Gum 15

[Paul Haese]

I saw an image of this object a year or so ago and thought I would like to image this object at some point. It looked really dynamic and presented some challenges. Interestingly there are not many examples to make comparisons.

The nebula is situation at a distance of about 3000 light years in the constellation of Vela. There is a very powerful double star at the centre which is shaping the nebula in a similar fashion to the Trifid Nebula.

The integration is reasonably low for me at 14.3 hours. I figure I am not going to get much more out of the image by doing more collection.

I really like the dark dust throughout the field. And; the whispy streaks of cloud in the Gum 15 nebula. The star field is a bit distracting though. Let know what you like.

Click here (http://paulhaese.net/Gum15.html) for larger resolution image.

It an object that would look good with the longer focal length scope too.

[Stevec35]

A well processed image and it does indeed look similar to the Trifid. I think it's a fascinating field although the bright stars are a tad distracting.

Cheers

Steve

[gregbradley]

That's fantastic. I thought Gum 15 may've been the bigger neb to the right which is not particularly photogenic. Love all the blue reflection nebula and this image is more 3D than I have seen in other images.
Wonderful.

Greg.

[marc4darkskies]

Very pretty image Paul - nicely framed, nuanced colour and vibrant.

Is that the full frame or is it cropped? What is the image scale of the larger res image?

[Paul Haese]

Thanks Steve.I agree the field of stars is quite over whelming.




Thanks for saying so Greg. I am now trying for the bigger neb which is just to the lower left in this image and I will try for some Ha on it.



Thanks Marcus. That is very slight crop from the QSI image, but the image is now 2300 pixels wide. I don't put up full res images on the web but I do like good size images. Native is 3284 pixels wide.

[Ryderscope]

That's a nice complex field and, as others have agreed, the similarity to the Trifid does jump out at. The star field is what it is and shouldn't be deemed as too distracting. It is good to see these less traveled parts appear as well. Provides incentive to others for more exploration. Thanks for sharing Paul.

[Eden]

Top-notch work, Paul. Was sure it was Trifid at first glance -- that's what I get for overlooking the title! I like the way you've presented it in a natural palette and the bright stars add some depth, I feel.

[RickS]

Some lovely dark tendrils, Paul. Reminds me just a little of NGC 2170.

Cheers,
Rick.

[Andy01]

Beautiful image, great colours and I love those dark dust lanes like veins pulsing through the region.

Yes the stars are large but they could easily be toned down if one wanted to. In no way is that a criticism of the image though.

And well done on presenting another rarely imaged target for us all to enjoy, thanks Paul!

[astronobob]

Well, that is quite a 'loud' scene for an astro image, definitely enough time spent on it.
Guess all targets have their different surroundings, I accept them all :thumbsup:
Very nicely done Paul :cool2:

[Placidus]

Lovely! Thanks for the astrophysical background - it adds greatly to my understanding of the image and what's going on.

I think the bright stars are as they should be - this is a faint nebula in a very bright star field, and it should look like that.

I also very much like the high-contrast processing and the colour balance, which avoids the old-style "everything magenta" film look, and gives it a slightly narrowband feel that goes well with the dynamic astrophysics.

Best,
Mike

[Rigel003]

Beautiful field, Paul, with plenty of interest all over. I love the contrasting star colours.

[beren]

:thumbsup: beautiful image Paul well done, been a while since I checked your Earth and Cosmos site quite a collection of fine images you have accumulated, outstanding work. Notice you use maxim dl and ccd stack, do you do all the registration and stacking work in ccd stack?

[multiweb]

Beaute picture. Only ever did this area in Ha. So many colours in there. Wish I had dark skies. :thumbsup:

[Paul Haese]

Thanks all for the comments and observations. Much appreciated.



Yeah me too. When I was processing it I was thinking it looked a little like 2170 too.



Thanks Mike for your thoughts. It always seems to be a hard task to balance out images when you are using NB data with LRGB and the one can run the risk of making things look too magenta. Done that recently myself with IC427, which I am still not 100% happy with at present. However, every now and again I find that things just come together. This is one such occasion.



Thanks Stuart. MaximDL is only used for acquisition, which is a real shame as the programme is very powerful. I used CCDstack 2 entirely for calibration and stacking. It generally works very well, though now and again registration can be a little stubborn.

[Shiraz]

very pretty image Paul - the surroundings look attractive at this scale and would be lost with longer fl

[topheart]

Well done Paul!
Very nicely framed with lots of light respect there. I like the way the stars shine.
Cheers,
Tim

[E_ri_k]

Very nice image Paul, an interesting object, it does remind me of the Triffid a little. Great colours.
Erik

[Bassnut]

Oddly over crisp, and messy larger stars. Nice colour.