VdB 152 is a reflection nebula at the tip of the dark nebula Barnard 175. The small bright red object just under VdB 152 is the Herbig-Haro object HH 450 (a proto-star.) The red tendrils are a supernova remnant. A pretty cool field
It took me quite a while to process this one because it was difficult (28 hours of Ha was still very noisy) and also because I was testing a new version of PI that will be released soon. It has some pretty cool new features and my ColorMask script is now part of the standard version
Scope: Ceravolo C300 @ f/4.9 = 1470mm FL
Mount: AP1100
Camera: FLI PL16803
Focuser: Atlas
Filters: Astrodon
Guiding: Lodestar II / Tak guide scope
Image scale: 1.26 arcsec/pixel (Drizzled to double res, processed, then downsampled x 0.75)
Exposures: 35x1200s R, 35x1200s G, 31x1200s B, 61x600s L, 56x1800s Ha (71.83 hours)
Processing: PixInsight 1.8.5
Acquisition credit: Scott Johnson, Augusto Hernandez, John Kasianowicz, Daniele Malleo, Jose Mtanous and Rick Stevenson
Processing credit: Rick Stevenson
What a striking and unusual image. That shaft of Ha reaching up under the dust area is very dramatic.
Thanks Greg. We originally imaged it without Ha and I could see the faint "forks" and managed to convince the rest of the team to hit it hard with the Ha filter while there was plenty of moon and not much else to do. It was definitely worthwhile.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Martin Pugh
This is gorgeous Rick with a colour palette I really like.
well done.
Thanks very much, Martin!
Quote:
Originally Posted by cometcatcher
71.8 hours!!!!!!!!!
A lot going on there. Beautiful image.
Ta, Kevin. Long integrations are not that hard with an automated scope and a site with mostly decent weather. I chucked more than 12 hours of subs that I wasn't happy with
Quote:
Originally Posted by strongmanmike
Wow Rick that's a beautiful image and intriguing, so much to look at, well done, take a bow
A lot of shots of the vdb152 complex miss the vibrant Ha SNR tendrils but you have captured them here nicely, and I love the bright blue stars
Any very minor imperfections are only visible at the full res image, who cares
So you have been immortalised in PI..? cool!
...nuff said, I'm going back for another look
Mike
Thanks, Mikey! I normally try to tame the halos but in this image I let them run free It's a very photogenic field and I just tried not to mess it up.
At the fit to window resolution this is spectacular looking. Colour is great and interesting detailing around the reflection and dark nebula The addition of the Ha data really makes the image. Well done Rick.
Wow! 1st impressions are love the colours & 3D feel.
Probably just me but I'm not sure about the linear composition of the hero subject being placed smack bang in the middle though, makes it look like two images (top half & bottom half) competing with one another for attention.
Spectacular processing & I really enjoy the glowing bright stars.
Well done!
Fantastic image Rick, the band of dust is amazing.
Congratulations on the inclusion of your script in PI, it will be nice to try it, i couldn't use it before as i use a Mac, looking forward to it.
A wonderful photo. So much to see!! The snr has some razor-sharp shock fronts. There are some interesting shells and squiggles around the bright star dead centre that suggest it is busy blasting away at the cometary globule it is embedded in.
Thanks for pointing out the HH object. That's a special treat.
More seriously, that looks great and excellent news re: your colour script.
Thanks, Chris. I'm looking forward to fewer messages from people who can't figure out how to download the script
Quote:
Originally Posted by Paul Haese
At the fit to window resolution this is spectacular looking. Colour is great and interesting detailing around the reflection and dark nebula The addition of the Ha data really makes the image. Well done Rick.
Thanks, Paul!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Andy01
Wow! 1st impressions are love the colours & 3D feel.
Probably just me but I'm not sure about the linear composition of the hero subject being placed smack bang in the middle though, makes it look like two images (top half & bottom half) competing with one another for attention.
Spectacular processing & I really enjoy the glowing bright stars.
Well done!
Ta, Andy. I agree that the composition could have been better. I played with a few crops but didn't find anything that appealed so much I was willing to toss away a big chunk of FOV. Unfortunately, we don't have a rotator on that scope or I would have gone for a different angle.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Stevec35
Lovely work Rick!
Thanks, Steve.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ozstronomer
Beautiful image Rick, really like the FOV on this one
Well done
Ta, Geoff. I didn't even mind the big stars in this one
Quote:
Originally Posted by marc4darkskies
A magical image Rick! Rich and compelling colours.
Thanks very much, Marcus!
Quote:
Originally Posted by vlazg
Fantastic image Rick, the band of dust is amazing.
Congratulations on the inclusion of your script in PI, it will be nice to try it, i couldn't use it before as i use a Mac, looking forward to it.
Thanks, George.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Placidus
A wonderful photo. So much to see!! The snr has some razor-sharp shock fronts. There are some interesting shells and squiggles around the bright star dead centre that suggest it is busy blasting away at the cometary globule it is embedded in.
Thanks for pointing out the HH object. That's a special treat.
Ta muchly, M&T! I read that the central star is thought to have wandered there. It's a shame we can't see how these things evolve over time.
Quote:
Originally Posted by beren
awesome Rick........wish I could get those nice blue star colours
Thanks! I didn't even need to boost the blues... this time
Wow, that's pretty cool, simply loads going on in the fov and the colours are excellent. I went pixel peeking and there's a shed load of faint fuzzies tucked away in there as well.
in PI..? cool!
It's a very photogenic field and I just tried not to mess it up.
*cough* 
