Diamond in the Rough

[Andy01]

The Gem cluster aka NGC 3293 - is a pretty little star cluster in Carina, located just above the Gabrielle Mistral Nebula.

I was testing out the RC8 at Snake Valley, so shot this while waiting for M83 to rise. Then added 3 hrs of Ha from home in Melbourne.

Collimation issues aside (this was prior to my mate sorting out most of the issues this week) it's by no means an award winning image, but it's kinda pretty :D

There’s an interesting dark neb at 2 o’clock that I hadn’t noticed before, and lots of intertwined waves of Ha present.

Didn't get nearly enough Blue subs, and it'll be a while before I can get to a dark site again, so anyway - here it is (https://www.astrobin.com/full/340554/0/), enjoy!

Cheers
Andy

[Atmos]

Lovely looking field Andy! Never realised that there was so much Ha in the area.

[atalas]

A lovely cluster Andy, with lots of nebula :thumbsup:couldn't open the larger image so had to settle for the IIS compressed version.

[Placidus]

That worked really well. Beautiful!

We've only ever imaged this one in pure NB, and we didn't know that one of the gem cluster stars is bright orange. A citrine perhaps.

:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

[Andy01]

Cheers Colin, I guess it’s often overshadowed by its more photographed neighbors, and the Ha field is quite rich here. :thumbsup:



Cheers Louie, looks like AB was offline briefly- seem ok again now. :)



Thanks M&T, maybe give it a crack with your big beast one day! :lol:

[RickS]

Very pretty, Andy!

[Stonius]

So your process is to capture LRGB and narrowband as well? I wonder how you combine all that data together?

[Andy01]

Cheers Rick! :D



Hi Markus, I used Marco’s method, it’s described HERE (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=138473) works great too! :thumbsup:

[JA]

Very attractive - dreamy :thumbsup:

Best
JA

[Stonius]

Thanks so much for the reference - it's a great read. It really does preserve star colours too. Very natural looking result! Nice one!

[Ryderscope]

A lovely image Andy. Your description of a diamond in the rough works very well.

[Andy01]

Most welcome Markus. :thumbsup:
I’ve learned heaps from the good folk here on IIS so it’s nice to pass some of that good info on.
Clear skies :D




Cheers Rodney!
Must fess up to seeing the Aladdin musical with the kids a few weeks ago,
Think the image title might have been “borrowed” from that! :lol:

[strongmanmike]

I've always liked this cluster and the contrasting surrounding Ha emission, makes for a nice field huh :thumbsup:

Mike

[multiweb]

Beautiful field. Nicely processed. :thumbsup:

[Andy01]

Thanks Mike & Marc, sometimes it's surprisingly rewarding to image these relatively simple targets :D