Gas and dust in Puppis - BBW 56

[strongmanmike]

Recently imaged by Andy in narrowband here is an otherwise rarely imaged but amazing area of gas and dust in Puppis. It is composed of mostly hydrogen with some faint brown/blue dust spread amongst it. It is pretty faint stuff, especially the dust, so some nice dark Moonless nights helped. This is an LHaRGB composition (yes that's why is is fairly red as the HII is rather dominant), the Luminance looks quite different to the H-alpha because it shows the faint dust and it was quite a challenge to show both the faint dust and the HII.

All image details under the image,

EDIT: Just found out its got a name too...BBW 56 :D

Gas and dust in Puppis (https://www.flickr.com/photos/strongman/39928890885) - click on image to enlarge and surf around.

and for those who like to see full res images look here (http://www.pbase.com/strongmanmike2002/image/167144402/original). :)

Those afflicted with pareidolia amongst us, might even see the profile of the Big Friendly Giant in there....:P

NB: The phenomenon of seeing patterns in randomness, which is called pareidolia, is fairly common. Neurotic people may be more likely to experience it. While pareidolia was at one time thought to be related to psychosis, it's now generally recognized as a perfectly healthy tendency.

Phew, lucky about the last line :lol:

Mike

[Placidus]

The BFG is really there! It's nice when science confirms these sort of things beyond doubt.

The starry background is gorgeously rich and beautifully photographed.

Interesting to compare with your Ara "Fighting Dragons", where a similar cloud has been exposed to intense wind and radiation pressure from a nearby cluster. So different, and as Andy's image shows, not just NB vs HaRGB; the areas are structurally different.

Great work!

[Andy01]

I was looking forward to seeing this one :)

Very cool, love your super wide FOV :thumbsup:

The star colours are beautiful, and now we can see the entire mountain range!
Seems the NB shows off more structural detail, but HaRGB clearly reveals the forces of solar wind at work.

Fun to image something new huh? :D

[h0ughy]

You might have to get out the microfiber cloth to clean the scope and camera after that effort. Looks wonderful Mike.

[RickS]

Looks great, Mikey :thumbsup: I can see the BFG too, though I'm not at all neurotic :P

[Bart]

That is very nicely processed and presented, Mike.

A beautiful image. :thumbsup:

[LewisM]

It’s Julia Gillard - nose and all! Even the colour is right

[Stevec35]

Very nice Mike. Great composition and I can definitely see the BFG profile.

Steve

[strongmanmike]

Thank you so much Mike and Trish.

Yes there are probably a few places around up there that are similar to this. Although a bit brighter, I recon the Boogey Man nebula LDN622 in Orion might be one..?



Cheers Andy :thumbsup: and yes LHaRGB images are seldom as detailed as full NB images, and the presence of larger stars also reduces the sense of details as well but given the very weak OIII signal and having no NII filter( good apprach there mate :)) I really had no choice. Having said that seeing the object closer to its "natural" appearance and the faint dust, wasn't disappointing and as you say given it is so rarely (if ever) imaged it was quite a rewarding result in the end :thumbsup:



Will do Houghmiester :D



Cheers Rick, loved reading the BFG book to my sons many years ago but the movie was a bit weired...:question:



Thanks a lot Bart :thumbsup:



Yep and the earlobes :P



Thanks Steve

Mike

[topheart]

Hi Mike,
Wow!!
What a great image even allowing for your rampant pareidolia !!

I love the way you have Ha data in the image but have kept the star colours from going off (did you remove the stars in the Ha layer before adding the Ha data in?).

Great detail!

The image reminds me a bit of the dark tower in Scorpius....

Congratulations on an awesome image of a fresh object.
Cheers,
Tim

[gregbradley]

That's a great image Mike.

I can't believe this hasn't been a popular object before. Its really very photogenic.

Greg.

[strongmanmike]

What can I say Tim, very kind words, so glad you enjoyed it :thumbsup: I agree there is a strong resemblance to the dark tower region of Scorpio.

No I don't use the star removal technique... I use the iterative Sidonio blending algorithm, developed over years and years of careful experimentation :einstein: . I make various versions that emphasise the things I want in each then blend them using Lighten, Soft light, Hard light, Normal and Luminance modes in PS, in several layers in different ways...ie. add herbs and spices until it tastes right :P



Thanks Greg and I agree, there are still lots of incredible things up there rarely imaged...everywhere! :thumbsup:

Mike

[SimmoW]

Lovely wide field of the area Mike! Love the star colours too. Yes it's a huge universe chock full of nice ranges to try, I've been discovering the amazing free Aladin tool, bloody heaps of different catalogues and wavelengths displayable. Can't believe it's not more popular. Though it does remind me a bit of PI in its UI and friendliness!!! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

[Star Catcher]

That came up nicely Mike. If it wasn't for the lovely star colours I'd almost say it might be more photogenic in some sort of Ha/HII/Lum mix in mono but not really sure
Ted

[marc4darkskies]

Cool image Mike and very pretty :thumbsup: ... and very red!

[willik]

I like it a lot
Martin

[topheart]

Thanks Mike!
Well, your algorithm :rover2: rocks!
Cheers,
Tim

[atalas]

Humongous complex structure Mike :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

[strongmanmike]

Cheers Simon, Aladin has been around for some time I think, should be more utilised for sure :thumbsup:



Thanks Ted, yeah I like straight B&W too sometimes. did you mean Ha/SII/Lum..? I didn't collect any SII, just the Lum to pickup the dust.



Thanks Marcus, yep... it is red, as I said, it was in my head before I went to bed, hope you weren't to scared :P



Thanks Martin



Ha ha yeah, Mike Hawking :lol:



Sure is Louie :)

Mike

[Derek Klepp]

Another great wide field shot Mike.I enjoyed looking around the high res version.On another note I really enjoyed your article in AS&T .My recently deceased father was also a migrant who worked hard to give his family the best he could.Lets hope our children inherit some of that work ethic.
Derek.

[Paul Haese]

Expansive view of this object Mike. It certainly is a massive object.

[strongmanmike]

Indeed, quite a big object, that's a 4deg X 4deg field

Mike