The Canon 200mm f#2.8 prime lens gives remarkable performance for astroimages across the whole diagonal of a full frame sensor.  I am using the lens with a Canon 5D MkII (unmodified) which means that I can capture star fields quite well, but not the faint red emission nebulosity – and I have a massive field of view of 10 x 6.8 degrees to play with (where the diameter of a full Moon is just half a degree).

I also have a huge portfolio of faint deep-sky objects captured using the Hyperstar III – so I am now in the happy position of being able to grab huge star fields in one go using the DSLR and then filling in any faint objects using Hyperstar III data – a process called compositing.

The image below is a 10 x 6.8 degree deep-sky image centred on the Cocoon nebula in Cygnus.  Towards upper right we have open cluster M39, towards lower left is open cluster NGC 7209, and towards upper right is a large open cluster NGC 7243.  Trailing behind the Cocoon nebula we have the highly impressive dark nebulosity Barnard 168, one of the most high-impact naked-eye nebulosities in the northern hemisphere.

The combination of the 200mm/Canon 5D MkII and Hyperstar III data is going to feature highly in forthcoming deep-sky images from the New Forest Observatory.

The Double Cluster and Stock 2 taken with a DSLR – sparkle version.

I recently bought Canon’s EF 200mm f#2.8 prime lens for some deep-sky imaging with the Canon 5D MkII.  To say I am highly impressed with this lens’ performance is a massive understatement – it is fantabulous!

Last night was “first light” for the EF 200mm and I imaged the Double Cluster region and the region around M31.  Note that the field of view is around 9.5 x 6.5 degrees and we have perfect round stars from corner to corner – this is AMAZING performance for a “daylight photography” lens.  It’s certainly more impressive than the refractors I use for the purpose – although at 200mm the focal length is a lot shorter and so the resolution is also quite a bit poorer.  That said – for wide-field deep-sky imaging I reckon this lens takes some beating.

The Double Cluster image was only 6 subs at 3-minutes per sub, f#4, ISO 800, IDAS filter.  The M31 image was just 10 subs at 5-minutes per sub again at f#4 but this time at ISO 400, again using an IDAS filter.

I am highly impressed with the performance of this lens and have a huge list of objects now on the whiteboard waiting to be imaged by this little beauty 🙂 🙂

We have just had 8 consecutive clear Moonless nights – I’m pretty sure that one will remain an unbroken record.  Taken during this period of  deep-sky imaging bliss we have the brightest star in the Northern Hemisphere, which is NOT Vega as you might guess (looking up on a summer’s evening Vega appears to be the brightest star up there) – but over to the west, looking a lot like Mars IS the brightest star – and it’s Arcturus.

Arcturus – or Hoku-lea the star of gladness, the star that leads great voyagers home – to quote Stephen James O’Meara in his superb book “The Caldwell Objects”.

There’s something about Arcturus, I don’t know what it is, but I get a great feeling of comfort and security when I see it shining overhead.  Maybe I have some Hawaiian ancestry? 🙂 🙂

A deep image using the Hyperstar III and 7 x 15-minute subs looking at the SAO 69116 region in Cygnus.  The Tulip nebula can be seen at the left of the frame, I’ll need to grab another frame to get this in as well (I forgot the chip was in portrait mode and not landscape mode 🙂 )

Check out an amazing numerical asterism I found in the constellation Leo on the New Forest Observatory web site.

I managed to acquire the second frame to this Sirius 2-frame mosaic on 1/1/2013.  Hopes that this was a good omen for better weather in 2013 were soon dashed with days of cloud and rain to follow 🙁  Never mind.  Here is a 3.3 x 3.4 degree field of view of the Sirius region taken with the mini-WASP array from the New Forest Observatory.  Processing courtesy Noel Carboni, Florida, U.S.A.

Earlier this month I managed to grab a 2-framer of the Kemble’s Cascade region using the mini-WASP array.  There’s also a fine Carbon star in this image – can you spot it?  Image acquired by Greg Parker at the New Forest Observatory and processed by Noel Carboni in Florida, U.S.A.