Ngc 6164-5

[Slawomir]

My bi-colour interpretation of NGC 6164-5.

Not entirely happy with it yet, I may go back right to raw lights and redo the whole thing.

21 hours of Ha and O3 (3nm Astrodons) and 4 inch doublet.

Full resolution: http://www.astrobin.com/full/195481/0/?real=&mod=

Thank you for looking.
Slawomir

[lazjen]

Hello fellow cult member. :) It's still a nice image even if you feel the need to go back and process again.

What process did you use for blending the data? I was thinking about having a go at this target sometime and noticed that it's essentially Ha+OIII, so that will require some form of channel mapping. Ha in Red, OIII in Green and Blue?

[Slawomir]

Ahoy comrade Chris,

Thank you for your encouragement. Yeah, not very happy at this stage with the result, but need to have a break from it and redo the image in a few days. Balancing colours is one of the things I need to change. In this version it is Ha for Red, about 30% Ha and 70% O3 for green and boosted O3 for blue.

I think I had versions with better ratios for this image but for some reason went with this one.

Looking forward to seeing your image of this nebula :)

[RickS]

Detail looks good and depth is great, Suavi. The outer shell is showing well. I agree the colour might benefit from a little tweaking. Have a play with the ColorMask script and CurvesTransformation (R/G/B curves or CIELAB a*, b* and L.) You might be able to get where you want without going back to scratch.

Cheers,
Rick.

[Slawomir]

i will certainly do that, thank you Rick.

[Slawomir]

Went crazy with colours...Bwa-ha-ha-haaaa!

http://www.astrobin.com/full/195481/B/

[Rex]

Wow looks really good Slawomir. Love that outer shell. I actually don't mind the colours you have ahieved here, but as we all know, personal choice is part of what makes this hobby so rewarding. Well done mate. I look forward to seeing ur finished product

[RickS]

Burn, baby burn!

[strongmanmike]

Both look great Slaw :thumbsup:

Mike

[Paul Haese]

I think I prefer the first image Slawomir. The OIII bubble is well shown and detail. I like the detail in the primary nebula too. Certainly a nice image.

[Slawomir]

Thank you gents for your feedback. Yes, I definitely prefer the first version; the second one was just for fun and I think I was going mental after spending most of my weekend on this project...

I will probably do a few revisions of this image before I get what I am after. I have been using Paul's and Rick's excellent images of this nebula as a guide and benchmark...

[rustigsmed]

very nice slawomir,

the OIII bubble really stands out nicely, you've nearly got the complete loop!

Cheers

[gregbradley]

Great work Slawomir.

I like the first better. The 2nd looks like a scene from a Sci Fi movie.

I am again amazed at the resolution you have achieved with the 4 inch doublet and 690. I would have sworn that sort of result was from a 180mm APO or a 12 inch RC type scope.

Greg.

[Slawomir]

Thank you Russell :)

I think there is lesser density of surrounding dust "above" the central star, therefore the bubble is significantly fainter in that region.



You made me laugh with reference to Sci Fi - I totally agree!

Thank you Greg for your encouragement - it means a lot to me.

Muchos Nachos
Slawomir

[Geoff45]

Really good Slawomir. The Oiii halo has come out very well and the detail in the main nebula is very sharp. I guess 21 hours really pays off.

As a total aside about the colour mapping I have a few suggestions you may want to think about if you want to get pseudo RGB. First think about what would happen with normal RGB. The main lines in general emission nebs are Ha, OIII and Hb. The R filter would record Ha, the green filter would record OIII and the blue filter would record a mixture of OIII and Hb. (OIII sits astride the overlap in the G and B filters, so goes into both channels).
So a reasonable map would be
Ha ->R
OIII -> G
Hb+ OIII-> B.
Now for the sneaky bit. Where does the Hb come from? Hb comes from the same regions as Ha, but at about 25-30% weaker. So if you have an Ha image you also have an Hb image. Just for fun try
Ha -> R
OIII -> G
OIII +20% Ha -> B. Edit should be 80%OIII+20%Ha

Experiment with the ratios in the B channel.
Geoff

[Slawomir]

A great suggestion, thank you Geoff. Will definitely try that tonight.

[Geoff45]

Doesn't always work, but it's worthwhile trying from time to time.
Geoff

[Bassnut]

whoa, thats exceptional, love the second version!. Bicolour worked well IMO.

[Slawomir]

Thankyou Fred, glad you like it :-)

Third attempt (a little closer to destination...): http://www.astrobin.com/full/195481/C/

Any suggestions and opinions will be highly appreciated and valued.

[strongmanmike]

They are all good Slaw, great detail and structure visible, in a narrowband shot like this any colour palette preferences are going to be just that and quite personal. Anyone who says one particular colour scheme is better than another, is,well... a little too judgmental IMHO, it's all 100% personal taste :)

Mike

[Slawomir]

Thank you Mike.

I am quite satisfied with this revision - colours are more harmonious than in the previous two. NGC 6164-5 has proven to be a somehow challenging object for me to process, but that perhaps is one of the best aspect of this hobby/passion/obsession - overcoming challenges :)

[jase]

The colour palette is growing on me Slawomir. Not a huge fan of bi-colour images but there have been a few of late that make me want to take another look. This is one of them. Pleasing details on display. Good stuff.

[IanP]

For me, too, the last version is the best :thumbsup:
What if you add a little bit of RGB to make the stars looking “natural”? In my opinion this photo would look then just sensational ……..:question:

[Slawomir]

Thank you Jason.

There is obviously still room for improvement and I may yet revise this data. But I am happy with the current result and must say thank you again to Rick for his recent PI workshop, that has given me a few new tools for data processing :)



Thank you Ian.

Yes....I would love to add some RGB, but need a better telescope to do that successfully, I think. My experiences with this telescope and RGB have not been very satisfying,;in the end it is a doublet only. I am sure there are ways around it though :)

[Placidus]

Hi, Slawomir,

In any colour scheme, the underlying image data is magnificent. Very deep, clean, and sharp. Top shelf.

I prefer the first colour scheme, where you (effectively) mapped H-alpha to orange and OIII to blue. Rich and warm.

Best,
Mike

[multiweb]

I reckon it's a top shot too. I like the colors also. Superb at high resolution. One for the pool room. :thumbsup:

[Slawomir]

Thank you Mike. This is my first image not taken from a balcony (have a tiny backyard now) and I can collect more data for my images and also from higher up in the sky, so I am really thrilled with new possibilities... :)



Thank you Marc. Last night I searched the web for images of NGC 6164-5 and I was pleasantly surprised when I saw APOD from 27 October 2012. I know mine is not nearly as good and sharp and not as skilfully processed, nevertheless, it gave me more confidence and encouragement to keep developing my skills, and to also keep spending more $$$ on astrogear...

[Slawomir]

Last minor changes and my final revision of this nebula in this season: http://www.astrobin.com/full/195481/E/

Time to start planning my next target...

[Andy01]

IMO I think you have done a remarkable job on what is IMO a bit of an unremarkable target.

You have brought depth and interest to the DSO and your various colour palattes are all very good. FWIW I prefer version B but that highly subjective of course.

You're really doing an amazing job with NB from the 'burbs and consistantly showing the way forward with what's possible in difficult conditions.

Well done Slawomir :)

Cheers
Andy

[Slawomir]

Thank you Andy and congratulations on you award :thumbsup:

[rogerg]

Wow, what a stunning object and stunning image of it! Unique. :thumbsup:

[sjastro]

Very fine image.

Steven

[Slawomir]

Just a quick update.

Ordered a 70x53cm print of Version E on aluminium from Print2Metal and it has arrived today- the photo looks great and I can't get my eyes off it :)

Thank you all for your encouragement and feedback.

[DJScotty]

Do you have a photo of your photo? :D

[Slawomir]

Sure :)

[DJScotty]

Very nice good sir