Carina Nebula in SHO - finally!

[pluto]

Finally after a solid month of cloudy nights in Sydney, and a couple of false starts due to unexpected cloud this weekend, I got to try out my new setup and make sure it's working before IISAC.

The new setup is:
Takahashi TSA-120 + SW EQ6 + SBIG STT-8300M + FW8G + AO-8T

Of course the AO isn't necessary at this FL but there's an RC in my near future and I figured it was easier to get it all at once ;)

I'm pretty happy with this considering it needs a lot more data and it was taken on the balcony at work in Rushcutters Bay next to Sydney CBD.

I haven't got a flattener for the Tak yet so the stars are a bit nasty in the corners but I can live with that for the time being. I'm just very happy that after a considerable investment in gear that it's all working well and capable of producing good results.

The imaging was done in CCDSoftv5, processing was DSS -> Startools -> PS -> LR
SII – 3x5min + 15x10min
Ha – 14x5min
OIII – 14x5min + 3x10min

The larger/better quality version can be found here:
http://hughsblog.wordpress.com/2014/04/21/ngc3372-in-hubble-palette/

Any critiques would be welcome :D

[RickS]

Looks great to me, Hugh! I like the pastel colouring and the detail is very good.

Interesting to compare. I'm working on this one too (who isn't?) but at a bit smaller image scale.

Cheers,
Rick.

[multiweb]

Truly superb! :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

[DavidNg]

Clearly one of the sharpest Carina I've seen. I love the colours too.
You don't mind if I ask what do you do in PS? I currently use PI and PS, not familiar with DSS and Startools though.

Regards
David

[cazza132]

Looks great! Love the colours and nice details too :thumbsup:

[Mighty_oz]

That is one Fantastic shot ! Love the placement and colours as well.
Thanks for posting.

[pluto]

Thanks Rick.
It can work at so many different scales, I look forward to seeing what you get :)


Thanks Marc!


Thanks David,
I process each filter image in Startools and then copy them into the channels of a single image in PS.
For this image I then added a levels adjustment layer and tweaked the levels of each channel to get a nice balance. Then I added a curves adjustment layer and just tweaked the red channel as there was a bit of a red "wash" over the image.
Then I added a brightness/contrast adj layer and got the whole image looking ok.
Then I made two brightness/contrast adj layers and painted masks so that they just affected certain areas - namely a little patch to increase contrast and reduce brightness around the keyhole area and another one to increase contrast in the area to the right of the keyhole.

Then I took it into LR where I tweaked the hue of the yellows/oranges, desaturated the pinks to reduce the dreaded SII star bloat, and finally did some noise reduction.

I'd be happy to send you my PSD if you think it'll help :)


Cheers Troy!

[pluto]

Thanks Marcus, glad you like it :)

[Octane]

Mate, that is superb. :)

H

[pluto]

Cheers H!

[Bassnut]

Excellent !, way out there colour wise. A ton of detail and interestingly you reveal much on the right (of ETA) of the V shaped gas cloud.

[alpal]

Hi Troy,
So much detail - that's fantastic.

I see an IOTW coming your way!

cheers
Allan

[scopemankit]

Wonderful image with great detail.

[pluto]

Thanks Fred.
Personally I've always preferred the structures around the keyhole area to the keyhole area itself.


The name's Hugh, but thanks anyway Allan! :D


Thanks Chris.

[alpal]

Sorry Chris,
I saw the post at Yesterday, 01:21 PM & got mixed up with the name
when you wrote Cheers Troy.


cheers
Allan

[Octane]

^ you mean, Hugh! :)

[alpal]

I still got it wrong.

Hugh signs off his posts as though it's his name
but he refers to the person he writes to.

Oh dear. :help:

[Octane]

Oh, but, usually, signs-offs are done like:

Thanks,
xyz

:)

H

[gvanhau]

Very nice.
You got very good quality data considering the short exposure times.

[pluto]

I have a bad habit of using the words "thanks" and "cheers" interchangeably, sorry for the confusion!
Also I see the forum as more like a conversation so I don't really feel the need to sign off every post... each to his own though :)

[pluto]

Thanks Geert.
I must admit I was a bit surprised at how good the data was considering the 80% moon and extreme light pollution, however I've done some pretty heavy noise reduction in both Startools and Lightroom to get it to this stage.

[strongmanmike]

Great Job Chris Troy Hugh, the colours work nicely and yes plenty of detail there, luckily narrowband cuts through even bad LP :thumbsup:

Mike Allan

[AG Hybrid]

A damn fine picture Hugh. Also, nice meeting you at IISAC2014.

[pluto]

Thanks Bill ;)


Cheers Adrian, it was great to meet you too :)