Statue of Liberty in Hubble

[RyanJones]

Hi all,

Over 3 nights recently, I collected data on the Statue of Liberty nebula. Given I was imaging with an average of over 90% moon, the enevitable white wash covered my image. I did do a full frame process but I just couldn’t get to a point where I was really happy. I decided to crop right in to the statue and have a crack at a hubble-essqe version. It’s a little soft and a little pinched but overall I’m pretty happy with how it came out.

213 x 180 sec subs
Canon 350d w/ STC Duo Filter
8” f/4 imaging newtonian
HEQ5 Pro guided @ approx 0.5”

Thanks for looking

[iborg]

Hi Ryan

I can see what you mean about soft, but, I think an impressive result regardless.

Philip

[Startrek]

Ryan,
Superb image and a testament to the huge effort you put in to capturing all that data
Well done !!
NB: I noticed that your stars are not that round ( not a criticism but an observation)

[ChrisV]

That's a really nice one Ryan. It looks like a difficult target indeed.

[Mickoid]

Ryan that's a fine image indeed. Technically there's a few things to pick on but aesthetically that's one of the best images I've seen posted in the beginners section. The colours are really nice and there's enough detail to make it interesting. The result of your effort is a worthy example of what can be achieved. Well done! :2thumbs:

[Ant0nio]

Nice work Ryan, I'm working on this target myself atm(in between the clouds) .:thumbsup:
Tony

[casstony]

The thumbnail looks spectacular Ryan. On a good night with good collimation the larger version will look just as good.

[RyanJones]

Thank you Phillip, Chris, Michael, Martin and Tony. I really appreciate all of your feedback.

Martin & Michael - this particular OTA has a little bit of flex in the focuser which seems to cause a bit of tilt. It’s mainly because I have to have it at full extension to achieve focus ( there’s reasons why I haven’t corrected it ) that gives me a flare off the edge of the stars. When I process using my current abilities, it tends to exacerbate it. Certainly not offended that you picked it out though as you are 100% correct. Usually I can get away with it because m not cropping down so much. In hind sight if id known I was going to just focus on the statue, I should have used my C9.25.

Tony - I’m looking forward to seeing your rendition.

Thank you all again for your feedback

[casstony]

The bi-colour (something I haven't done) really enhances this object, making certain features stand out. I might have to get some advice on techniques :)

[RyanJones]

Thank you Casstony,

I like bi-colour on some targets and not others. Something I’ll definitely give a go again though. I tried quite a few different meathods and found that addressing each colour seperatly was the way to go.

[mynameiscd]

Outstanding image Ryan,
Love the bi colour.
I see what you mean about the stars.
Have you checked each sub? Ive have something similar ages ago and it was 1 sub that caused the blur.
Have you done a star removal in photoshop? You can also shrink them a bit with a mask in Startools then you can sharpen a bit more without blowing out the stars.
Definitely a keeper with lots of good data to work on.
Cheers
Andy

[RyanJones]

Thank you Andy,

I haven’t done a star removal as such but I have done a reduction that I always apply to my images. Essentially it reduces the brightness of the stars and tightens them up. Consequently when I apply noise reduction techniques, the most feint stars do get absorbed so in effect they are removed. The negative consequence of this is that it makes what is left more critical. I didn’t manually assess each sub but I did only stack the best 80%. There is a chance that something has snuck though. I’m contemplating adding some more hours ( weather permitting ) so if I do, maybe I’ll go though and be more critical in hope of a better result.

Bare in mind that the data used in this image was in bortle 8 skies with greater than 90% moon. Also with a known tilt issue that is amplified in f/4 optics. For anyone else considering going for a super fast scope, I can’t stress enough how sensitive they are,

Thank you again for your comments: they are really appreciated :thumbsup:

[Anth10]

Ryan,
That's a great shot. Well done!

Envious at the minute with you guys having all the fun - Building my Obsy at the moment.
Will be a while...

Keep up the good work.

Cheers,
Anth

[RyanJones]

Thank you Anth,

Of all the reasons to not be imaging, because you’re building an obsy isn’t the worst lol. Good luck with it and we’ll all look forward to seeing your work when you’re back up and running again

[LostInSp_ce]

Great colour and the glowing core is like a portal to another dimension while light blue regions have an electric vibe. Although not technically perfect, there's a lot of energy in this image and it's all positive. Well done Ryan! :thumbsup:

[RyanJones]

Thank you so much LIS. It’s comments like this that really Inspire me to keep chipping away, always striving for perfection. I really appreciate it the feedback from yourself and others so thank you :)

[assbutt94]

That's a great shot, I really like the colour! You've inspired me to try process bi-colour.

One thing to keep in mind re-stars being a little out of round.
This could be due to having a modded camera.
I believe that it if the sensor is not level with the camera's flange, stars can look a bit out of focus or look like there is some flexure in the imaging train. Some parts of an image might look more or less out of focus as well.
I might be wrong though, just going by my personal observation

[RyanJones]

Thank you Nathan,

It’s an interesting observation you mention about the camera sensor mounting possibly causing the star shape. I thought I’d have a look at some images I’ve taken with that same camera on one of my SCTs to see if it’s still evident. I haven't got any with my recent guide setup which means the stars in them aren’t right anyway. I did have a look at my recent Thor’s Helmet but that image had issues because I accidentally left my MPCC on my camera. Having said that, the stars in the center of that image don’t seem to have any issues. Certainly worth looking into though. Thank you for the feedback.