IC1396 - the Elephant's Trunk

[RickS]

The Elephant's Trunk is a star forming area with interstellar gas and dust being twisted and formed by hot young stars and protostars. This is a Hubble Palette (roughly) image created from data captured at DSQ in New Mexico.

Scope: FSQ-106ED
Mount: Paramount MyT
Camera: QSI683
Filters: Astrodon Gen II LRGB, 5nm Ha
Guiding: QSI OAG + Lodestar
Image scale: 2.094 arcsec/pixel (drizzled to 1.5x approx)
Exposures: 16x1800s Ha, 16x1800s Oiii, 18x1800s Sii (25 hours)
Processing: PixInsight 1.8

High res versions available on Astrobin: http://www.astrobin.com/full/231580/0/

Cheers,
Rick.

[rmuhlack]

Sensational !

[RickS]

Thanks, Richard! I think I'm getting the hang of this narrowband colour thing though some may disagree :)

[Slawomir]

Another great image Rick - processing is subtle and reveals details without damaging real data, colours are pleasantly balanced. Top stuff :thumbsup:

Just need to ask- did you add spikes to stars for an extra effect? ;)

[Stevec35]

That's a keeper Rick. Lovely image!

Cheers

Steve

[Placidus]

Hi, Rick,

Magnificent. Superb detail.

Possible typo: APOD by Cannone et al labels it IC 1396 or IC 1396A, whereas yours is labelled IC 3496.

Best,
Mike

[RickS]

Thanks, Suavi. You've rumbled me on the spikes again :lol:



Thank you, Steve.



Thanks very much, Mlke, and you are correct. I had the right name in my processing notes but managed to type something completely different!

[gregbradley]

A beautiful image Rick. Superb processing.

Greg.

[Atmos]

Wonderfully executed Rick :)

[vlazg]

Stunning image. :thumbsup:

[topheart]

Top notch indeed!

Very well done!

Cheers,
Tim

[RickS]

Thanks Greg, Colin, George & Tim!

[Andy01]

Great colours, very 3D - well done on a great image Rick :thumbsup:

[ozstronomer]

Great image Rick, love the colour palette

Geoff

[RobF]

Whew. That's a tour-de-force Rick.
Amazing image :eyepop:

[Paul Haese]

That's a nice image Rick. Interesting colours and great detail. Maybe a bit too contrasty for me but still a very nice image.

It must be so nice to process data from the northern hemisphere. :thumbsup:

[Ironbird]

for what it's worth ... I've applied secret-enhancement protocol to the original.
Kinda interesting in my estimation. Thanks to RickS for the original post.

[RickS]

Thanks, Andy.



Ta, Geoff. It took a few applications of ColorMask.



Thanks, Rob!



Thanks, Paul. I do enjoy the variety of new objects, even those that northerners are sick to death of :) It's also nice to have data even when the weather is poor here.

Cheers,
Rick.

[RickS]

Hi Terri,

I'm still struggling to determine whether you're showing something new in the data or just creating and enhancing artifacts. Do you have an explanation of what your images are showing?

Cheers,
Rick.

[Ironbird]

well Rick ... I applied my enhancement technique to some thermal images of
home heatloss .. a good test image I would submit. I applied my enhancement routine twice and found no major geometric distortion (occurring). Subtle variations where nicely accented (and preserved).

High brightness regions were "decomposed" into presumably their constituent colors - showing detail and presumably structure in otherwise non-useful regions.

So to answer the question: "are we seeing anything new?" I would answer with a qualified "yes! we are". Perhaps not eye-pokingly obviously so in the
elephant trunk image but definitely obviously-so in galactic nuclei imagery as well as tenuous nebulae shots. Gas fields extending way further out than one would deduce strictly from the unenhanced original.

I'm "around" .. just juggling a million hats .. I'll be sure to post more images -- perhaps a few "before and after" gifs < this should prove insightful as to the utility of my protocol. 10-4!

[multiweb]

Cool shot Rick :thumbsup: , prior to the Picasso version :lol:

[RickS]

Thanks, Marc ;)

[Slawomir]

And that's how painstakingly composed and beautiful image of a DSO gets destroyed :lol:

[Andy01]

+1 above

[strongmanmike]

Ah the good'ol Elephants Trunk, like NGC 6888 and 7000 t'is a must do area of the northern sky :thumbsup:

Great shot the dust looks good and your colour transitions are nice on this one.

Mike

[RickS]

Thanks, Mike!

[Bassnut]

Excellent rick, spectacular!.

[RickS]

Thanks, Fred!

[PRejto]

A most breathtaking image. It really pops and I love all the tiny white stars peppering the image.

Peter

[RickS]

Thanks, Peter. I did think about creating false colour for the stars but decided that the white ones looked fine without it.

Cheers,
Rick.

[Shiraz]

:thumbsup: Crikey Rick - that is a majestic image. Your processing methods are really quite remarkable.

[marc4darkskies]

Oh for Pete's sake! How did I miss this one?! :help:

An excellent rendition Rick ... but we expect no less from you now! :)

Love the palette, vibrant but nuanced - in a moody kind of way :D. Gorgeous! :thumbsup:

[RickS]

Thanks Ray & Marcus! I don't know about respecting the light but I do love some contrast and colour :)

Cheers,
Rick.