019 -2021, SOLVING THE BIG PUZZLE
Finally at 2019, after so many years, I had enough material to start
working with the final mosaic image. The work took about two years due to
complex mosaic structure and massive amount of image material. I also
needed to shoot lots of missing material for the mosaic at the same time.
I used the Cartes du Ciel, a star map software, for planning and a
preliminary fit the individual frames.
EVOLUTION OF THE LARGE MOSAIC
BETWEEN 2009-2021
Click for a large image
Step 4,
ALL THE PIECES OF A
COSMIC PUZZLE CONNECTED
Click for a large image
The final photo is over 120 000 pixels wide and it has 301 individual mosaic panel. Most of the objects are originally shot as a self-standing artworks, due to that, they
are in various positions and angles to each other. This is the reason, why the
final mosaic structure looks so complicated, as can be seen in this image.
AND FINALLY
At October 2021, after 12 years, 1500 hours of exposures and countless hours of work
The Grand Mosaic of the Milky Way Galaxy II
Click for a full size image, 7000 x 4300 pixels
NOTE, all material in this blog is under copyright, any kind of usage without authors permission is forbidden.
NOTE, all material in this blog is under copyright, any kind of usage without authors permission is forbidden.
Getting to a last piece of the puzzle is always a thrilling process. Many
of us know, how frustrating it can be to notice, that one piece is missing. That's
happened to me too. I was sure that I shot the piece about three years ago
but couldn't find it anywhere from my hard drives. As a result, I had to wait
several extremely long weeks to be able to reshoot the missing piece to get
this massive puzzle finalized.
The Mosaic Work, technical info
I have used several optical configurations for this mosaic image during the years. Up to 2014 I was using an old Meade LX200 GPS 12" scope, QHY9 astrocam, Canon E200mmf1.8 camera optics and baader narrowband filter set.
After 2014 I have had 10-micron 1000 equatorial mount, Apogee Alta U16 astro camera, Tokina AT-x 200mm f2.8 camera lens and the Astrodon 50mm square narrowband filter set.
I have shot many details with a longer focal length, before 2014 by using Meade 12" scope with reducer and after 2014 Celestron EDGE 11" and reducer. Quider camera has been Lodestar and Lodestar II.
I took my current toolset as a base tool since it has a relatively high resolution combined to a very large field of view. Also it collects photons very quickly since it's undersampled and I can have very dim background nebulosity visible in very short time (many times 30 min frame is enough)
I do all my mosaic work under the PhotoShop, Matching the separate panels by using stars as an indicator is kind of straight forward work. My processing has become so constant, that very little tweaking was needed between separate frames, just some minor levels, curves and color balance.
I have used lots of longer focal length sub-frames in my mosaic to boost details. (See the mosaic map at top of the page) To match them with shorter focal length shots I developed a new method.
Firstly I upscale the short focal length frames about 25% to have more room for high resolution images.Then I match the high res photo to a mosaic by using the stars as an indicator. After that I remove all the tiny stars from the high res image. Next I separate stars from low res photo and merge the starless high res data to a starless low res frame. And finally I place the removed low res stars back at top of everything with zero data lost. Usually there are some optical distortions and it's seen especially in a star field. Now all my stars are coming from a same optical setup and I don't have any problems with distortions. (I'm using the same star removal technique as in my Tone Mapping Workflow)
Wednesday, December 21, 2022
Milky Way, 12 years, 1250 hours of exposures and 125 x 22 degrees of sky
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https://astroanarchy.zenfolio.com/
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It took nearly twelve years to collect enough data for this high resolution gigapixel class mosaic image of the Milky Way. Total exposure time used is around 1250 hours between 2009 and 2021.
" I can hear music in this composition, from the high sounds of sparcs and bubbles at left all the way to a deep and massive sounds at right."
From Taurus to Cygnus
Click for a large image, it's really worth it! (7000 x 1300 pixels)
Image in mapped colors from the light emitted by an ionized elements, hydrogen = green, sulfur = red and oxygen = blue. NOTE, the apparent size of the Moon in a lower left corner. NOTE 2, there are two 1:1 scale enlargements from the full size original at both ends of the image
NEW, A HD-video from Germany shows my photo in full glory
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-Z60eZ4yqM
(Video in Germany but images are the international language)
Close ups form the parts of the Grande Mosaic
NEW, A HD-video from Germany shows my photo in full glory
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-Z60eZ4yqM
(Video in Germany but images are the international language)
Close ups form the parts of the Grande Mosaic
Cygnus side of the mosaic, https://astroanarchy.blogspot.com/2020/12/cygnus-project-grande-finale-for-now.html
Cassiopeia side of the mosaic, https://astroanarchy.blogspot.com/2021/01/mosaic-image-gets-large-400-hours-and.html
Taurus side of the mosaic, https://astroanarchy.blogspot.com/2021/02/a-new-mosaic-image-from-taurus-to.html
A closeup from large panorama to show the overall resolution
Click for a large image
The California Nebula, NGC 1499, can be seen at bottom left of the large mosaic image.
There are about 20 million individual stars visible in the whole mosaic image.
There are about 20 million individual stars visible in the whole mosaic image.
Orientation and details
Click for a large image
Click for a large image
Imaging info
Image spans 125 x 22 degrees of the Milky About 20 million individual stars are visible in my photo!
Image spans 125 x 22 degrees of the Milky About 20 million individual stars are visible in my photo!
It took almost twelve years to finalize this mosaic image. The reason for a long time period is naturally the size of the mosaic and the fact, that image is very deep. Another reason is that I have soht most of the mosaic frames as an individual compositions and publish them as independent artworks. That leads to a kind of complex image set witch is partly overlapping with a lots of unimaged areas between and around frames. I have shot the missing data now and then during the years and last year I was able to publish many sub mosaic images as I got them ready first.
My processing workflow is very constant so very little tweaking was needed between the mosaic frames. Total exposure time is over 1250 hours. Some of the frames has more exposure time, than others. There are some extremely dim objects clearly visible in this composition, like a extremely dim supernova remnant W63, the Cygnus Shell. It lays about six degrees up from North America nebula and it can be seen as a pale blue ring. I spent about 100 hours for this SNR alone. An other large and faint supernova remnant in Cygnus can be seen at near right edge of the image. G65.5+5.7 is as large as more famous Veil nebula. There are over 60 exposure hours for this SNR alone. (Veil SNR is just outside of the mosaic area for compositional reasons but can be seen in "Detail" image above.)
My processing workflow is very constant so very little tweaking was needed between the mosaic frames. Total exposure time is over 1250 hours. Some of the frames has more exposure time, than others. There are some extremely dim objects clearly visible in this composition, like a extremely dim supernova remnant W63, the Cygnus Shell. It lays about six degrees up from North America nebula and it can be seen as a pale blue ring. I spent about 100 hours for this SNR alone. An other large and faint supernova remnant in Cygnus can be seen at near right edge of the image. G65.5+5.7 is as large as more famous Veil nebula. There are over 60 exposure hours for this SNR alone. (Veil SNR is just outside of the mosaic area for compositional reasons but can be seen in "Detail" image above.)
The Mosaic Work, technical info
I took my current toolset as a base tool since it has a relatively high resolution combined to a very large field of view. Also it collects photons very quickly since it's undersampled and I can have very dim background nebulosity visible in very short time (many times 30 min frame is enough)
I do all my mosaic work under the PhotoShop, Matching the separate panels by using stars as an indicator is kind of straight forward work. My processing has become so constant, that very little tweaking is needed between separate frames, just some minor levels, curves and color balance.
I have used lots of longer focal length sub-frames in my mosaic to boost details. (See the mosaic map at top of the page) To match them with shorter focal length shots I developed a new method.
Firstly I upscale the short focal length frames about 25% to have more room for high resolution images.Then I match the high res photo to a mosaic by using the stars as an indicator. After that I remove all the tiny stars from the high res image. Next I separate stars from low res photo and merge the starless high res data to a starless low res frame. And finally I place the removed low res stars back at top of everything with zero data lost. Usually there are some optical distortions and it's seen especially in a star field. Now all my stars are coming from a same optical setup and I don't have any problems with distortions. (I'm using the same star removal technique as in my Tone Mapping Workflow)
Closeups from large panorama to show the overall resolution
Click for a large image
IC 405 6 410 area
IC 1396
Click for a large image
Image in mapped colors from the light emitted by an ionized elements, hydrogen = green, sulfur = red and oxygen = blue.
A 1:3 resolution close up from the photo above
Click for a large image,
Click for a large image,
A closeup from the main image shows the Sharpless 124 at up and the Cocoon nebula with a dark gas stream at bottom.
Sharpless 205, NGC 1491 and Lynds Bright Nebula 696
IC 405 6 410 area
From Bubble to Cave Nebula
Image info, https://astroanarchy.blogspot.com/2020/03/from-bubble-to-cave-nebula-area.html
Not an igloo, this is reality of astro photographing in Finland
The tulip nebula area
The Tulip Nebula, Sh2-101, can be seen at center right, there is also a black hole Cygnus X-1
The blog post with technical details can be seen here, https://astroanarchy.blogspot.com/2020/10/the-tulip-nebula-in-cygnus-sh2-101.html
The blog post with technical details can be seen here, https://astroanarchy.blogspot.com/2020/10/the-tulip-nebula-in-cygnus-sh2-101.html
The supernova remnant G65.3+5.7
More info about this image here, https://astroanarchy.blogspot.com/2020/11/g65357-large-supernova-remnant-in_22.html
My Observatory,
Thursday, March 3, 2022
Sharpless 114, a Cosmic Dragon, is now the Ukrainian Ironbelly
This cosmic photograph is dedicated to Ukrainian people and a deadly fight they are forced to.
I have renamed Sharpless 114, the Flying Dragon Nebula, to the Ukrainian Ironbelly, after a dragon seen in Harry Potter movie, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
The whole world is now witnessing the barbaric actions of the brutal Russian dictator Putin. As an artist and astrophotographer, I thought about what I could do to help Ukraine and its people. All proceeds from the sale of this NFT will go to efforts supporting the Ukrainian people during this war.
UKRAINIAN IRONBELLY
(Click for a large image)
Upper image, Flying Dragon nebula, Sharpless 114 (Sh2-114)
Bottom Image, Ukrainian Ironbelly dragon - as seen in Harry Potter Movie
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
WB Studio Tour Entrance Claire Evans / Alamy Stock Photo
4K MOVIE,
SHARPLESS 114, THE UKRAINIAN IRONBELLY
4K movie, best seen as full screen
A story behind this artwork
Few days ago I was working with my new photo, showing a rarely imaged object Sharpless 114 in Eastern part of constellation Cygnus, the Swan. The official nickname for the object is the Flying Dragon Nebula. As I worked with this photo, I had a strong feeling that I have seen it before but I couldn't remember where.
I woke up in the middle of the night realizing that I have seen this nebula in the movie, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (Yes, I'm a nerd)
There is a magical creature in a movie, a massive dragon called the Ukrainian Ironbelly. It turned out to be the creature that among other things, helped Ukrainians during the WW1 as a "wizarding air force" (Source Harry Potter Fandom Wiki)
I believe that this can be a great symbol for the Ukrainian fight against the Russian monsters.
This is also a great symbol for a modern version of Ukrainian Ironbelly, the Turkish made drone, Bayraktar-TB2, a most important weapon in war against Russians tanks in Ukraine. As a dragon, this drone is producing a steel melting "jet of fire" against murderess Russian main battle tanks and saves countless of Ukrainian lives as we speak.
This is an extremely personal art project to me as a Finnish citizen. We have a 1340 km (830 mi) common border with Russia and there is a huge risk that we might be the next victims of the brutal dictator of Russia.
All proceeds from the sale of this NFT will go to efforts supporting the Ukrainian people during this war.
History of Ukrainian Ironbelly by Harry Potter Fandom
Source: https://harrypotter.fandom.com/wiki/Ukrainian_Ironbelly
Source: https://harrypotter.fandom.com/wiki/Ukrainian_Ironbelly
Ironbellies had been subject to constant observation by the Ukrainian wizarding authorities, ever since a particular Ironbelly carried off a sailing ship from the Black Sea in 1799. Thankfully, the boat was empty at the time.
In 1926, Newt Scamander mentioned to Jacob Kowalski that he had previously worked with Ukrainian Ironbellies during the First World War. In that same war, Ukrainian Ironbellies were also considered for use in a wizarding air force. The Ironbelly could produce jets of flame up to 3,560 degrees Fahrenheit (1960 degrees Celsius).
It does look like a dragon
(Click for a large image)
(Click for a large image)
This artwork is also a symbol of the Bayraktar-TB2 drone, a modern version of Ukrainian Ironbelly. It has saved countless of Ukrainian lives from a barbaric attack of the brutal dictator Putin
This Turkish drone has saved countless of Ukrainian lives from a barbaric attack of the brutal dictator Putin
INFO about Sharpless 114, Sh2-114
Sh2-114 is a complex and unusual HII emission nebula. Its complex, wispy structure is likely the result of winds from hot, massive stars interacting with the magnetic fields in the interstellar medium. But very little is known about it. (Source, https://www.noao.edu/image_gallery/html/im1112.html)
Technical details of the photo
I have combined the old and new data by my new powerful imaging and processing method,
the VARES (VAriable RESolution imaging)
I have combined the old and new data by my new powerful imaging and processing method,
the VARES (VAriable RESolution imaging)
Processing workflow
Image acquisition, MaxiDL v5.07.
Stacked and calibrated in CCDStack2.
Deconvolution with a CCDStack2 Positive Constraint, 21 iterations, added at 25% weight
Color combine in PS CS3
Levels and curves in PS CS3.
Imaging optics
Celestron Edge HD 1100 @ f7 with 0,7 focal reducer for Edge HD 1100 telescope
Mount
10-micron 1000
Cameras and filters
Imaging camera Apogee Alta U16 and Apogee seven slot filter wheel
Guider camera, Lodestar x2 and SXV-AOL
Astrodon filter, 5nm H-alpha
Astrodon filter, 3nm O-III
Astrodon filter, 3nm S-II
Exposure times
H-alpha, 9x 1200s = 3h
O-III, 3 x 1200s binned = 1h
S-II, 3 x 1200s binned = 1h
New Data
Imaging optics
Tokina AT-x f2.8 camera lens
Mount
10-micron 1000
Cameras and filters
Imaging camera Apogee Alta U16 and Apogee seven slot filter wheel
Guider camera, Lodestar x 2 and an old spotting scope of Meade LX200
Astrodon filters,
5nm H-alpha 3nm S-II and 3nm O-III
Exposure time
H-alpha, 15 x 1200 s, binned 1x1 = 5 h
O-III, 1x 1200 s, binned 2x2 = 20 min.
S-II, 1 x 1200 s. binned 2x2 = 20 min.
Sharpless 114, orientation in Cygnus
Sharpless 114, orientation in Cygnus
The Sh2-114 is marked as white rectangle
Sunday, February 27, 2022
Cederblad 214, the Cosmic Question Mark
I have published this photo back in February 2020 but I have done some reprocessing and repost this image now since this photo of Cosmic Question Mark has symbolic value to me. A cosmic curiosity is the very reason I'm doing this difficult, and sometimes frustrating, form of nature photographing art.
Cederblad 214, the Cosmic Question Mark
Click for a large image
Image info, technical data and more images of this object, https://tinyurl.com/yeykd3wc
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