The Dark Shark

[RickS]

The Dark Shark aka the Howling Wolf. This field contains the blue reflection nebulae VdB150 (top) and VdB149 (bottom.) The shark's nose is the dark nebula LDN1235. Lots of other dark nebulosity and a few bright stars.

Big version on Astrobin: http://www.astrobin.com/317415/0/

Captured at SRO, July-Sep, 2017

Scope: Ceravolo C300 @ f/4.9 = 1470mm FL
Mount: AP1100
Camera: FLI PL16803
Focuser: Atlas
Filters: Astrodon
Guiding: Lodestar II / Tak guide scope
Image scale: 1.26 arcsec/pixel (Drizzled to double res)
Exposures: 45x1200s R, 38x1200s G, 39x1200s B, 81x600s L, 36x1800s Ha (54.16 + 18 hours)
Processing: PixInsight 1.8.5

Acquisition credit: Scott Johnson, Augusto Hernandez, John Kasianowicz, Daniele Malleo, Jose Mtanous and Rick Stevenson

Processing credit: Rick Stevenson

Thanks for looking and comments are welcome. I always find dark nebs very difficult and I'm happy to accept suggestions for improvement :)

Cheers,
Rick.

[Camelopardalis]

Beautiful rendition Rick :thumbsup: love the rich colours.

[RickS]

Thanks, Dunk! Glad you didn't think it was overcooked :)

[strongmanmike]

Excellent image Rick, lovely colour and contrast and your stars are nice too, great shot :thumbsup:

Could'a juuust done with about 10-20% more FOV and you would'a fitted the sharks nose in nicely :doh:

Mike

[batema]

Beautiful image Rick. Stunning colours.

[RickS]

Thanks, Mike. I would have liked a different angle too, but we don't have a rotator :sadeyes:



Ta, Mark.

[marc4darkskies]

A very beautiful and compelling image Rick! :thumbsup: Colours are pushed to the limit but certainly not overdone.

[graham.hobart]

That is an awfully good shot Rick - very compelling in the big version. Like a leaping thresher shark covered in oil wearing a jewelled tiara. Spot on !:thumbsup:

[multiweb]

:eyepop: Looks great mate. Love it. :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup: I like the saturated colours. That blue reflection neb at the top reminds me of merope in the pleaides. Dead set ringer. That's PS copy/paste right there. :lol::P

[RickS]

Thanks very much, Marcus!



Thanks, Graham. That's an image that will haunt me now :lol:



Thanks, Marc. I'll have to start pasting bits of the Pleiades into all my images now :thumbsup:

[strongmanmike]

Yeah, look at that, very similar :thumbsup:

What do you call the Pleiades with glasses...?

Meropic :D

Mike

[multiweb]

That's why I've been using PS. You can't do that in PI and keep your sanity.

[Placidus]

Lovely! Most enjoyable exploring the high-res on a big screen.

Proof at last that sharks have lips.

[Octane]

That is stunning work, Rick. Well done!

The colour is so beautiful, too.

H

[leon]

You say suggestions for room for improvement, :shrug: no need for improvement Rick a stunning image indeed. :eyepop:

Leon :thumbsup:

[willik]

Quality image very impressive Rick.
Martin

[RickS]

Oh dear :lol:



I'll write a MeropifyMultiscaleCloneStamp script :thumbsup:



Thanks, M&T. Maybe it's a Groper?



Thanks very much, H.



There's always room for improvement, but thanks Leon.



Thank you, Martin.

[DJT]

Great image, the colours are vibrant and seem to make the whole thing Pop

:thumbsup:

[RickS]

Thanks, David!

[el_draco]

That is a drop dead gorgeous shot!

[gregbradley]

Congratulations to you and your team that is an absolutely sensational image. Love the range of colours and the dust and those stunningly beautiful stars.

One of your best and one of the best images around here for a long time.

Greg.

[ozstronomer]

Beautiful image Rick, one of your best :thumbsup:

Rich colours that make the whole image pop

Geoff

[alan meehan]

wonderful image Rick stunning colours but theres a lot of difference between a howling wolf and a shark I cant make up my mind
AL

[Atmos]

I don’t quite see a shark myself but it is such an interesting target. I do wonder a bit whether the bright blue star on the right has blown the dust out of the way (radiation pressure) or if it is just so damned bright it’s making the faint dust difficult to process out.

[Stevec35]

Terrific stuff Rick! I love these dusty vistas and the colour is excellent.

Cheers

Steve

[RickS]

Thanks, Rom.



Exceptionally kind of you, Greg!



Thanks, Geoff.



Thanks, Al. I'm voting for the shark but it's tricky :)



Thanks, Colin. I'm guessing it's just the bright halo...



Thanks very much, Steve.

[RobF]

Beautiful object and image Rick. Wonderful contrasts. Love it.

[Retrograde]

Dark shark eh? It certainly looks like a shark - does that mean there a light shark somewhere?

Certainly a beautiful image Rick!

[RickS]

Thanks, Rob.



Ta, Pete. I'm sure there's a bright one out there somewhere!

[atalas]

Nice Rick.

[RickS]

Thanks, Louie.

[Paul Haese]

Superb work Rick. Love the colour, composition, processing everything. Really, really nice image.

[E_ri_k]

Cracking image Rick, absolutely superb.

Erik

[RickS]

Thanks, Paul & Erik!

[markas]

Superb!!!

Mark

[RickS]

Thanks, Mark.