IC2948/4 Running Chicken and Friend Wide field - Revision

[DJT]

First light for a new to me FSQ106N. Its quite nice having a very flat field to work with.

IC2944 and little friend (PN294.9) (http://astrob.in/full/286950/B/)

During processing I noticed what I thought was an artifact around 2.00. Turns out it is a small planetary, He 2-72/PN294.9 There are 2 images of this returned on google, one being an instruction to identify unknown objects using Plate solving in Maxim DL and overlays in the zoom tab of telescope control and the other was an accidental RGB find.

Given that my cropped image is 7 hours of Ha and Oiii (no Sii to speak of) this therefore would make my image the only Bicolour NB one returned on Google images? Wohoo! See attached.

This would really benefit from a longer FL scope..Where's SteveC when you need him?

Details
11 hours of 20 min subs with the FSQ106N with an STL 6303e hanging off the back and mounted on an AP900.

This was self guided behind 3-5NM NB astrodon filters so 20 second guiding subs needed. Thanks goodness for short FL scopes!

Nod of the head to Martin P who kindly shared the PI Process icon for DBE removal on the Oiii Master after he played with the first light data (much better than this, by the way..)

Cheers

[Placidus]

Oh to be able to photograph all of that in one go!

Good colour.

The planetary nebula is new to me. Others have mentioned it, but this is the first time I've actually seen it. Nicely captured.

Best,
Mike

[Martin Pugh]

Hi David

I was waiting to see your post on this data....and a fine effort it is but you do have a strong magenta background and your stars are largely magenta in colour also.

Next time we meet I will show you my secret recipe for turning stars taken through the three NB filters to produce a much more pleasing result.

Very happy the FSQ106N is working well having hand carried it for you back from the US across 4 flights and 40 hours of travel.

All the best
Martin

[DJT]

Cheers Martin

looking forward to that catch-up.

Scopes all pulled down now waiting for some clear dark skies.

thanks again

[DJT]

I was given a Pixel Math expression that dealt really well with the Magenta. I also had a go with Ricks Color Mask to get some pop in the colours.

Hopefully this is an improvement

Thanks

IC2944 and little friend (PN294.9) (http://astrob.in/full/286950/C/)

[marc4darkskies]

Yes, a lovely result David! :thumbsup: Agree that magenta background was unappealing, but I'm kind of old school and don't mind some magenta stars, as long as they are subdued or whitened a bit.

[strongmanmike]

Yes, the latest one is definitely an improvement over the first, nice job Dave :thumbsup: Also seeing the chicken upside down makes it look like a big alien like in Cloverfield :) I am with Marcus, magenta looks good in stars of NB images IMO, if it is subtle and not presenting as bright magenta halo's.

Mike

[RickS]

Congrats on the first light and a nice repro, David!

[DJT]

Thanks Gents.
If I told you that I miss the magenta stars..:sadeyes: funny old game this and Mike, noted on the big magenta halo.

Rick, on the color mask it's quite easy to overcook adjustments ( at least it is for Ham Fisted David) and I found that some areas where less well protected than others so there was some posterisation where I wasn't expecting it. You need quite a light touch. Any tips for fine tuning the mask?

Cheers

[diegocolonnello]

I have that Planetary Nebula too!!!!! top left corner, sorry for the crappy photo.

[RickS]

Hi David,

I find it useful to manipulate the masks a bit using other tools, e.g. Convolution to blur (avoid sharp transitions) and HistogramTransform/CurvesTransform to modify the mask strength.

Using the readout cursor in L*c*h* mode is also helpful to zero in on the range of hues that you want to target.

The general principle of making a series of small changes instead of going for the "big bang" is also helpful :)

Cheers,
Rick.

[Andy01]

:thumbsup:Nice work
I'm probably in the minority but I much prefer the contrast and colour of the original.
The new one is a bit palmolive for my eccentric tastes, although I prefer the treatment of the stars in the repro.
An FSQ, ahhh that must be nice :)

[DJT]

Thanks Rick

It's a wet weekend coming up so I will have another tinker. Small change, redo mask, ( that's what I missed out last time) then more small changes etc.



THanks for the comments, Andy.
Highly amused at the Palmolive comment. Per Mike B comment in a previous thread, if I had held out for more Sii it may have made it less so. I think you have a unique style which works for you.

And the FSQ rocks..bliss. Still got a 6 year wait for the Starfire though..