Statue of Liberty Nebula

[alpal]

I managed to get 1.75 hours of data last night. Ha LRGB
NGC 3603 & NGC 3576 with my QHY9 mono & 8" f6 Newt.
I used a 20 minute subframe of Ha for a large part of the Luminance.
larger version here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/24719437@N03/16888794941/

Comments welcome.
I might re-process it.

cheers
Allan

[alpal]

I did another version - cropped with luminance & Ha mixed 50%.
Is this better?

Larger version here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/24719437@N03/16704639240/

[alpal]

The 20 minute subframe in Ha binned 2x2 with the QHY9 mono.
It did not need to be stretched in FITS Liberator -
just a slight tweak in Photoshop -
it's great when you do these long narrow band frames &
get good looking data straight off the camera.

cheers
Allan

[rustigsmed]

hi Al,

good to see you imaging again.

you did a quick repro but not as quick as my one from the w'end!

I like the reprocess better more colour variation - is some of the stars look a bit wonky? maybe some subs hit by wind? could be worth weeding out the subs that caused it.

but good work - finally a clear night in Melbourne!

cheers

rusty

[LewisM]

H-a looks nice by itself, but to be honest, the colour versions appear odd and gradienty (new word :) )

Good start though

[alpal]

Hi Russell,
Yes - I saw your repro NGC 3324 - much better.
It was great to have a moonless clear Saturday night in Melbourne.
The FWHM was below 3 arc seconds for all sub-frames.

I'll have to do a slower re-process & try not to damage those stars.
Some of my stacks in Luminance didn't quite line up so I had to use
warp to force them - maybe I wasn't accurate enough?

cheers
Allan

[alpal]

Hi Lewis,
Yes - I had to work hard on gradients -
can't help but get them from a light polluted suburb in Melbourne.

cheers
Allan

[alpal]

I couldn't help myself - another re-process.
This time I made registered stacks & they did align properly
so the stars are better & I changed the colour scheme.
Is this better?

Larger version here:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/24719437@N03/16282721684/

cheers
Allan

[alpal]

What about an LRGB version?

50% of the Ha was added to Red. It's now an LRGB picture.
The result gives nice coloured stars but the stars are very large & overpower the picture - a bit.
Does anyone like this better?

cheers
Allan

[Ross G]

Nice photo Allan, especially with such little exposure and added pollution.

Great composition.

I think your original photo is the better one.

Good luck with it.

Ross.

[alpal]

Thanks Ross,
I wish I could have got more time but a power supply problem -
a bad cigarette lighter connector - cost me 2 hours of imaging.
Still it's fun to try different processing.

cheers
Allan

[Paul Haese]

I think I prefer the second version and maybe the third one.

[alpal]

Really Paul.
I go nuts trying to process images.
There are an infinite number of variations.

cheers
Allan

[Paul Haese]

Allan, don't rush it. Process for a bit and then get up and walk away. Do this several times before you make your final decision. It should be a pleasurable experience. It took be some time to learn this myself, but now this is the most pleasurable part of imaging for me. :)

[alpal]

Hi Paul,
but nebulas are difficult.
How do you decide between Ha as part of luminance with the nice tiny stars
& an RGB version with big bright colorful stars?
I also like playing with selective colour to bring out more colour detail
& boosting colour in LAB mode.
The problem is - when is it too much?

cheers
Allan

[Paul Haese]

Ah the eternal question. The answer is all up to you. Rob Gendler has some helpful tips on his site for combining Ha to RGB. I find Ha blended with Luminance helps a lot. I did exactly that when I imaged this same object a few years back. You can find it in my gallery to see the result. You can make a false luminance by combining all the colour data too if you don't have a genuine luminance.

[alpal]

Yes Paul,
I like your version here:
http://paulhaese.net/NGC3576.html

You've gone deeper from your dark skies.
When I get my 10" f4 mirror - I hope to be doing a lot better.

cheers
Allan