LDN 1773 - Pipe Nebula

[jase (Jason)]

Hi All,

Having enjoyed imaging the Snake Nebula (B72) recently, I thought I'd have a go at acquiring data on a nearby starfield. The Pipe Nebula has been a well seasoned target for many so its hard to bring something different to a common scene. Anyway, here's my rendition;

LDN 1773 - Pipe Nebula

The Pipe Nebula (aka LDN 1773, Barnard 59,65-67 and 78) as its name implies is a smoking pipe shaped dark nebula located in the constellation Ophiuchus (the Serpent Bearer). This cloud of gas and dust spans a large area of the sky and forms the hind quarters of the Dark Horse Nebula, an even larger dark nebula complex. The stem of the pipe comprises of catalogue items B59, B65-67, with the pipe bowl as B78. The nebula’s opaque clouds absorb and block the starlight of the background Milky Way stars.

Still trying to catch up on processing previously acquired data. This one was acquired back in August. I went for a traditional RGB for this image as I've always enjoyed the rich star colours that this composition delivers. Also being a relatively bright area, its possible to get away with not acquiring luminance. incorporated basic PI routines into more familar flows such as DBE, HDRWavelets to bring out the super faint dust structure, but most of the work was still done in CCDStack and Photoshop. Calculated framing, the FSQ/U16M FoV isn't large enough so two panels were required. Very little effort was needed to match the two panels. What I do enjoy with the image is the contrasting hues of the milky way scaning from top to bottom. Bright stars at the top unobscured by dust which progressively alters towards the bottom of the image.

Thanks in advance for check the image out.

Ps. For those interested, there is now an annotated version of the Octans Nebulae available on the image page.

[John Hothersall]

That is a fantastic dust track with jet black areas to it. Just love the colour glow around the bright stars.

John.

[jase (Jason)]

Thanks John. Its quite an interesting target to process keeping the milkyway stars intact. I'm pleased you liked it.

[ballaratdragons (Ken)]

Jase, truly a stunning capture of a stunning area of sky.

Beautiful contrast. Well done mate

[jase (Jason)]

Cheers Ken. Good to hear from you. Thanks for checking out the image. Appreciate the feedback.

[Martin Pugh]

Very nicely composed Jase. Love the contrast in this.

You're pretty good at this mosaic work!

Martin

[Ross G]

A beautiful photo Jase.

Amazing detail and colours anf I love the tonal range and composition.

Thanks.

Ross.

[iceman (Mike)]

This is a beauty, Jase. I really love dark nebula images and this one is no exception.

This is now IOTW.

[iceman (Mike)]

This is a beauty, Jase. I really love dark nebula images and this one is no exception.

This is now IOTW.

[RickS (Rick)]

A stunning image, Jase!

I'm trying to process 5+ hours of LDN 673 at present and finding it quite challenging.

Cheers,
Rick.

[gregbradley]

That is a super image Jase. I think these mosaics are a great format.

Greg.

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

Yeh great shot Jase, cool choice of target.

Some lovely subtle bits here and there, quite majestic, nice work!

Mike

[Lester]

Wonderful view Jase, thanks.

[jase (Jason)]

Originally Posted by Martin Pugh

Very nicely composed Jase. Love the contrast in this.

You're pretty good at this mosaic work!

Martin

Cheers Martin! The composition appeared most logical to frame the object. It does provide an interesting perspective. Thanks for your comment.

Originally Posted by Ross G

A beautiful photo Jase.

Amazing detail and colours anf I love the tonal range and composition.

Thanks.

Ross.

Thanks Ross! I'm pleased with the final colours. At first I thought the panel differences were gradient related, not the transition to the richer parts of the dust shrouded Milkyway.

Originally Posted by iceman

This is a beauty, Jase. I really love dark nebula images and this one is no exception.

This is now IOTW.

Thank you kindly Mike. I am very much honored for this image to be selected as IOTW.

Originally Posted by RickS

A stunning image, Jase!

I'm trying to process 5+ hours of LDN 673 at present and finding it quite challenging.

Cheers,
Rick.

Cheers Rick! LDN673 is a cool target. Hope to see your result soon - take your time to work the data over to see what its capable of. Thanks for your feedback.

Originally Posted by gregbradley

That is a super image Jase. I think these mosaics are a great format.

Greg.

Thanks Greg! Its difficult to call two panels a mosaic these days so I'll use the term loosely. Thanks for checking the image out.

Originally Posted by strongmanmike

Yeh great shot Jase, cool choice of target.

Some lovely subtle bits here and there, quite majestic, nice work!

Mike

Cheers Mike! Pleased you liked it. Thanks for the feedback.

Originally Posted by Lester

Wonderful view Jase, thanks.

Thanks Lester. Appreciated.

====
Thanks all

[desler]

Stunning Jase, Stars are really are quite something, beautifully processed and presented image.


Darren

[Paul Haese]

Nice Jase. The golden hues mixed with the dark dust makes for a really nice looking image. Love the whispy detail.

[jjjnettie (Jeanette)]

I swooned as soon as I opened the image. Wow Jase.
You've done this one to a turn. Stunning!

[TheDecepticon]

A well deserving image of the week, great job!

[marco (Marco Lorenzi)]

Really well deserved IOT Jase, perfect image in any aspect

Cheers
Marco

[atalas]

Well deserved IOTW Jase! spectacularly presented in this two panel mosaic.