A New Swan

[strongmanmike]

This is another hybrid image composed using two separate data sets from two different cameras - one wide field (16803) the other narrow field (H694) and in HaOIIIRGB. Same scope and mount but different quality sky conditions. The full field was collected in light polluted Newcastle with crap seeing while the Swan detail was collected in Canberra with much better seeing and a dark sky.

Strong colour I know and there's some lipstick again :scared3:...but meah that's hydrogen for you :P , guess I love colour (and lipstick) :lol: :)

A New Swan (http://www.pbase.com/strongmanmike2002/image/158972601/original)

Mike

[marc4darkskies]

Love it Mike! Eeeeeeeeeeeeeexcellent! :thumbsup::) Colour good - nicely nuanced, good saturation and good detail (for a woosy scaled down version that is ;))

Cheers, Marcus

[h0ughy]

looks more like a duck on a algae bloom pond - nice one

[RickS]

Very colourful despite the preponderance of red/magenta. Nicely balanced, Mike!

Cheers,
Rick.

[strongmanmike]

Cheers Marcus, Dave and Rick...Over recent years I have amassed a number of duplicate images of several objects, taken with different imaging systems with different fields of view, so it is fun combining them to get the best of each system in the one image :)

Mike

[AstroJason]

That is just awesome Mike, love the colour and the detail in the Swan. Looking forward to your other future "imaging system combos"! Top stuff!

[SimmoW]

Nice colours Mike, yes well balanced, and looks really good considering the LP.

[Ross G]

Great looking photo Mike.

Sharp detail and I love the colours.

Inspiration for me to try some more combining of old and new data and also attempt to re-process old data.

Ross.

[Stevec35]

Very clear and sharp Mike. To me it's seems just a bit too uniformly magenta though. Having said that, correct colour balance isn't my strong point so I could be talking total rubbish.

Cheers

Steve

[strongmanmike]

Cheers boys thanks for checking her out :thumbsup:

Steve, this image was composed with a relatively small amount of RGB enhanced with Ha and OIII, it is therefore probably best described as more of a simulation if you like, of an LRGB and processed to closely match what an LRGB should look like....so, you may well be right but hopefully at least the essence of the image is reasonably accurate and remember these nebs are indeed meant to be magenta (mostly red Ha + some blue Hb) in most cases...unless plenty of dust is in the road of course then they look deeper red/orange (http://www.pbase.com/strongmanmike2002/image/156586669/original)...that's the theory anyway :)

Mike

[Bassnut]

mmmmm

[strongmanmike]

....thanks for the detailed reply? ;)

[Leonardo70]

Very nice Mike. I hope one day to image this object. So hard from my location.

All the best,
Leo

[Rod771]

Nice combo Mike, lovely detail in the swan!

I think you've found a great way to sustain your enthusiasm for the hobby.:) Or.... :question: your addicted to processing in which case this type of thing is probably bad for your health. :P

I'll go with sustained enthusiasm.:thumbsup:

[strongmanmike]

I'm sure you will manage it and do a fabulous job too :)



Yep! I recon you're right :thumbsup:

Way I see it, if there's stuff to play with and data to combine...why not :) I love creating new works, it is art for me, where an artist might have a room with trestles and easels, canvases in different stages of completion, some that are being painted over, along with weird and wonderful pieces as well as some really great pieces, all over the place :painting:...that is how I view my hard drive :D I am not a perfectionist, the beauty of an image is not in the brand or cost of the equipment that took it and how perfectly it points, nor is it in how little noise there is or whether it was 1000hrs of exposure or not but rather how the image works as a whole, the colours, the framing so many things, not the least of which is the subject and what it actually is, too often the quest for processing perfection overlooks what it is we have actually captured...and lastly image capture and processing should be fun, lots of fun :thumbsup: when it stops being fun and becomes a competition or a way of identifying yourself as great...well, I recon it's gone too far.

Mike

[John K]

I really like it Mike - strong red colours in Nebulas work a treat!

Cannot wait this year to have a go at this object.

...ok, back to Jupiter now!

[strongmanmike]

Cheers John, no need to be scared of colour...I try hard to convert people :P

Kinda one of those must do objects, huh?

oh goody yes pleeease, I'm backin ya :D

[atalas]

Looks awesome Mike...extremely attractive colour too!

[strongmanmike]

Cheers Louie, happy you think so...you see, I am not that strong anymore so I have to make up for it in the colours of my astrophotos :P

Mike

[Geoff45]

mmmmm... Looks like too much red at first sight, but it kinda grows on you the more you look at it. The star colours are nicely balanced and that says to me that colour in the nebulosity is about right. The detail in the nebulosity is very good. Well done yet again.
Geoff

[cometcatcher]

That's really an awesome pic Mike, with all the background nebula around M17.

How are you getting such a wide field (1.8 x 1.8 deg) of view from that 12"? Is that CCD one of those big 50 x 50mm ones? Still, that's a huge light cone for a 12 inch scope. Does it have much vignetting with that field?

[strongmanmike]

Thanks Geoff, yeah, bit like mould huh? :question: :lol:

Nah, actually, looking at images for while will often affect first impressions, so... I'm glad you stared for long enough to be softened a little :P



Thanks a lot Kevin :thumbsup:



Not quite, it is the 16803 chip which is 37mm X 37mm so at 1120mm FL it is a big field :thumbsup:

Mike

[alpal]

Nice pic Mike,
I wish you'd put that 694 away & use the large format more.
The pic is a bit too bright in red for me but that's to your taste.

cheers
Allan

[strongmanmike]

Ahhh yes, been thinking this as well...I don't have OAG available for the big ProLine and I have become so used to the lack of differential flexure with the current SX OAG system, not to mention the 2X better resolution due to the smaller pixels of the 694....

It will happen though...at some stage :)

Oh well Al, those pesky photons from excited electrons of Ha/Hb emission will make'emselves Magenta/Red when they dance :rolleyes: :shrug: :lol:

Mike

[SkyViking]

A great swan indeed Mike, nice to see your combinations of old and new data. And yes this area is predominantly magenta due to H alpha+beta emission, thanks for establishing that :)

I'm also currently revisiting a subject from last year with some new added data (same FOV though). This image processing can be addictive!

[strongmanmike]

[QUOTE=SkyViking;1153956]A great swan indeed Mike, nice to see your combinations of old and new data. And yes this area is predominantly magenta due to H alpha+beta emission, thanks for establishing that :)[QUOTE/]

Thanks Rolfy :thumbsup:



...?..:scared3: ...Centaurus A? :scared2: :scared:

addictive :shrug:...what do you mean you curved, leveled, DDP mask you :rolleyes:

[SkyViking]

No need to panic Mike :) It's not CenA because that was back in 2013 - time flies! :scared2:

[strongmanmike]

Ok...:question:...those dusty pillars near Orion...? :)

[alpal]

Hi Mike,
I hope you can get the OAG working with the larger format system.
Using drizzle & dithering you should be able to recover some resolution
as you would be undersampling a bit although the seeing is everything.

cheers
Allan

[strongmanmike]

Yeah too true but I've seen a distinct improvement in resolution between using the 4.5 micon pixel H694 with OAG on the AG12 compared to the 9 micron pixel 16803 using piggyback guiding...having said that, I am sure getting OAG working with the 16803 would claw some of that advantage back.

Mike