Nebulae NGC2014 and NGC2020 in NB 72hrs.

[Bassnut]

Hi Guys

Nebulae NGC2014 and NGC2020 in Colour Mapped Narrowband.

Click here for Big. (http://fredsastro.smugmug.com/Photography/Astrophotography-1/i-WzDpXzQ/A)

NGC2020 is to the left. In contrast to NGC 2014, the bluish hue is the work of one single, massive, unstable star called a Wolf-Rayet star.

Taken on an RCOS 10" RC Scope at f9, SBIG STXL6303E Camera and PME mount at itelescopes Siding Spring Observatory in very dark skies.
Processed with CCDstack, Star Tools and Photoshop.
All filters 3nm 40min subs total 72hrs exposure time.

Not usually imaged in full NB, Ha RGB is more common, and probably smarter, SII was a bit difficult.

[Placidus]

Fred, just stunning. Joyous. Very sharp. Exceedingly so when you take into account that this is very high magnification.

Good to know that the "blue coffee cup" is a WR nebula. Had wondered about that. Beautiful colour.

You've got some very subtle OIII across the middle of the "brain coral" section, and have framed it rather better than we did in our version.

Top drawer.

[Bassnut]

gee, thanks Mike!. Yes it is cropped a bit. Its a bit of a cock up in that Ha RGB was probably more suitable, as others have done. That OIII across the middle came out a bit purple but I couldnt fix it.

[Placidus]

... also, despite your protests, the [SII] is very clear and clean in the "brain coral" section. Well done.

Of interest is that there is almost (but not quite) no [SII] in the WR nebula, despite the high excitation state.

Hershel's Ring does show some [SII] though it is weak. Thor's Helmet shows some [SII] but is stronger in [NII], and importantly, it is much further out, and therefore possibly pre-existing material.

I would love to have a tame astrophysicist explain why there isn't any. Gas too dense for the forbidden transition, as the required excited state destroyed by thermal collisions? Area cleaned of old stuff by predominantly fresh young vital hydrogen and helium from the outer atmosphere of the WR star? Both of these? Or, as Ellery Queen would say, someone else entirely?

[Bassnut]

Oh dear, your far to observant Mike. Some SII was in the WR, but due to artistic licence (a fundamental birthright IMO) I deleted most of it, it was messy and unattractive. Sorry:scared3:

[Bassnut]

Here is NGC2020 with not reduced SII. Without the usual over processing.

[Shiraz]

has to be one of the most interesting regions in the sky - beautiful restrained and convincing rendition.

[Placidus]

All is explained! We shall sleep safe and sound.

[RickS]

Very funky, Fred. A lot more interesting than another HaRGB job :thumbsup:

[DJT]

Snort..that comment really did make me laugh out loud.

A really cool image, colour mapping worked well, like the NB. :thumbsup:

[alpal]

Nice work Fred,
the LMC is full of treasures.

cheers
Allan

[suma126]

great work bassnut :thumbsup:

[Andy01]

... and that's why you're still the reigning king of NB. Congratulations Fred, you continue to inspire and motivate the rest of us to lift our game.

That's a really pretty rendition of one the most interesting treasures of the LMC. Is it just me or is the hotspot in the centre of the butterfly's wing maybe a bit too bright? Seems to lead my eye away from the focal point of NGC 2020.

72 hours, wow - I have no idea how many subs that is but that's a great detailed image. Well done again :)

[gregbradley]

Fantastic work Fred. I imaged this one last year but not enough exposure and it was very noisy. I thought it was one of the most interesting objects in the LMC.

Great framing. 72 hours - wow. Lucky you are not using a 16803 the file sizes would have been overwhelming.

Greg.

[marc4darkskies]

The stars in the top left bother me Fred but, overall, an excellent image (colour, composition, depth)! Very nicely done!

Cheers, Marcus

[strongmanmike]

Another intriguing close up Fred, the contrasting structure in the two nebs is quite striking. Not sure about the green background, might look better if you played with that but a cool view :thumbsup:

Mike

[Paul Haese]

One of my favourite objects in NB. Like you I did the full NB image and found the SII a tough bandwidth.

Your colour scheme is similar to mine and I think that fits nicely. A nice image and quite smooth as you would expect for 72 hours.

Its on my list to image both these with the RC12 next year.

[Bassnut]

Thanks Rick, I like HaRGB on this.



Thanks David, its rare other than Hubble pallete looks better.



Cheers Alan. yes, ive gotten lots of nuggets out of the LMC. The longer the FL the more completely different and seperate objects there are to image. if that makes sense.



Thanks Shane, glad you liked it.



Thanks Andy. Yes, the centre is a bit blown, that whole central is quite bright, shadows and highlight tool was used a lot to get detail out. I considered recurving the centre from scratch but didnt. Lots of subs, but its no more work for me. CCD stack does have a bit of trouble sometimes, but it automatic.



Cheers Greg. Ive wondered how CCD stack would go with say a 100 off bin1 16803 files, sounds like a lot of RAM too. I cropped to get that frameing so it was easy. A 16803 chip wouldnt suit me, id have to crop like mad all the time, a bit of a waste.



Thanks Marcus. I think Ive got tilt top left, but the rigs too far away to have a fiddle and its been so reliable for the last 2 years I dont want to disturb it and cause lots of other havoc.



Thanks Mike. The green is of course Ha, and what OIII and SII their was, was so noisy out there I took them out, so only green was left. I could have coloured it white I suppose, just thought of that now. mm sounds a bit extreme though.



Thanks Paul. I sometimes wonder if its worth doing twice as much bin2 SII than Ha when its dim like this ,just to get a good colour balance (albiet at the expense of less Ha exposure time and more noise)

[NOMH]

Interesting object for sure, I've never heard of it before. Looks like a difficult target and dim too. I like the framing and the overall color.

JB

[Ross G]

A great looking closeup photo Fred.

Sharp with beautiful detail.

Nice composition too.

Ross.