NGC 6357 - A Lobster in the City

[Andy01]

Hi everyone,

This NB image is a total of 22 hrs of NB data taken over four rare consecutive clear nights from my suburban Melbourne backyard.

This is imo a bizarre, alien looking strange & skeletal object, some would say Cthulhu like. In NB it presents more of the turbulent shockfronts than the more traditionally processed red RGB images. That being said, the lunar gradients present were from hell and very tricky to process, (boy oh boy I miss those dark skies!) and it took a long while to get the colour palette right, but hopefully this is finally done.

I think I like it, but it's by no means pretty :)

9 hrs Ha 900sec subs
7 Hrs S2 900 sec subs
6 Hrs O3 900sec subs bin x2

High Res here... http://www.astrobin.com/169902/

Comments, feedback welcome :)

Andy

[Geoff45]

Never seen this one in NB before. As you said Andy it looks weird but somehow it's really fascinating. Well done.
Geoff

[Andy01]

Thanks Geoff,
You have summed up my feelings exactly, glad (relieved?) that you liked it too, cheers - Andy

[Alchemy]

Can't say I've seen a narrowband either, I've done it myself in RGB and it didn't require me to revisit it, but having seen this.... It's on the list
Good stuff

[alistairsam]

Its like a Chemistry experiment gone wrong, an explosion of colour.
I do like it but I would've opted to tame the highlights a bit and smoothen the transitions as details are a bit lost for the amount of exposure, but that's a purely artistic thing and subject to taste.
well done Andy.

Cheers
Alistair

[SpaceNoob]

Really cool! Well worth the effort on this one.

[Paul Haese]

I like it, very similar to the one I did a year or so ago.

[gregbradley]

Fantastic Andy. Yet another very high quality narrowband image. I think you got the colour mix just right as well. Love the filamented structure.

Greg.

[Andy01]

Thanks mate, have a go & enjoy :)



Thanks Al, its a crazy, messy object alright :thumbsup:



Hey thanks, appreciate the feedback :)



You're right, I just visited your website again, hav'nt seen it for a year or so, lovely collection of exquisite crafted images there Paul. Gee but those dark skies of yours make a difference! :thumbsup:



Thanks Greg, appreciate the enthusiastic and positive feedback, cheers :)

[strongmanmike]

Lovely look to it when viewed at small size, the colours are quite grand (in a Chesterfield type way) and there is some good contrast at play. When I view it at large size though the spiderweb-honeycomb shapes in the nebulosity seem to suggest slightly heavy use of some shrinking/sharpening filter, the minimum filter in PS does this pretty easily..?

Overall though, a cool looking image Andy, you certainly have an artistic eye :thumbsup:

Mike

[multiweb]

That's very neat. Really like the color palette you've used and the details are sharp as. Very cool shot. :thumbsup:

[Amaranthus]

Spectacular and artistic Andy! It really does look like a crustacean.

[Placidus]

Hi, Andy,

I agree with others that you've captured the essential lobsterian character. Your forthright and unapologetic narrowband style is instantly recognizable and (though quite different to mine) very pleasing. Keep em coming!

[RickS]

Great colours, Andy. A very interesting take on this object.

[Andy01]

Hi Mike, many thanks for your comments and accurate insights, yes this was VERY difficult to process. My fault for wanting to bag a target early, without waiting for it to rise above the LP zone in my backyard. I used sooo many layers of sharpening, noise reduction, luminosity etc, then threw them all away and started over etc. rinse & repeat until finally stopping! Ultimatly I was happy with the colours, but not the stars - and maybe as you pointed out the sharpness is questionable too - but it's gas so if its too sharp then it looks unreal as well ... One day with the guidance of nice folks like your good selves I'll get the technical stuff sorted properly, but at least the aesthetics are coming together ok. Thanks for your input again, much appreciated:)



Thanks Marc, glad you liked it too, cheers :thumbsup:



Thanks Amaranthus, this one lives up to its name :)



Thanks Mike, i'm just a backyarder, and a relatively new kid on the block, learning each time from nice people like yourselves. If there's an identifiable style developing then that's a bonus and a sure sign that maybe I'm gaining in confidence thanks to your feedback.
Cheers :)



Thanks Rick, it's distinctive all right, thanks for your kind comments :thumbsup: