LOBSTER NEBULA from Wiruna

[Ross G]

Hello,

My last trip to a dark site was in August to the ASNSW site Wiruna at Ilford, NSW.

It was a beautiful night, cold and clear.

I photographed the Lobster Nebula, ngc6357.
This photo is a combination of 20min, 10min, 5min and 2min exposures totaling 30 frames and 260 minutes.


The photo is here http://smu.gs/14GGg7N

What do you think?

Thank you for looking.

Ross.




TELEVUE NP101, 101mm, F5.4 REFRACTOR
QHY8L OSC CCD
SKYWATCHER HEQ6PRO MOUNT
WO 66mm GUIDESCOPE
ORION STARSHOOT AUTOGUIDER

PHD for guiding
EZCAP for capture

DEEP SKY STACKER
PHOTOSHOP CS2
GOODLOOK by Mike Berthon-Jones

[Manav]

Breathtaking

[multiweb]

Really great color in there Ross. Super deep. :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

[Larryp]

Very nice!

[Rod771]

Very very nice Ross.

Colours are great!! :thumbsup:

Well done.

[RickS]

That's a vibrant Lobster! Nice work, Ross.

[Draco]

this is awesome. i can clearly make out the red lobster ;)

[tilbrook@rbe.ne]

Good work Ross!:thumbsup:

You have processed a lot into this image. A hell of a lot of dust and background nebulosity.

Cheers,

Justin.

[strongmanmike]

Red is for Lobster yuuuum :P

Great shot Ross, lots going on in there.

Mike

[Stevec35]

Nicely done Ross. I see a bit of colour noise in the largest version but nothing too significant. Everything else looks great.

Cheers

Steve

[Ross G]

Hi Yugent.

Thank you.

How are your astro plans going?



Hi Marc,

As always, I wasn't sure about the colour so thank you.



Thanks Laurie.

Glad you like it.



Thanks Rod. I do many, many versions trying to get the colour "right" and in the end I'm still not sure.




Glad you like the photo Rick.

Thank you.



Thanks Div.

The red colour does bring out the lobster shape.

[Ross G]

Hi Justin,

I'm glad you like the photo, thank you.

I was able to bring out a lot of the background nebulosity and dust using GOODLOOK, an experimental program by Mike Berthon-Jones of the ASNSW.



Hi Mike,

Thank you.

It's always good when you like my photo...means I've gotten it right!

I used Mike Berthon-Jones' GOODLOOK program for the first time and it brought out a lot of the faint dust and nebulosity.



Hi Steve,

Thank you, glad you like it.

I did have a big problem with hot pixels in this photo. Hundreds of blue dots all over the image. I tried removing these but did not do any further noise reduction. I might experiment further.

[cometcatcher]

I can actually see the lobster! Usually I can't see any of these animals. ;)

[Ross G]

Thanks Kevin.

I have problems with the "animals" as well.

I'm yet to make out the Running Chicken or the Prawn!

[Screwdriverone]

Wow Ross, that is spectacular!

Those QHY8L's sure do perform......I might have to put one on the shopping list me thinks.....

Very, very nice. You must be proud of that!

Cheers

Chris

[Ross G]

Hi Chris,

Glad you like it. Thank you for the kind comments.

The QHY8L seems to perform quite well for an OSC, especially with telescopes and lenses in the 600mm focal length range.

[naskies]

Very nice, Ross.

[jase]

One of my favourites Ross. You've nailed this one. Looks great. The dusty background goes well with emission nebulosity emphasising the interstellar reddening. Looking forward to see more.

[Ross G]

Glad you like it Dave.

Thank you.

[Ross G]

Hi Jason,

It took a lot of versions to get to this one and still I was not sure.

Your kind comments give me more confidence in my processing as colour is still such a difficult area for me.

Thank you.

[marco]

Nice one Ross :thumbsup::thumbsup:

Regards
Marco

[Ross G]

Thanks Marco,

So glad you like it.

Sorry for the late reply. I've just come back from five days at Coonabarabran.
I have just had some of the clearest, dew free nights I've ever experienced there.
Hopefully some nice photos to follow!

Ross.

[Elio]

Beautiful, the weather helps :)

[Ross G]

Thank you Elio.

The clear, cold night certainely made the photo.

[lazjen]

This is great - love the colour.

[gaa_ian]

That is certainly a Pin up shot ..... There is a lobster there alright !

[Ross G]

Thanks Chris.

It did take a lot of "versions" before I got the colour ok.



Kind comments....thank you Ian.

The Lobster does stand out!

[astronobob]

Magic, is one hot lookin' Lobster Ross, how good is that, can see some cooler areas aswell, which was prob due to letting it stand for 10mins before posting, eh, Lol, Just kiddin, fresh as I reckon :thumbsup:
Nice work, gotta be happy with that :thumbsup:

[Ross G]

Thanks Bob....only Lobster I've ever caught!