Giddy up, my best one yet

[Nikolas]

Yes another Horsehead but to me it's special as it's the second time I've ever captured and processed this nebula.


294mc pro
90 minutes at 600 secs each
optolong L-Extreme
Astropixel processor and photoshop
Skywatcher ED72 with 0.85 corrector reducer
HOO in Astropixel processor, then minor stretch in nebulosity before finalising in Photoshop
Large image on Astrobin. (https://www.astrobin.com/full/ewjmtr/0/)

[RyanJones]

Wow Nik,

By far the most 3D natural Horsehead I’ve seen. Absolutely amazing.

Cheers

Ryan

[gregbradley]

That turned out great. I can't believe its only your 2nd image that is sensational.

Greg.

[JA]

Great result & lovely colours :thumbsup:

Best
JA

[strongmanmike]

Yeah for only your second image, things are looking pretty good Nik :thumbsup:

Mike

[DavidU]

Mate, thats awesome !!

[Nikolas]

Second horsehead :)

[Placidus]

Superbly well done.

[Ryderscope]

Very nice indeed Nik :thumbsup:

[Nikolas]

Thanks folks, just to clarify this isnt my second ever image but second ever Horsehead after last season's attempt, this turned out so much better.

[multiweb]

Super sharp. Very nice. :thumbsup:

[marc4darkskies]

Excellent image Nik! :thumbsup: Not a big fan of the colour palette but gee whiz, you've got great detail, excellent depth and good framing! Well done!

[Nikolas]

Cheers Marc
What is it about the colour pallette as I've seen many variations of the colours and Wasnt sure if this was true colour or not

[Wilsil]

Great detail in your image.

[marc4darkskies]

It wasn't a critique Nik. I was merely pointing out that HOO doesn't float my boat. Bottom line is the palette you choose is whatever makes you happy! Also, being HOO, I'm not sure what you mean by "true" colour :question:

In any case, it's a great image mate! :thumbsup:

[Nikolas]

I get that it wasnt a critique I was just wondering what the correct colour of the horsie actually is so I can reproduce it in another rendition in the future, I'm constantly aiming for improvement :)

[strongmanmike]

HI Nik

There are so many variations (from subtle to striking) to how the Horsehead is displayed...but I recon Phil Harts version (https://philhart.smugmug.com/DeepSkyAstrophotography/Nebula/i-wfb7c4d/A), is pretty close to natural :thumbsup: ...personally, I would probably up the magenta, just a tad...and it would be peerfect :D

Rob Gendlers version (http://www.robgendlerastropics.com/HH11KM.html) is good too but pretty vibrant :)

Mike

[Nikolas]

Thanks Mike both excellent examples, I have seen how the magenta works in these and 'll see if I can make a magenta version for accuracy, not a huge fan of the spikes but on a newt it's unavoidable.

Cheers

[marc4darkskies]

Agree with Mike, but you'll never get "true" colour using Ha and O3 alone. For a start, you'll never see much, if anything, of the reflection components in a neb or even the subtle red & blue hues that are often present ... not to mention colourless stars.

In any case, you can give your HOO shot a more RGB palette look by using the selective colour and colour balance tools in Photoshop. A very quick tinker using only those tools (plus masking) yielded the result below - hope you don't mind. I'd call this an RGB-like image (except for the stars). You should be able to do better than this having the raw data to play with.

[Nikolas]

I like it:D
I'll have a play around when I get the time
cheers:thumbsup:

[chances]

Damn thats really nice!
I gotta grab one of those filters I think !

[Nikolas]

It's an awesome filter but your processing will take longer to sort out the colour balance as it gets very red

[ChrisV]

That's a top pick Nik. That scope does give a nice wide field and the duo filter is doing it's thing. You should be very happy with it

[Nikolas]

Thanks Chris, I'm still trying to get the colours right as the filter does have a very strong red to it. I did fine tune the focuser on the scope a fair bit and with the reducer it is now a decent bit of kit.

[gregbradley]

An impactful image Nik.

A very good Horsie.

Greg.

[Nikolas]

Cheers Greg