NGC 6188 and many other objects in the constellation of Ara

[MLParkinson]

This vast nebula complex stretches over 8 full moon diameters in the night sky. The field of view of this composition is approximately 5.2° x 3.9°.

This Hubble palette image is a sister to my previous posts of the Great Nebula in Carina; it was processed using a similar workflow.

I am guessing that many of the same constructive comments apply to this image. It is reminiscent of an oil painting.

Higher resolution version here: https://flic.kr/p/2hLKyMJ

Technical Details:

Borg 55 mm f/3.6 astrograph, Astrodon 3-nm SII, Ha, and OII filters, QSI 683wsg camera. Mount: EQ8. Imaged from suburban Sydney.

SII: 33 x 14 minutes = 8 hours, H alpha: 54 x 14 minutes = 13 hours, OIII: 49 x 14 minutes = 11 hours.

Software: Nebulosity 4, PHD 2, PixInsight, Lightroom and Photoshop.

[Peter Ward]

Sorry, IMHO the processing has gone way too far.

....kinda like seeing a brown Tuxedo: just plain wrong.

[MLParkinson]

Peter, your photos are fantastic. If you have a drop box for large file transfers, I am happy to share with you the calibrated, registered, drizzle-integrated, linear master lights. I would love to see the result of your workflow applied to the same base images. I am certain that you will produce a unique and special image, and teach me a trick or two at the same time.

Warning: Each of the 32-bit SII, H alpha and OIII master lights is 172 MB long.

[Peter Ward]

Don't get me wrong......if you are happy with that interesting colour palette then stick with it, as beauty is very much in the eye of the beholder.

I'm not however, even remotely inclined to process anyone else's data.

But if you want to produce images a little less "out there" there is plenty of photographic (not just astrophotographic) material that can be gleaned from resources on the web, magazines and bookstores to give you some, shall we say, more classical and less bold perspectives.

Palette choices, framing, shadow and light details and contrast are things you can tweak to make an eye-soothing image from the somewhat static vistas above our heads.

There is often beautiful subtlety in the colour of Nature's astronomical vistas. Preserving this can also reveal remarkable physical processes that would otherwise be missed with Neon renditions.

Subtlety can be surprisingly effective. In stead of loudly saying "You're great!", quietly whispering into someone's ear " I like you" can work wonders with your audience.

[PeterM]

Well it certainly caught my eye!

Ok I'm not a colour imager as such, well 30 second monochrome is where it ends for me.
I liked it when I opened it, I just had a look at the high res version on my 27 inch monitor and I have to say yes it is an artists work, detailed, wow factor and that is why I reckon I like it so much.
You have been very upfront about your technique and what you wanted to achieve, bravo.

I've googled many images of 6188 just now and if I were to pay to have it hanging in the lounge or if a producer were looking for dramatic effect in a sci fi movie ... you would get the $$ hands down.

Also found this, talking about colour enhanced images in general "The most important thing to remember is that these images are not fake. According to the space agencies that took them they're just interpretations of our reality...."

Well done, just like Nightscapes, IceTrade Classifieds, now images like yours are my favourites on IIS.

Again bravo.

[multiweb]

You know what Murray? The full res is actually bloody good. You've got good stars and details. The details smoothing and colors you certainly went to town on both but try to reprocess it and I reckon you have one for the poolroom. You'll surprise yourself coz the data is very good. :thumbsup:

[MLParkinson]

Thank you very much for your unusually kind words Peter. I just finished transferring 10,000,000 EUROS into your secret Swiss Bank Account.

When I post my images to other forums, the responses tend to be far more positive (e.g., plenty of love hearts, wow wees and faves).

I think the IceInSpace mob is fairly conservative in its artistic taste. Many of its members tend to favor what they believe to be "natural colour".

They are also heavily influenced by the David Malin philosophy of "respect the light". We are all trapped in our own bubble of belief and perception.

Nevertheless, their point of view is valid and I respect it and try to temper my processing flow in accordance whether their constructive comments.

[MLParkinson]

Many people have an expectation that nebula images should emphasise the deep red of Hydrogen alpha emissions, certainly not bright greens and yellows. Well, this addendum plays to the expectation and love of the colour red. This new version is a blend of Hydrogen alpha and OIII master lights into a broadband RGB image assembled using the PixInsight NBRGB Combination script. The second image is a slightly improved version of the earlier Hubble Palette version [SII, H alpha, OIII].

I hope that some of you find the new red palette version more pleasing to the eye.

https://flic.kr/p/2hWiGpR

https://flic.kr/p/2hWngzg

All sub-frames were recorded using a 55 mm f/3.6 optic at an image scale of 5.6" arc seconds per pixel.

[lazjen]

I actually prefer the multicolour one - it's NB, and it accentuates the differences.

[MLParkinson]

I agree Chris, I've come to the opinion that the power of the Hubble palette is not only aesthetic, but optimization of contrast and structure within nebulae images.