The Dark Tower

[RickS (Rick)]

I always wanted to image this object after seeing fantastic renditions from Marcus (marc4darkskies) and Don Goldman, so here's my first attempt.

I was able to get quite a lot of Ha from home but good quality RGB was much more difficult to come by. I managed a few hours under dark skies/without clouds over the past couple of new moon weekends and got a lot less than I would have liked, but I won't get more until next year...

Scope: Ceravolo C300 @ f/9 = 2760mm FL, Atlas focuser
Mount: AP900
Camera: U16M
Filters: Astrodon E series Gen 2 LRGB, 3nm HA, OIII, SII
Guiding: Lodestar / MMOAG
Image scale: 0.67 arcsec/pixel
Exposures: 58x1800s Ha, 7x900s R, 7x900s G, 8x900s B (29 + 5.5 hrs)

Processed in PixInsight.

High res version on Astrobin: http://www.astrobin.com/126037/

Cheers,
Rick.

[Octane (Humayun)]

Oh, my.

Rick, that is something else. Wow!

H

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

Wow, nice job Rick 34hrs...not much exposure there though

Ooooh, love the detail in the head of the tower

Don't like the red stars everywhere though and the nebulous reds look a little washed out in places...but only minor processing critique there really, ignore if you wish

Mike

[gregbradley]

On first look, stunning! High impact. The excess red stars though are bit bright in spots and distracting. Perhaps a star mask when adding in the Ha would help there.

34 hours - wow, you really go for it.

Greg.

[Stevec35 (Steve)]

The red stars are a bit distracting but otherwise it looks great! You've certainly been turning out some top images Rick.

Cheers

Steve

[SimmoW (SIMON)]

Wow, huge effort with a commensurate result. Imaging at another level! Esp at those FLs

[RickS (Rick)]

Originally Posted by Octane

Oh, my.

Rick, that is something else. Wow!

H

Thanks, H.

Originally Posted by strongmanmike

Wow, nice job Rick 34hrs...not much exposure there though

Ooooh, love the detail in the head of the tower

Don't like the red stars everywhere though and the nebulous reds look a little washed out in places...but only minor processing critique there really, ignore if you wish

Mike

Ta, Mike. Thanks for the feedback. I'm going to give it a day or two and then have a go at a repro.

Originally Posted by gregbradley

On first look, stunning! High impact. The excess red stars though are bit bright in spots and distracting. Perhaps a star mask when adding in the Ha would help there.

34 hours - wow, you really go for it.

Greg.

Thanks, Greg. This is my first attempt at adding more than a touch of Ha to a RGB image so some new techniques to learn!

Originally Posted by Stevec35

The red stars are a bit distracting but otherwise it looks great! You've certainly been turning out some top images Rick.

Cheers

Steve

Thanks, Steve.

Originally Posted by SimmoW

Wow, huge effort with a commensurate result. Imaging at another level! Esp at those FLs

Ta, Simon.

[multiweb (Marc)]

Very cool shot Rick.

[Geoff45 (Geoff)]

Great image Rick. You seem to be churning out spectacular images at a rapid rate!
Geoff

[marco (Marco Lorenzi)]

Fantastic Rick, one of the best image of the area I have ever seen
Clear skies
Marco

[atalas]

Nice work Rick.

[marc4darkskies (Marcus)]

Only viewing on my phone but this looks excellent Rick!

[Bassnut (Fred)]

Ha!, thats just great, leaps out of the screen

[tilbrook@rbe.ne (Justin Tilbrook)]

Great work Rick!

The Dark Tower is a real pain to process, buried in a dense star field and it's tricky colour wise too!!


This is my effort from last year.
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/a...e.php?a=146715

I'll have to have another go now after seeing yours, don't expect anything like yours but hope to improve.

Cheers,

Justin.

[RickS (Rick)]

Originally Posted by multiweb

Very cool shot Rick.

Thanks, Marc!

Originally Posted by ghsmith45

Great image Rick. You seem to be churning out spectacular images at a rapid rate!
Geoff

Thanks, Geoff. Still the same or slower rate for local imaging but the second remote scope is keeping me supplied with data

Originally Posted by marco

Fantastic Rick, one of the best image of the area I have ever seen
Clear skies
Marco

Thank you, Marco.

Originally Posted by atalas

Nice work Rick.

and thanks, Louie.

Originally Posted by marc4darkskies

Only viewing on my phone but this looks excellent Rick!

Ta, Marcus. Better not too look to closely although with a little more work it may be more acceptable at high res.

Originally Posted by Bassnut

Ha!, thats just great, leaps out of the screen

Thanks, Fred. Leaps out and yells in your face

Originally Posted by tilbrook@rbe.ne

Great work Rick!

The Dark Tower is a real pain to process, buried in a dense star field and it's tricky colour wise too!!


This is my effort from last year.
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/a...e.php?a=146715

I'll have to have another go now after seeing yours, don't expect anything like yours but hope to improve.

Cheers,

Justin.

Thanks, Justin. I did take note of yours when doing my homework. It is a difficult FOV indeed!

[alpal]

Hi Rick,
it's a top notch pic &
compares well with this APOD:
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap110427.html

I can see you were inspired by Don Goldman.
well done

cheers
Allan

[Ross G]

A great looking closeup photo Rick.

So sharp and amazing detail.

I love the composition.

Ross.

[RickS (Rick)]

Originally Posted by alpal

Hi Rick,
it's a top notch pic &
compares well with this APOD:
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap110427.html

I can see you were inspired by Don Goldman.
well done

cheers
Allan

Thanks, Allan! Marcus did a very nice version too: http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/s...ad.php?t=76772

Originally Posted by Ross G

A great looking closeup photo Rick.

So sharp and amazing detail.

I love the composition.

Ross.

Thanks Ross.

[IanP]

Huge scope and huge result – fantastic Rick!!!

[Placidus (Mike and Trish)]

Awesome photo, Rick. Good to see.