Vela SNR by Jackson Pollock

[strongmanmike]

The Vela Supernova Remnant is made up of many complex tendrils of energised gas and covers an area of sky 8 degrees wide in the southern constellation of Vela. It was formed by a star 900 light years away, that exploded about 12,000 years ago.

This is a wavelength ordered, emission line image, taken using H-alpha, Oxygen3 and Sulphur2 narrow band filters and frames about a quarter of the huge ancient feature.

Remarkably this 7hrs of data was collected in barely 8 hours of darkness (including regular manual focusing and a manual meridian flip, re acquire and re framing) all on one night and under a 90% full moon (not ideal) :)

The OIII tendrils are the most fascinating feature of this SNR so I particularly wanted to emphasise these, a moonless night would have helped here of course. The result reminds me of a Jackson Pollock painting

All details are under the image

Vela Supernova Remnant (https://www.flickr.com/photos/strongman/38800822640/in/dateposted-public/) - click cursor on the image and move it to pan around an enlarged version.

Bigger version HERE (http://www.pbase.com/strongmanmike2002/image/167084429/original)

[speach]

equipment note would be nice

[SimmoW]

Thats massive and as ever so detailed and sharp Mike!

It's personal taste I suppose, but many might darken the background a bit. Just an idea

[RickS]

Very dramatic, Mike, and you certainly achieved the goal of emphasising the Oiii tendrils! It would look great on a wall. And at a fraction of the cost of a real Pollock.



There are some details if you follow one of the links to Flickr.

[glend]

I like it as it is, no need to darken the background. I know through my own wall mounted Vela SNR print, it is an object that needs to be as bright as possible. I have a gallery light on my metal print, but think a backlit acrylic print would 'pop' better.

[Stevec35]

That's a different look Mike but I like it. Matter of taste I guess but I think it could use a bit more contrast though.

Steve

[strongmanmike]

He he thanks for checking the Done/Pollock abstract expressionist artwork out :lol:

I often err on the side of less contrast for some reason...having said that, it looks slightly different on different monitors..so I'll have a look later :question:

Simon (Speach), if you can see an image I post via a link.. then you can see all the equipment/capture details underneath it :thumbsup:

Cheers

[Camelopardalis]

Nice one Mike :thumbsup:

But what's with the star halos? I thought only cheapie scopes/cameras did that :P

[strongmanmike]

Nup even $70K RC's show strange optical or reflective artifacts, GSO RC's and Newtonians can show strange radiating arcs in their diffraction patterns, even expensive Richardi Honders show strong circular rings around stars. In the case of halos like these, the optical design, the last element of the corrector or flattener, the CCD optical window, the filters and even the CCD cover slip, can all interact with reverse reflections to some degree or another, to cause interesting halos....in the end it is part and parcel of many opto-mechanical imaging systems... in some form or another :)

They are more prominent in some images than others, depending on the filters I have used and what combination I blended them as well as the degree of stretching and other secretive stuff I do :scared3: :)

Mike :innocent: :P

[Camelopardalis]

:eyepop:

I was being cheeky of course, but I was genuinely surprised, I appreciate the care and attention you take with your images.

Looks a great piece of sky too :thumbsup:

[marc4darkskies]

Hmmmm ... A little too much blue (your histograms are out of whack IMO) and a little too much saturation for my taste but, overall, with the wide field and fantastic structure, it's a compelling image. ;) :thumbsup: Tak make good scopes don't they!!



Thank goodness mine's only a $25k'ish RC (with depreciation = $100), so no substantial artifacts. :shrug: :P :lol:

[alocky]

I love the elctric blue colour - and it's far more interesting than any of Pollock's loads of bollocks...
Have you got the focal reducer for the Tak? Not that you've run out of material at that focal length, but we get another couple of years of superb images when you do start using one :)
cheers,
Andrew

[strongmanmike]

Ha ha I know, I am the king of Cheek :D



The data for this was pretty shight actually, with a near full moon (stupid, especially for the OIII... but I needded my fix :nerd:) and not enough data, so I definitely pushed this one driven by an insatiable level of Andy-esque artistic enthusiasm :painting:.. so forgive me if my histograms do not conform to the norm...I was being out there :lol: But I am glad you found it compelling none the less cus that was completely my aim :D :thumbsup:

Oh and I love your scope :)

Mike



Cheers Andrew :thumbsup: and yes I will likely obtain the FR at some stage but it is bloody expensive...but as you say I can then bombard you all with 6deg square shots of stuff :P

Mike

[gregbradley]

The FSQ is a real deep imaging instrument. I used to marvel at that. Great tendrils and detail but as you say its a bit too pushed. I well understand the desire to get an image out when the opportunity arises.

Greg.

[alpal]

Hi Mike,
it's a very pretty picture.
While there is more saturation than would be normal from you
it's got that wow factor.
Many APODs are like that - I think they get into LAB mode &
push the picture as far as they can for a stunning effect.

cheers
Allan

[LewisM]

That's one hell of a lot better than the utter vomitous Pollock crap that the Australian Gubmint paid WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAY too much for ($1.3 million in 1973..thanks again Gough). Every time I look at it, it just disgusts me (Pollock's bollocks, not your image).

Last time my daughter approached Blue Poop...errr...Poles...too closely and the alarm went off, the guard got all huffy. I told her it's OK, no one in their right mind wants to touch the trash.

Oh, yeah, anyway, you distracted me sideways. NICE image Mike, in your typically flamboyant vividness.

[strongmanmike]

Oh yes, sometimes, the pull of a clear steady sky is addictive :astron:...even with a god damn full Moon :stargaze:.... :rolleyes:



Thanks Allan...yep, that's pretty much what I did :P




Well, aaactually...no wonder the guard got huffy..the great man Gough :prey2: authorised a bloomin master stroke (http://www.afr.com/lifestyle/arts-and-entertainment/art/jackson-pollocks-blue-poles-now-worth-350m-20160928-grq3cj) ;)




Thanks and same for your reply post :lol:

Mike

[Andy01]

Spectacular Mike!

Very painterly & I love the colour palette you've chosen. :painting:

Doesn't quite hold up to your usual level of technical mastery though, (the stars do look kinda odd) but if you're willing to let go of a little of that then BOOM, it jumps off the page! :eyepop:

Good one :thumbsup:

[strongmanmike]

Thanks Andy, she's bright and colourfull huh? :P..thought you might like it, hopefully it still looks like an astro image though ;)...the colours aren't that far off true colour really.

Now, by odd, I assume you mean the small halos around some of the stars..? These halos are more prominent in NB and the heavy stretching I did plus the fact there is no RGB star data (which shows no halos) has made'em a bit more obvious :)

You can see what straight LRGB data looks like with this outfit in my Witchhead shot (http://www.pbase.com/strongmanmike2002/image/166698764/original) :)

Mike

[Placidus]

That you achieved this in one bright and moonlit night is extraordinary.

Bravo.

[Bart]

Oh..my eyes...my eyes...I can't see any more...:eyepop::rofl::rofl:

He he..Mike, looks great though, I like it! :thumbsup:

[Andy01]

Hang on, you mean that stretched NB stars are going to have halos, but RGB will not. How does that work? :confused2:

And if that's the case, is it worth considering using a starmask to control the amount of stretch on the stars themselves? :question:

Or maybe even just replace 'em all with RGB stars :D

[strongmanmike]

Yeah I am like a human automated machine for imaging sessions these days...I work like clockwork, the Robert Evans of imaging automation :P



Ha ha, cool...sorry bout your eyes Bart :face:



I do use star masks usually, but in a nut shell, I probably should have taken much more data and not at full moon (particularly with the wider 12nm NB's), not guassian stretched the OIII (or any of the filters really :rolleyes:) so much, as it was thin data and with gradients I had to remove, especially the OIII :eyepop:....having said that the halos don't particularly bother me and the overall impact of the piece was what I was after in this case...I should really revisit the area, with no or much less Moon and take more data....:question:

Mike

[OzEclipse]

Magic Mike!

[Atmos]

It has some explosive impact Mike, just don’t look too closely :lol:
Given its limited data and moon lit capture... don’t look too hard ;)

[Ryderscope]

Beautiful Mike.

[peter_4059]

Super image Mike. Very striking.

[strongmanmike]

Cheers guys, glad it was visually appealing..even with the warts :)

Mike

[RobF]

Nice work Mike. :thumbsup:

[strongmanmike]

Thanks Rob, after some feedback and looking at it on a few different monitors, I think I will increase the contrast a bit :)

Mike

[astroron]

Definitely gives Jason Pollock a run for his money. ;)
I notice a great similarity to the Honeycomb Nebula
in the Large Magellanic Cloud,close to Supernova 1987A.

[astroron]

Another pic with a wider field including SN1987A

[strongmanmike]

Ha! yeah that's excellent Ron, recon you may well be right. Be great if we lived for 1,000,000 years or so just to see how these things get on...might get a bit bored though? ...unless we perceived a year like we currently perceive an few minutes... :question:

Mike

[willik]

:question:Is it for sale
Martin -

[LewisM]

I'll sell prints off the back of the truck for $1.2million - that's a $100K saving over an original ;)

[strongmanmike]

Sorry guys...it's priceless :P besides I'm not selling it to Lewis for $1.2 Mill cus it'll be worth over $300 mill in 45 years....when I am 95 :confuse3:

[h0ughy]

its kinda Andy Warholish?

no no its Ken Done!!!

either way its way out of my league, and it takes skills to make it look that... er ....artistic. Curiously whats it look like in vanilla?

[strongmanmike]

Yes colour wise I guess ie vibrant and strong :D but style wise..?.. definitely a Pollock :painting: :thumbsup:

Mike

[kinetic]

At the risk of this dumb electrician being called an art snob,
Blue Poles is one of my favourite artworks.
I see something new every time I look at it.

Nice rendition Mike,

Steve

[strongmanmike]

Ha ha cheers Steve and I agree with you, it was, and remains, the subject of controversy and divided opinion...probably why it is now worth so much :)

Mike

[atalas]

Big bubbles no troubles....I quite like It Mike...but then again I'm crazy:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

[strongmanmike]

Well, you know you have done a good job when crazy people like your work...crazy people see things that are there and...not there = win-win everyone is happy.

:lol:

Mike

[Suzy]

That's really gorgeous, Mike, and their loving it over on our facebook page as well :love:.

[strongmanmike]

Hey cheers Suzy :thumbsup: and I have left a comment :)

Mike

[Suzy]

Oh great! You have a fan base so it'll be extra appreciated. Thank you.

[strongmanmike]

Like this one..? :question: