The Phoenix rises

[Andy01]

NGC 2327 - aka The Seagull Nebula - Ha O3 S2 RGB

I've added heaps more data to the previous version of this shot.

Total is now around 13 hrs.

14 x 1200 subs 5nm Ha Binx1
17 x 900 subs O3 5nm Binx2
16 x 900 subs S2 5nm Binx2

RGB stars 5x120 sec each RG&B

Tried Alpal's method of star removal - worked alright but still needed to clone out haloes etc. To minimize that I've blended in the Ha stars with the new RGB stars for best effect.

High Res here - http://www.astrobin.com/full/144833/E/

As always, constructive comments and helpful suggestions and improvements most welcome, thanks for looking :)

[multiweb]

Wow! That's really very nicely done, Andy. :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup: That's on my todo list. I wish it wasn't so low though.
PS: ignore my rambling. I thought it was the California nebula :)

[Placidus]

Andy, superbly done. You've pretty much gotten on top of whatever it was that was causing the mysterious "broad watercolour brush" effect, and you're showing good subtle detail for example in the "feathers" under the wings, and in that beautiful OIII bubble at bottom right.

You've taken enough SII to get a good clean image.

Your stars have worked out very nicely. I'm somewhat of the view that in a narrowband image, the star colours are irrelevant, and for artistic reasons it is perfectly legitimate to just desaturate the stars to white.

I statistically measured the contribution of OIII in your image. Possibly you could make the OIII a little stronger. There's plenty of it, but perhaps you've played it down.

Interesting to compare your shot with one by J Mattei (http://www.astrobin.com/79521/). Both are very good.

Best,
Mike

[Andy01]

Thanks Marc, appreciate the comment - sadly I cannot fit the california nebula in my FOV and I'm not brave enough yet to attempt a mosaic!



Wow thanks Mike - yes, I've been listening and learning from all the input here thus far on the AP journey. Good tip about the O3. It very feint though, even when binx2.

I hadn't seen J Mattels' image before - his is remarkably similar with a camera with the same chip and FOV as mine. The colour choices have been interpreted differently in the two images, and his has even less O3 data yet the blue is stronger - interesting!

Thanks again for your input, much appreciated. :thumbsup:

Cheers
Andy

[RickS]

Colours are nice, Andy, and the noise level is reasonable for narrowband. Some of the stars have slightly funky shapes. Not sure if that is a result of the star removal?

Cheers,
Rick.

[Bassnut]

Excellent Andy, top colour and processing generally. You could get away with a bit more selective sharpening on highlights I think. Sorry, hate the watermark, distracting.

[Rod771]

Love the colours Andy! Nice work. :thumbsup:

[smader]

Great shot! :thumbsup:

Love the bowshock, lower RHC... Your image confims to me there are no obvious Herbig-Haro objects with strong [SII] in this area with your resolution... I looked with the Mt Stromlo 40inch telescope years back with little success, but I did find more HH objects in other parts of NGC2327...

[multiweb]

Very easy to do mate. I posted a couple of old vimeo video tuts I had on my hard drive on the beginners forums here (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=132211)and here (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=132218).

[Andy01]

Thanks Rick - I played with the "Heal" function in Startools - maybe my mask wasn't set correctly? Will revisit...



Thanks Fred, will try your suggestion, cheers :thumbsup:



Thanks mate, appreciate your comments :)



Cheers smader, live & learn - now I know what a HH object is, cheers :thumbsup:



Cheers Marc, will certainly have a look at your as slowly I'm moving ahead in baby steps... ;)

[Paul Haese]

I have looked at this image a few times of the last few weeks. I like the composition a lot and think that works quite well. I sort of like the colour palette but would like to see some more red in the mix. The yellow and blue are quite striking as a palette but I don't think it is really reflective of the actual composition of the nebula. There is quite a good 3D look to the image and I like the whisps of thin gas along the underside of the wing on the right side. It is an incredible looking target non the less. The extra data has helped to quell the noise and now there is quite nice smooth look. Well done.

[Stevec35]

Very nice Andy

Cheers

Steve

[ralph1]

Wow! It really looks like a seagull. Now all we need is a mosaic of the whole thing:P

[Andy01]

Thankyou for your insights and comments Paul - I appreciate your feedback and acknowledge that with your kind help and input my imaging has improved measurably, and the journey continues, cheers :)

:thumbsup:

Thanks mate



Thanks Ralph, er - that mosaic won't be happening anytime soon I'm afraid - still lots more to learn!

Cheers
Andy