Large Magellanic Cloud

[Ryderscope]

My version of the LMC for this season.

Acquisition:
20 x RGB @ 300s
20 x Ha @ 900s
Darks, flats, bias

Hardware:
Canon EOS 200mm F2.8 prime lens
QSI 683 CCD
Piggy backed on my Skywatcher 900mm refractor
EQ8 mount
Guide camera = Lodestar x2

Software:
Sequence Generator Pro for image capture
Pixinsight 1.8 processing

Link to Astrobin image here. (http://astrob.in/full/221260/0/?real=&mod=None)


Comments and critique welcome.
R
Edit:
Link to v2 (http://astrob.in/full/221260/B/) with slight increase in blue saturation of stars

Link to v3 (http://astrob.in/full/221260/C/) with a slight backing off of the black point.

[topheart]

Excellent !!!

Epic view!

Thanks,
Tim

[Paul Haese]

That's a great field of view Rodney. Ha region are well shown too and with a subtle fusion into the image. Maybe the blue stars could be pushed a little more but a very nice image.

[Ryderscope]

Thanks for the feedback Tim and Paul.
I took Paul's suggestion and increased the blue saturation in the stars.
Created a star mask in Pixinsight and used the colour saturation tool to pump up the blue. I tried to not get too excited I hope but I shall let others be the judge.

Link to new version here. (http://astrob.in/full/221260/B/)
(Slightly higher resolution too).
R

[Placidus]

Very fine, Rodney. I second Paul's comments. The Ha + RGB worked really well. A subtle rendition.

Tiny bit milky as it is. You can safely increase the contrast without any data loss by carefully clipping the black point.

[Ryderscope]

Thanks MnT and agreed. I have been a little critical of my processing of late in making the background too dark so have been holding off a bit.

Here is v3 (http://astrob.in/full/221260/C/) with a smidgen of black point moved across.

[Placidus]

We definitely prefer V3.

Cheers, MnT

[Paul Haese]

Yeah I like V3 too.

[RickS]

Final version is a winner, Rodney!

[strongmanmike]

Version 3 is pretty good Rod, nice development. The field of view alows just enough in to appreciate the identity of it as a galaxy and love the HII regions, really makes an image of the LMC shine I recon (pardon the pun :D).

Perhaps a tad grey and red looking :confuse3: so be nice to see a little more colour variance but none the less, a great view, cheers :thumbsup:

Mike

[Ryderscope]

Thanks everyone for the feedback on this one. The processing suggestions worked well. Sometimes we need some extra eyeballs to peer over the image.
R