Thanks everyone for the comments. Much appreciated.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Placidus
Hi, Paul,
A very fine rendition. You've processed it very well to bring out all our favourite features with nice controlled contrast.
Best,
Mike
As discussed in your thread, this is about contrast control to increase the effect of the luminosity captured. Dr David Malin stated one thing that he really liked about my overall winning M42 image last year was the way I had enhanced the luminosity of light on the gas by stars nearby. I had at that stage started doing this in all my images to increase the 3D effect, I have now developed this process quite a lot to the point where I am using selective masking to further enhance the effect. I think it helps to make features pop out.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Andy01
Lovely shot, amazing "pillowy" look to the dust/gas clouds and beautiful use of the colour palatte.
Interesting to look at the differing FOV's of your's and Mikes images of the same target posted here this week.
Well done
You have to be careful with the comparison. My image is at about 66% of full resolution and the only reason I have made it smaller is because the star shapes are quite defective due to guide errors that I have now sorted. Guiding at long focal lengths is much harder than at short focal lengths. The guide errors are so much more difficult to manage. Fine tuning that out has taken some time.
As stated about the pillowy look is about 3D contrast control and really helps to make an image pop. I guess as Dr David Malin once critiqued one of my images by saying one has to "respect the light". The bright areas should be bright and the dark areas should be dark.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hagar
Very nice Paul. You have captured the 3D effect missing in so many narrow band images. The detail right to the core star is magnificent.
Well done.
Yes several recent images come to mind here Doug. I did an image last year of IC2944 (seen here) which demonstrates how the 3D effect can be managed with good data. Recent examples I have seen have been flat in my opinion. One in particular looks almost monochromatic with mainly blue tones and little other enhancement.
That's a really beautiful Carina Nebula there Paul, lovely colours and nice crisp detail throughout. The Mystic Mountain has come out clearly, which is not often seen.
And the IC2944 image is stunning, spectacular work Paul.
I've just this week filled the last two positions in my filter wheel so I now have a complete set of Astrodon 3nm narrowband filters - looking forward to trying them out!
BTW I totally agree re Focusmax, it is really worth getting this up and running.
And about guiding, your experience is similar to mine; I get best results using 0.6s - only sometime switching to 1s exposures if seeing interferes.
That's a really beautiful Carina Nebula there Paul, lovely colours and nice crisp detail throughout. The Mystic Mountain has come out clearly, which is not often seen.
And the IC2944 image is stunning, spectacular work Paul.
I've just this week filled the last two positions in my filter wheel so I now have a complete set of Astrodon 3nm narrowband filters - looking forward to trying them out!
BTW I totally agree re Focusmax, it is really worth getting this up and running.
And about guiding, your experience is similar to mine; I get best results using 0.6s - only sometime switching to 1s exposures if seeing interferes.
Thanks Rolf. On the subject of focusmax I can honestly say I could not get focus even remotely close on my RC with a Bahtinov mask.
I am looking into direct guiding so I can get away from using short exposures. It might be something to consider for your system.
I have one slot left in both my filter wheels and I have considered and IR filter in each, but still thinking about the price. There are other things I need first. I imagine though your images will have more contrast from here on in with 3nm. I only have two Astrodons with that band pass. I would like more but I have paid for two rigs with Astrodon filters and you can imagine what the cost of that is.
The mystic mountain is a cool object and I am pleased to have obtained that with my GSO scope. It goes to show the quality of the optics from them is comparable with other systems, though not having all the bells and whistles.
Really good!! I love it. The only slightest feedback would be the slight reddish rims to the stars. I know the narrow band is what makes the image, but it would be nice to have the stars a consistent colour...
Really good!! I love it. The only slightest feedback would be the slight reddish rims to the stars. I know the narrow band is what makes the image, but it would be nice to have the stars a consistent colour...
But overall - love it!
Hi Grant, I agree the stars are a pain. I don't like the colour either. This shot was only really a test to assess the performance issues of the system. That being guiding, camera operation and flattener back focus distance. I did not take it any further than I have simply because I have sorted those issues in the last week and will now recapture the entire data set and include RGB. I will be capturing short subs too to get the homunculus too. So stay tuned as another image will arrive in the next month or so. I appreciate you taking the time to say something.