NGC 2467 - The Butterfly

[Andy01]

Originally inspired by Rat156, NGC 2467 is a target I originally shot over a year ago. I've revisited and reprocessed it with another 10 hrs or so of data gathered over several nights from the backyard.

In narrowband, to me it resembles a Morpho butterfly drifting in space. It's one DSO that seems to slip through the popular imaging cracks, but I think it's worthy of a second look.

Open to many forms of visual interpretation, some call it the Skull & Crossbones, others call it The Mandril and our own IIS member Placidus thinks it looks like Snoopy's Holiday! Clearly, it's not definitive :)

Located in Puppis, it includes areas where large clouds of glowing hydrogen gas and ionised oxygen incubate new stars, seems that it's a very active stellar nursery.

My version here is presented in a circle, hopefully adding a "telescope view" to the image - probably not everyone's cup of tea, but humour me and call it artistic licence!

Large version here (http://www.astrobin.com/full/143447/B/)

Hope you like it, C&C welcome as always.

[Stevec35]

Like it a lot Andy. Don't think I've ever seen NGC 2467 treated like that before. It looks great - very artistic.

Cheers

Steve

[marc4darkskies]

Lovely image Andy! Crisp, rich and pleasing colours - good one! :thumbsup:

You can lose the "telescope view" though - it doesn't add anything to the image IMO. :shrug:

[astronobob]

Never seen this target before, but I like it lots, and a very nice rendition Andy, thos colors are quite complimentary to one another, yep!
I'm ok with the telescopic view as well, why not :thumbsup:

The neb is quite defined, as in, the edges are rather clear cut, doesn't fade of in the expanse like most, so it kinda Pops out at you nicely - well done :thumbsup:

[Placidus]

Superb work, Andy. Far smoother and more detailed than your previous post of this object.

When Trish and I first saw your image, we thought, "Oh, we would love to photograph that ... never seen it before", and then we realized that we've imaged it once a year for years, but our field of view doesn't quite capture the hard edges of the butterfly wings, and without those it looks completely different: snoopy the dog on a rocket ship with a blue ion drive. In your view, it is clearly a beautiful butterfly.

We really like your processing (although you've held the green back too much. Hydrogen alpha is photons too!) And personally I like the circular view.

Best,
Mike

[Ryderscope]

A very special and quite artistic rendition of this object. Very nice viewing indeed.

[Andy01]

Thanks Steve, yes I'm probably guilty of pushing boundaries again, glad you liked it :)



Thanks Marcus, I figured that not everyone in the IIS audience might not appreciate the different presentation, but thanks for taking the time to comment, all feedback is welcome!



Cheers Bob, it's a funny one as the edges near the "wings" are very clearcut, I suspect one would have to go VERY deep to find more info beyond them. Thanks for the input too :thumbsup:



Thanks M&T, I was hoping that the extra data would help me to get closer to the quality of your image of this. My setup is a bit below par compared to yours so whatever I can add to the processing to help it along is a bonus!



Cheers Rodney, appreciate the positive feedback :)

[rustigsmed]

Looks quite cool Andy colours are interesting which is a good thing!

Rusty

[strongmanmike]

Not bad Andy and definitely better than the original..as for the circle :question:... looks ok to me, bit like the square format of the 16803 chip, until people got used to seeing images presented in a square framing some didn't like it which is kinda :screwy: really if you ask me :shrug: It took some time for people to get used to narrowband images too, in the end most people are conformists, often only until they have a go for themselves...theeen miraculously they suddenly start to like'em ;)

Mike

[Atmos]

Certainly wish that is what I would see through the eye piece, brilliant colour and all :D
It is a nice butterfly, not one that I can remember seeing. Although being sleep deprived at the moment, maybe I have seen it under "different light" ;) Still a lovely image.

[multiweb]

Great details and good colors Andy. I'm kind of a snoopy fan too. :thumbsup:

[RickS]

Nice result, Andy. Thumbs up for the butterfly. Thumbs down for the circle ;)

[Paul Haese]

Funky colours Andy and I really like the detail.

[Andy01]

Cheers Rusty, it started out in HST colour palette but I had fun with selective colour in PS to bring out these tones.



Thanks Mike, great sentiments, yes maybe it's one of those occasions when we "Think outside the square" (boom, tish) :)



Cheers Colin, I often wonder what space and the night sky would look like if our eyes were hypersensitised to see the colour & brightness that we get from AP. Maybe in the future we'll all have bionic eyes like Steve Austin.



Cheers Marc, go see Placidus's (M&T's) version and you'll see Snoopy in all his glory. http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=130211



Lol, oh well, you can please some of the people, some of the time... :)



Cheers Paul, I worked very hard on this one to get the contrast, colour & detail up - kept coming back to it and starting over until I was happy so thanks for your positive feedback, means a lot. :thumbsup:

[gvanhau]

Looks very nice Andy.

I took this object a couple of years ago in RGB, but it looks so different in NB.

Congrats.
Geert

[gregbradley]

Circles? Why not! Circles are the new rectangles.

Nicely done. I am not even sure I have seen this before but I probably have and its the narrowband that makes it look different.

Greg.

[Flipster]

Nice one Andy! Great colours and don't mind the "telescope view" for a change either!!

[Regulus]

Sharp, clear, and a lovely palette.
Really nice photo Andy.

Trevor

[Geoff45]

Where did that one come from? It's never crossed my radar before. Have to put it on the to-do list.

Very nicely done Andy. The narrowband option is a good one. I had a quick squiz around the internet and the NB images win hands down over RGB.
Geoff

[Andy01]

Hi Geert, Thanks for that, due to having a young family and living under LP suburban skies, it's NB for me most of the time. Cheers :)



Lol, so maybe now rectangles are so yesterday :lol:





Onya Trev & Phil, appreciate the feedback and your taking the time to comment, cheers :)



Cheers Geoff, dunno why it's not imaged more often, it's up there in the North when M42 & the HH are but seems to be overlooked in favour of the more popular targets. Due the heavy LP, I can't do LRGB from home so I'm always looking for interesting targets that favour NB. Looking forward to seeing a few more versions from yourself and others in future :)