Flame Nebula: Blackened tree with artistic millstones

[Placidus]

Flame nebula in H-alpha, 6 x 1 hr subs. Full resolution image here (https://photos.smugmug.com/Category/Dark-nebulae/i-37NKzg8/0/O/Flame%20Nebula%20H-alpha%206%20hrs.jpg).

There are surprisingly few long focal length 2024's out there, and even fewer in H-alpha. Now we know why. It's hard to photograph. Not very contrasty, and glare from Alnitak is a problem.

The six or so brilliant reflection donut copies of Alnitak are at first sight rather intrusive, disappointing, to the "have tantrum now" stage.

(It is actually better than our previous effort, which had more like 20 even brighter copies of Alnitak.)

But, take heart! If we borrow some artistic licence, it's not a bad Gotterdammerung style picture of Yggdrasil after an Aussie bushfire.

Alternatively, it is a Meatloaf Bat out of Hell, perhaps crossed with a Bogong moth (again to give an Aussie Christmas flavour) complete with barbecue flames and six big sandstone millstones from the Rocks. The bat-moth, flying towards us, is the central, blackest part of the tree-trunk.

If we put on our Arthur Boyd glasses, there is large, translucent Tormented Soul wearing floppy pyjamas, larger than the bat, and toward eleven o'clock.

Yet again, if you can ignore the reflections, and just look at the underlying image, it is actually a not-too-bad NGC 2024, with lots of very fine filaments of dust criss-crossing each other in many directions. It's fun to follow these about.

Best,
Mike and Trish
(Chastened but not defeated)

[Andy01]

Yep, having done it last year, I agree it's a much harder target than one might think, difficult to balance sharpness & contrast - that said, your image looks good.
Menacing, dark & brooding, like a scene from Sin City or one of the evil trees from Sleepy Hollow.
I like it :)

[Placidus]

Thanks muchly, Andy.

Your version is in colour, and there are no internal reflections!

[strongmanmike]

Nice and contrasty guys, deffinitely a horror movie tree there :thumbsup:

Unlike thin bright filamentous worms and dotified details introduced artificially by processing.....optically induced reflections, while perhaps slightly annoying at times, are just a part of this game at times and don't detract from the image IMO.

Nice job guys :thumbsup:

Mike

[Atmos]

Very nice MnT :) I've never seen some of that nebulosity before, looks kinda like a secondary reflection but I can only assume it is real as it is there in black and white :lol:

[Placidus]

Thanks kindly, Mike. We hope others see the underlying image also.



Cheers, Colin!



A bit like our zebra skin rug. At least it's a genuine fake zebra skin, not a fake genuine one, which would be pretty gross.

[RickS]

Definitely a sinister bat in there, M&T. Despite the challenges it's a very cool and impressive image :thumbsup:

Cheers,
Rick.

[Placidus]

Thanks, Rick. Pleased you can see it too.

[silv]

that moment when you realize that your spell went wrong -
and you didn't only conjure up the head of a triceratops but replaced your own head with it.

look, how the figure puts its left hand on its new jaw, crying out in agony and shock...

... meanwhile, the magic wand is still glowing sinister and already on the search for a new victim...

[gregbradley]

Nice shot Mike.

I took this one last year with CDK17 and reducer:

http://www.pbase.com/gregbradley/image/162156685/large

No real reflections to worry about. I got sent a baffle kit about 4 years ago for free from Planewave when they upgraded their baffling. Originally my CDK17 was a poor performer when it came to bright stars out of field but once the baffling was installed it improved a lot.

I also flocked the inside of the secondary shroud and also got a new secondary shroud sent to me (it has a tapered thickness so it covers about 5mm total of the perimeter of the secondary, also reduces reflections).

I flocked the carbon fibre struts as well. Not sure that did anything. Flocked inside the mirror housing also.

But I think it was the baffling that did the trick.

If yours is an early model 20 inch I would call them about it.

Greg.

[Camelopardalis]

Beautifully detailed M&T :thumbsup: no mean feat with the devil's star in the shot!

[Placidus]

"Hey, Rocky, watch me pull a rabbit out of my hat!".
"Bulwinkle, that trick never works."
(Rhinoceros appears from hat)
"Hmm. Didn't know my own strength."



Hi, Greg. Yours is the best long focal length Ha Flame I've seen. Separately from that, yours has no hint of reflections. I'll contact PlaneWave and nag them.

On a happy note, just did a night of the Crab Nebula, and interestingly, not a hint of troubles from Zeta Tauri.



Thanks Dunk! :)

[astronobob]

Interesting & rather 'Arty' indeed :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[Placidus]

Thanks, Bob.

We don't want to make a habit of the stark moody art gallery look, it just seemed appropriate for Yggdrasil. We tried hard not to actually lose anything important by overdoing contrast.

[Geoff45]

Excellent variation on a common object. Throws new light on the flames.
Geoff

[astronobob]

Yes, can see the detail in the darker outfield, plus central tree-trunk is not black clipped :thumbsup: , very well controlled !

Norse-legend-world-tree,, eternal-and-sacred,, attested in the Poetic Edda, compiled in the 13th century
Norse-mythology, where the Gods and Goddesses lives
:scared3:
;)

[Ryderscope]

Excellent, love the image and the imaginative conjuring of visual images and accompanying story lines.

[Placidus]

Thanks, Bob!



Cheers, Rodney, glad you like it.


We noticed that last night's APOD has a very fine reflection doughnut in the middle of the Lagoon. Perhaps they're becoming popular.

Wrote to PlaneWave asking about an improved baffle kit. Fingles crossed.