M33 HaLRGB in three parts

[RickS]

M33 being the Triangulum galaxy it's appropriate that this image was created from three sets of data for a total of 36 hours (details below.)

Processed in PixInsight, as usual. Larger version on Astrobin: http://www.astrobin.com/217860/B/

Hope you enjoy it. Constructive criticism is appreciated.

Cheers,
Rick.

SRO Jan 2015...
Scope: FSQ-106ED
Mount: Paramount ME/AP900
Camera: QSI683
Filters: Astrodon Gen II LRGB
Guiding: QSI OAG + Lodestar
Image scale: 2.094 arcsec/pixel
Exposures: 17x900s L, 9x900s R, 11x900s G, 13x900s B

DSW Sep 2015...
Scope: FSQ-106ED
Mount: Paramount MyT
Camera: QSI683
Filters: Astrodon Gen II LRGB
Guiding: QSI OAG + Lodestar
Image scale: 2.094 arcsec/pixel
Exposures: 16x900s L, 18x900s R, 15x900s G, 13x900s B

SRO Sep 2015...
Scope: Ceravolo C300 @ f/4.9 = 1470mm FL
Mount: AP1100
Camera: FLI PL16803
Focuser: Atlas
Filters: Astrodon
Guiding: Lodestar II / Tak FS-60Q guide scope
Image scale: 1.26 arcsec/pixel
Exposures: 16x1800s Ha

Acquisition credit for Ha data: John Kasianowicz, Daniele Malleo, Leonardo Orazi, Rob Pfile, Rick Stevenson and Jerry Yesavage.

[Paul Haese]

A highly detailed image Rick with good colour saturation. Maybe the Ha is a little too much for me but it shows the Ha regions well. It must be a tough object to process.

[troypiggo]

Wow. Fantastic. Big, bold and beautiful.

[Placidus]

I like the red H-alpha rings. Reminds me of similar structures in Barnard's Galaxy. Also, the dust lanes near the core are beautifully done.

Amazed at how much detail you've ended up with given that much of the data was acquired at 2 arcsec/pixel, which for us would be 4x4 binned. Perhaps we have something to learn. Did you use drizzling?

Great shot.

[codemonkey]

That's a cracker, Rick, definitely one of the best I've seen of M33. Nice work!

[gregbradley]

A fantastic image.

My only reservation is the very first impression I got viewing the image at a smaller size was those dark dust small areas were too emphasised and looked unnatural.

The data you get from that site is stunningly good.

Greg.

[RickS]

Thanks, Paul. It's not the most attractive galaxy (IMHO, at least) and I found it quite a challenge to present it attractively. Still not 100% happy with the processing and I'll probably tinker some more.



Thanks, Troy.



Thanks very much, M&T! Yes, I used drizzle and also weighted the Lum integration using a formula that rewarded FWHM and star roundness as well as SNR. The data from SRO was very good and takes drizzle really well at that image scale. Seeing less than 1 arcsec really does make a difference!



Thanks, Lee.



Ta, Greg. I try to make my images look good at full res which doesn't always translate well to smaller versions, but I may be guilty of pushing the dust lanes too far :) It's unfortunate that Astrobin doesn't preserve ICC Profiles. You're probably not seeing the image quite as I intended. Maybe I should start using Flickr links instead...

Cheers,
Rick.

[Ryderscope]

Looks great on my 21" monitor. The Ha regions certainly pop out. I particularly like the interesting 'hollow looking round bits' (technical term) at upper right hand side of the galaxy.
R

[strongmanmike]

Wow, looki that, what a galaxy. Great hybrid image.

Love the highlighting of the HII regions too, there are so many, very dramatic presentation, feels like I am looking down on Dresden in WWII or something.

Nice work amigo :thumbsup:

Mike

[Slawomir]

Wonderful image Rick, I looked very carefully I could not see anything wrong with it, wait a second....maybe just those few green stars in the middle? ;)

But really, colours look "natural" and echoing others - Ha regions look great and are a highlight for me in this image :thumbsup:

[ozstronomer]

Beautiful image Rick, Looks good to me

The Ha adds that little extra.

Agree with Placidus, the Ha rings are an interesting element. Do you know, are the rings some sort of Shock wave?

Cheers Geoff

[RickS]

Thanks, Rodney. There are some nice looking Ha bubbles. I saw similar structures in the SMC, usually with a star cluster and strong Oiii emission in the centre. I should see if I can convince my colleagues to do some long Oiii subs on M33.



Thanks, Mikey! I thought you'd like the magenta and I was going for a dramatic look. M33 looks so messy I had to try something :D



Thanks, Suavi! I did notice the greenish stars but they are actually yellow and blue according to CIE L*c*h :) I'm sure the image can be improved and when I figure out how to do it I will deal with those miscreant stars.



Thanks, Geoff. Some of the Hii regions are similar to the ones in our own galaxy (e.g. the Orion Nebula) and appear to be created by a cluster of stars. The most obvious one in M33 is more than 40 times bigger than M42 and 3600 times more luminous:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGC_604

Cheers,
Rick.

[Shiraz]

big bold and beautiful image Rick - great detail and colour:thumbsup:.

[RickS]

Thanks, Ray!

[LewisM]

Call me an opthalmologist someone polease - I can't SEE my phone because my eyes popped out of their sockets! :eyepop:

That's kinda good Ricky Ricardo!

[topheart]

Beautiful M33!
Eye catching.
Thanks!

Tim

[RickS]

Thanks, Lewis :lol:



And thanks, Tim!

[Paul Haese]

Went and checked out the absolute maximum resolution on this image. Some of those nebulae have some interesting shapes. There is one about 7 o'clock and that has a really interesting looking shapes. The one at 5 o'clock is also very interesting too. It's very curious how so many of these are shaped in arcs and bubbles.

[RickS]

Yes, there are some very cool looking structures in there, Paul.

I think a lot of the bubbles are carved out by small clusters of super bright stars like we see in some of the nebulae in the Milky Way.

I have some higher res data on M33 on the way so I hope to improve significantly on the resolution of this image soon.

Cheers,
Rick.

[RobF]

Wowser. Was away last week and missed this one Rick. Fantastic smorgasbord of data wonderfully processed. The galaxy looks amazing, stars tight and colourful as always.

I really enjoyed checking out those Ha bubbles though - you've clear definition on some I can only dimly start to make out in my AF data. Very nicely done.

[RickS]

Thanks, Rob!