Gabriela Mistral in the kitchen

[Placidus]

We're posting two quite different versions of this nebula. The full frame tries to show the outer nebulosity which merges with the Eta Carinae nebula to the left of frame. Think of Gabriela Mistral in the kitchen, amid much steam and smoke, or in this case sulphur II. The original image is here. (http://www.mikeberthonjones.smugmug.com/Category/Star-Forming-Regions/i-Jsbm28d/0/O/NGC%203324.jpg). Field 36 min arc across, approx 0.55 sec arc/pixel.

The second version is a crop of the famous "face", far less pushed, so as to get a better sense of the incredibly sharp shock front in SII that forms the boundary to the OIII emission. The face and the smoke and steam are crossed by multiple fine braided dust lanes.

Note also the intriguing jagged blue "lightning flashes" seemingly emerging from the very bright star at 6 o'clock. (Think of the lightning emitted from the Emperor's fingertips as he attempted to mozzie-zap Luke Skywalker.) This feature is very real and consistent - we've photographed it before and seen it in others' work, yet I can't think of a single other instance of such a phenomenon elsewhere in the sky, or what mechanism (emperors aside) might produce it. Original version here. (http://www.mikeberthonjones.smugmug.com/Category/Star-Forming-Regions/i-fBpQ9fT/0/O/NGC%203324%20Crop%20small.jpg)

The three channels in both versions are stretched so that the overall image intensities of H-alpha (Green, 3x1hr), OIII (Blue, 3x1hr), and SII (Red, 2x1hr) are the same. We've reduced the resultant magenta in the stars, but not been too fussy about it. Taken under full moon through Astrodon 3nM filters.

Aspen CG16M on 20" PlaneWave on MI-750 fork.

Cheers,
Mike and Trish

[Rod771]

Very nice Mike and Trish! Love the detail in the crop version.

[SimmoW]

Ouch, I cut myself on that crop! Beautiful, team

[strongmanmike]

Ah, always like a good Gabriel, it's such a solid looking feature and at emission line wavelengths the sharp edge of her profile gives it the appearance of a cave or a pocket.

Nice work guys :)

Mike

[DJT]

Love the detail in the crop, MnT along with the shenanigans going on around the lower star. Great stuff.:thumbsup:

[rustigsmed]

nice work mike and trish i can smell the Arrollado de Chancho cooking away in that first pic!

cheers

rusty

[RickS]

Great result, M&T! So sharp you could cut yourself on it. The "flashes" are very cool, too.

Cheers,
Rick.

[alpal]

Hi Mike & Trish,
I love the well defined edge on the right hand side & there are plenty of details.
The blue colour is also very interesting.

cheers
Allan

[Placidus]

Thanks, Russell, perhaps the lightning flashes are where the bits of string on the arrolado caught fire.













Thanks muchly, Rod, Simon, Mike, David, Rick, Allan. Always loved this nebula, even from pre-photography days.

[Bassnut]

Lovely rich colour and detail on the crop, excellent Guys.

[Leonardo70]

Wonderful ... congrats !!

All the best,
Leo

[Placidus]

Cheers, Fred. :)



Thanks muchly, Leo. Pleased you like it.

[pmrid]

Thought those who have a sense of attachment to this nebula (as I do) would also enjoy this pano on YouTube. The blurb with it says:

"Panning across this star-forming region, dramatic dark towers of cool gas and dust are seen rising above a glowing wall of gas. The high-energy radiation blazing out from the hot, young stars in NGC 3324 is sculpting the wall of the nebula by slowly eroding it away.

This image is a composite of data taken with two of Hubble's science instruments. Data taken with the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) in 2006 isolated light emitted by hydrogen. More recent data, taken in 2008 with the Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2), isolated light emitted by sulfur and oxygen gas. To create a color composite, the data from the sulfur filter are represented by red, from the oxygen filter by blue, and from the hydrogen filter by green."

It shows a remarkable level of detail and it is impossible not to be won over by it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3wDQr8v2Bk

Peter

[multiweb]

Benchmark stuff. Great pic. Sharp as. :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

[Shiraz]

very attractive image - fine detail is excellent

[Placidus]

Thanks, Peter, we enjoyed the video very much. Photons per dollar, NASA's image is almost as good as some IIS images, but not quite.



Hi, Marc, glad you like it. We've twice tried adding more hours since then, but bad old clouds have come every time. Fixed two software bugs though.



Thanks Ray :)

Very best,
Mike n Trish

[Stevec35]

Very nice textbook Gabriela! I'm rapidly coming to the conclusion that it looks better in this palette.

Cheers

Steve

[Paul Haese]

The crop is certainly my favourite of the two. There is an element of 3D coming out in that image which luminosity showing up well from the processing. You could enhance this a little more by upping the red channel a bit more, then stretching a bit more and then finally using medium contrast to give that punch for a more 3D effect. Doing this will also enhance the fine dust lanes crossing in from too.

Overall though I find the crop quite pleasing to view.

[Ross G]

Great looking photos Mike.

So sharp and amazing detail.

Ross.

[Placidus]

Thanks Steve, delighted.



Hi, Paul,

We had a private go at following your suggestions. Wow! We're hoping for another clear night to get more SII so red doesn't go gritty when stretched. Then we'll have another post.



Thanks, Ross, we're encouraged.

Best,
Mike n Trish

[Andy01]

Steam in the Kitchen, I like that - very ethereal - sharp as a tack too! I'm not a big fan of the green tones but that's probably just me and my preference for a dynamic colour palatte. Looking forward to seeing the next version though, and I love the 3D effect, well done :)

[Placidus]

Thanks muchly Andy.