OC M46 and PN NGC 2438 in Puppis - 31st March 2013

[Screwdriverone]

Hi All,

Well, another clearish night last night, allowed me to capture a reasonable 55 mins of another planetary nebula in Puppis, this time, NGC 2438 which lies superimposed onto the open cluster M46.

Clouds ruined my fun about 11pm, so I played around with the Atik as a guidecamera and tried to train the mount using the ST4 cable in PHD through sucker holes, which didnt last too long, but it passed the time :)

Not as complex a structure as my previous NGC2440 also in Puppis, however, I tried using Nebulosity for stacking and some processing, prior to stretching in PS CS3 and some gradient removal of a large dust bunny in Startools, which I removed, prior to the clouds. I think the star profiles are better as a result so I might keep at Nebulosity if it performs better. There is a bit of noise gradients from the moon and the skyglow which are still there, but I didn't want to get too harsh on it. I may just have to shake out all the cobwebs prior to IISAC to get everything ready for some (hopefully) inky black and cloud free skies (touch wood)

Here it is then, a larger uncompressed PNG version (6.6 Mb) is here (https://www.dropbox.com/s/ct8glktbyb4sqhk/NGC2438%20neb%20stacked%20ST.png) if you fancy a nicer look.

Thanks for stopping by,

Cheers

Chris

[Larryp]

Nice result, Chris!

[Ross G]

Another great looking capture Chris.

You're making the most of any clear weather that has come our way.

Ross.

[Screwdriverone]

Thanks Laurie and Ross.

Yes, I am contemplating a last shake down tonight before IISAC next week, a few clouds hovering, but I might get out there just coz I can.

Thanks for the comments :D

Cheers

Chris

[LewisM]

I am dubbing it the Angry Bird Planetary Nebula :) Look at the eyes and beak :)

Fiddled with it a little - better or worse not sure. Seems there is some nebulous cloud lower left too, as it is affecting star colour and "fogging" just a little. A blueish tinge now, and MAY be a skyglow cast, but don't think so.

[multiweb]

Somebody's getting clear skies. Great shot. Very sharp details and beautiful colors. :thumbsup:

[Screwdriverone]

Hmmm, not sure you aren't just playing with some LP gradients there Lewis. The direction I took this has some pretty awful skyglow, so with the CLS filter, there may be some residual junk still in there?



Thanks Marc, I am like a kid the night before Christmas waiting for IISAC, hoping (touch wood) that the skies are clear for all three nights so I can go nutso on all these lovely targets. Definitely need to take an external HDD along with me I think.

Cheers

Chris