Rho Ophi Complex

I had obtained a Sigma 150mm APO lens recently. This image is actually first light (astronomy target) for this optic. As you can see from the bright stars in the image, the FStop iris is nine vane (producing 18 spikes). This lens on an APS-c size sensor gives about 8 degrees in vertical portrait. Full image and processing details are at:

http://www.jthommes.com/Astro/DSLR/Rho_Ophi.htm

Scope - Sigma APO 150 mm lens at f3/3.5
Camera - Canon 350D (Baader ACF modified), no filters, ISO 800 and 1600
Mount - Celestron CG-5 GOTO
Guiding - Home made guide scope 180mm FL, Vesta 690, K3CCDTools

Very pretty!

Tom

That is excellent, Jim, one of your best images.
Your color is superb and the details are fine.
My congratulations.
My only quibble, and it's a small one, is your spelling in this post. I think it should be "Rho Ophi Complex".
My best regards,

dan

very nice Jim - Great color.

Jeff

Thanks for the comments folks!
Dan, As you can see, I have corrected the spelling error - I guess that's just the engineer in me to do such a thing.
Greg, YeahI generally have to restrain my self on the saturation tool - I just couldn't help myself on this region though. I did go back to Photoshop for a quick look on saturation - I think you are right, it may be worth a repost.

Beautiful image Jim, simply beautiful! 8)

You new lense looks like it is going to work out very well Jim.

Lovely image here,I especially like the reflection nebula areas.


Jason

Ivan, Jason, Thanks for your kind comments.

I did take the opportunity to soften the saturation a bit based on Greg's suggestion. I think I like it better. I have used the modified image on the web page for you to see.

http://www.jthommes.com/Astro/DSLR/Rho_Ophi.htm

For comparison, the old image can be accessed here:

http://www.jthommes.com/Astro/DSLR/Images/RhoOphi_S150-3_5_PS4GBminCblu_med.jpg

Any opinions?