The Kaiju Cloud

[Andy01]

Hi Folks,

Like one of those big mutant monsters from the movie, 'Pacific Rim' as it emerges from the depths, here we have the "Kaiju cloud".

This Ha rich object is located near NGC 2451 and ó Pup. As there appears to be no O2 present I've instead used N2 & S2 and mapped the image as per the following recipe ...

3nm Ha=Blue 8 hrs 1800 secs
3nm N2= Green 5 Hrs 1800 secs
3nm S2=Red - 5hrs 1200sec Binx2

RGB 15x60sec subs ea

Quite tricky to map the colours and still show three seperate wavelengths as there are all so close together, so all traditional colour maps went out the window! Here (https://www.astrobin.com/full/335936/C/) is my twist then on "original HST recipe".

Thanks for looking, C&C welcome :D

Disclaimer * Processed on my laptop while on holidays - hope the colours are ok...

[SimmoW]

Nice Andy, Jen Bryent will love that purple!

[RickS]

Very cool, Andy :thumbsup:

[Placidus]

A mountain of amethyst!

There is an excellent hippopotamus lurking at bottom left.

Well done!

[atalas]

Excellent depth Andy and a fantastic object presented extremely well:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup: :eyepop:

[markas]

Great result! A really unusual image.

Is there much N actually there? It seems to me that for image train f-ratios less than about f/4 you are getting lots of Ha in the N channel. I'd be interested to know how different the Ha and N subs are....

Whatever, a terrific image:thumbsup::thumbsup:

Mark

[multiweb]

Very cool. :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

[Jeff]

Great find ... an epic target indeed.

Not sure the name will stick though Andy.
I would prefer "Mystic Mountain" or maybe the "Cumulonimbus Nebula".

[strongmanmike]

This is very interesting approach Andy and a lovely job, well done on using the lap top on Holidays too :thumbsup:...how did you get away from the W & K's

Oh and good on you for trying to show all three wavelengths too ;)

As you know I am currently hammering this too and although there is heaps of Ha, I note as you have, there is essentially no OIII :doh: so the use of the NII was a good approach, how much of that is there? Given the lack of OIII (I don't have an NII filter) and not thinking an SIIHa version would work that well..? I think I have decided to do an LHaRGB version :question:

My FOV shows the whole feature, and turned 90deg anticlockwise, it resembles the profile of the BFG :P

Mike

[Camelopardalis]

Beauty Andy :thumbsup:

[JA]

Very mystical Andy. Great Image:thumbsup:

Best
JA

[JA]

Absolutely !!!

Best
JA

[Andy01]

Cheers Simmo - I must have been channelling Prince during processing :)



Thanks Rick :thumbsup:



Cheers M&T - Yes, it has a remarkable crystalline appearance :)



Cheers Louie, thanks very much for the positive vibes. :cool3:



Hey Mark, thanks for the nice compliments on the image.

As to your question, there was "just" enough difference between the Ha & N2 to map as seperate colours, and as the S2 signal was fairly weak I had to bin it x2.

From the Astrodon website - Ha emits at 656.3 nm and NII emits most strongly at 658.4 nm (and weakly at 653.8 nm). These are very close together spectrally.
Our 3 nm H-a begins to separate both emission lines and reduces the NII contribution significantly.
Our recent blueshift data show that Astrodon 3 and 5 nm filters can be used with nearly all systems as fast as f/3.5 with virtually no loss in emission signal, so you do not need to buy custom "upshifted" filters if you have both fast and slow systems.

Hydrogen-alpha 656.3 nm
Nitrogen NII 658.4 nm
Sulphur SII 671.6 nm



Cheers Marc, yes maybe even glacially cool :cool3:



Well Jeff, when you go find your own patch of new/rarely imaged sky, you get to name it whatever you like!
My 9 y/o son named this one, so there it is! :lol: Mystic Mountain is kinda cool though :)



Hey Mike, thanks for the nice words!
As mentioned above the N2 signal is there and closely aligned to the Ha. As the S2 was so weak I had to bin it x2 so your idea of LHaRGB has great promise. :thumbsup:
Unfortunately that's not an option from my suburban backyard, so I'll be very interested to see your results! ;)



Thanks very much Dunk! :D



Cheers JA - a new target for everyone to have a crack at now :thumbsup:

[topheart]

Hi Andy,
Interesting object and discussions...thanks!!

Cheers,
Tim

[Paul Haese]

Nice presentation Andy. Certainly an interesting area to image.

[troypiggo]

I just noticed this on Tom Davis's Astrobin page. Might help identifying some of the objects - looks like there's some catalogued cometary globules in there:

https://www.astrobin.com/351001/?nc=user

[h0ughy]

ethereal image. i can see two birds in there....

[Andy01]

Cheers Tim :)



Thanks Paul- it’s rarely imaged, and dim- give it a crack!



Cheers Troy, it’s unclear when Thomas imaged it, was it 2009 or 4 days ago?
Either way, it’s a fine rendition. :thumbsup:
To be honest though - I enjoy Mike’s wider field of view. :lol:




Okaaaay then - Paradolia rules!
Cheers Houghy :)

Btw- This new (https://www.astrobin.com/335936/D/) completely colour re-mapped version was shortlisted by David Malin for this year’s awards.
:D

[troypiggo]

I think he imaged it quite a while ago, but has only just joined Astrobin and started uploading his library of images. Quite a gallery he has.

[Peter Ward]

Nice one Andy...don’t sell yourself short, this one looks great in a narrow field and no surprises it got a shortlist gong at this years’s CWAS/Malins.

I like your approach, no FIGJAM, just quiietly achieving in the background, asking questions and improving your technique. Best of luck at the Malin’s :thumbsup:

[gregbradley]

Cheers Troy, it’s unclear when Thomas imaged it, was it 2009 or 4 days ago?
Either way, it’s a fine rendition. :thumbsup:
To be honest though - I enjoy Mike’s wider field of view. :lol:


Thomas imaged that in 2009. I recall he was posting lots of widefield images from the time he had his AP155 at Morook in Vic.

He had his AP155 sent back to the US. It was damaged from dust etc. It probably cleaned up.

I really like your recoloured new version, very striking indeed and you achieved an excellent colour balance there.

Greg.

Greg.

[topheart]

Good luck in Parkes!
Cheers,
Tim

[Andy01]

Cheers Peter, Greg & Tim - I'm sure the competition will be tough as the standard is rediculously high!
I'm happy my image is in the final mix though :D

[Slawomir]

Congratulations Andy :thumbsup:

The final version is awesome - well done!