I finally managed to get around to do some processing, since the bad weather has set in here... This time it's the Lagoon, a part in my developing series of infrared/optical comparisons:
About the image:
The Lagoon Nebula, also known as Messier 8 or NGC 6523, is a large emission nebula located about 4,000-6,000 light years away in the constellation of Sagittarius. It is one of only a few such nebulae to be visible to the naked eye.This enormous interstellar cloud is some 110 light years across and is home to numerous dark Bok globules. These are dense collapsing patches of gas and dust where new stars are born. These young stars are not visible until their radiation pressure blows off the surrounding cloud. Bright young O type stars that have already emerged from their cocoons cause the nebula's gas to glow with a distinct magenta colour arising from ionized Hydrogen atoms.
In the middle of the brightest portion of Messier 8 lies the bright Hourglass Nebula which is a distinctly shaped patch of nebulosity framed by tornado-like structures half a light-year in length. The star immediately to the left of the Hourglass is Herschel 36 which is thought to be responsible for most of the illumination in the area. The strong stellar winds are tearing the molecular clouds apart and is it believed that the difference in temperature between the hot surface of the clouds and their cold interior, combined with the pressure from the stellar winds is producing strong horizontal shear which twists the clouds into tornado-like shapes.
Here is a link to my previous (ToUCam) high resolution image of the Hourglass, with Hubble comparison
Image details:
Date: 8th and 9th April 2013
Exposure: LRGB: 60:95:56:61m, total Xhrs Xmins @ -29C
Telescope: 10" Serrurier Truss Newtonian f/5
Camera: QSI 683wsg with Lodestar guider
Filters: Astrodon LRGB E-Series Gen 2
Taken from my observatory in Auckland, New Zealand
I hope you enjoy, and please do check out the comparison with the NIR image, the differences are truly striking.
Comments and critique most welcome.
Good stuff Rolf. Awesome image scale and great close up. Looking forward to image that one when it gets high enough. Might have a go with what I've got so far. If I can get rid of those chonky stars...
Love it! Talk about colour confidence! Normally I'd shy away from such saturation but it really suits this target when it handled this well. Great processing Rolf! Thoroughly enjoyed the view.
Superb detail, lovely stars, not a fan of the overly pink colour though.
My personal opinion is you've got to whip that Ha down otherwise it takes over. But that's just it - my opinion only.
Stunning image, love the colours and details! Your truss scope certainly is churning out great images lately
Thank you Meru, yeah I'm very happy with the performance of the truss Newtonian. A bigger one is in development, 12.5"
Quote:
Originally Posted by multiweb
Good stuff Rolf. Awesome image scale and great close up. Looking forward to image that one when it gets high enough. Might have a go with what I've got so far. If I can get rid of those chonky stars...
Thank you very much Marc I liked that the box shaped Lagoon fits just inside my FOV Looking forward to your version!
Quote:
Originally Posted by iceman
Incredible image, Rolf! Wow such striking colours.
Thank you Mike, it is a colourful nebula indeed
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gem
Top image!!!!
Thank you Grant
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ross G
A beautiful photo Rolf.
Amazing colours.
Ross.
Thanks Ross, I'm glad you enjoyed it
Quote:
Originally Posted by jase
Love it! Talk about colour confidence! Normally I'd shy away from such saturation but it really suits this target when it handled this well. Great processing Rolf! Thoroughly enjoyed the view.
Thank you very much Jase. I did put particular effort into the colours, so I'm glad you liked it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by gregbradley
Maybe we should rename it the Mardi Gras Nebula!
Superb detail, lovely stars, not a fan of the overly pink colour though.
My personal opinion is you've got to whip that Ha down otherwise it takes over. But that's just it - my opinion only.
Greg.
Thank you Greg, yeah colour is certainly a matter of taste I agree
Although I will say from a scientific point of view that these nebulae are indeed pink/magenta in hue because of the conbination of strong H Alpha and H Beta emission (red + blue). Some emission nebulae appear particularly red, but that's normally due to reddening by interstellar dust along our line of sight - the Lobster Nebula being a prime example.
Thank you Greg, yeah colour is certainly a matter of taste I agree
Although I will say from a scientific point of view that these nebulae are indeed pink/magenta in hue because of the conbination of strong H Alpha and H Beta emission (red + blue). Some emission nebulae appear particularly red, but that's normally due to reddening by interstellar dust along our line of sight - the Lobster Nebula being a prime example.
Yep totally agree with you Rolf, ignore the magenta-pink nay sayers it looks awesome! - and perfect comparison to make your point too. The other good one is the NGC 3576/3603 pair.
Beautiful details in there Rolf and whilst the colour is strong, I think this image handles it well. Thanks for the effort to include all the details. Interesting to see the comparison.
Ted
Yep totally agree with you Rolf, ignore the magenta-pink nay sayers it looks awesome! - and perfect comparison to make your point too. The other good one is the NGC 3576/3603 pair.
Vivaaaaa Las Vegas
Mike
Thank you Mike, I was actually thinking of your image exactly but just couldn't find it, so the Lobster sprung to mind
Quote:
Originally Posted by Star Catcher
Beautiful details in there Rolf and whilst the colour is strong, I think this image handles it well. Thanks for the effort to include all the details. Interesting to see the comparison.
Ted
Thanks very much Ted, yeah the comparison really shows how different NIR looks.
Rolf this has great colour in the stars and nebula, good detail too. Personally I like the saturation on the full size image. The only thing letting this down is the elongation in the stars (this can be well seen in the full size image). This is mainly on the left hand side of the image but it is distracting. I figure this is tilt of some sort and not guide related errors.
Great shot Rolf. Really striking image with nice colour and detail.
Lucas
Thank you Lucas, I'm glad you liked the colours
Quote:
Originally Posted by naskies
Wow, a very striking view!
Thanks Dave It just fits barely in my FOV so gets quite an impact at that image scale.
Quote:
Originally Posted by David Fitz-Henr
Great stuff Rolf; as per other comments, nice details and striking colour
Thank you David, I really enjoyed processing this one, it is amazing how bright a nebula it is.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Paul Haese
Rolf this has great colour in the stars and nebula, good detail too. Personally I like the saturation on the full size image. The only thing letting this down is the elongation in the stars (this can be well seen in the full size image). This is mainly on the left hand side of the image but it is distracting. I figure this is tilt of some sort and not guide related errors.
Thanks Paul The elongated stars are due to a combination of tracking errors and I suspect a bit of coma. I think my Baader MPCC is not quite up there on par with the more expensive correctors so it shows in the corners. Once I get my Royce mirror I'll see how it performs and then upgrade the corrector if needed.
The tracking errors are because my guiding adjustments in RA are about twice the amplitude than in Dec. I see this consistently so I should probably upgrade to the Ovision worms. I guess the guiding performance is certainly not bad for an 8 year old Losmandy mount with standard worms and no modifications, but I agree there is definitely room for improvement I plan to attend to this once my new scope is up and running. Thanks for the feedback.
Looking forward to your version!
it looks awesome! - and perfect comparison to make your point too. The other good one is the 
