Blue Chilli Nebula

[Andy01]

Resembling a hot chilli these superheated blue tendrils of ionized oxygen are remnants of a spectacular supernova that occurred some 11,000 years ago.

Located in Vela some 800 LY distant, this small isolated section of this vast region silhouetted against a background rich in Ha seemed worthy of attention it’s own right - as after an exhaustive search, there don’t appear to be any stand alone studies online of this beautiful waveform.

Photographed over three nights from my light polluted suburban backyard in Melbourne.

Acquisition was made using Stellarmate on a Rpi4 😊

Processed in App, PS CC 2021, Topaz NR Ai & Nik.

Astrobin (https://www.astrobin.com/full/t1i5d9/0/) version

[Nikolas]

Absolutely beautiful Andy I wish I had more time to wait out the conditions in Melbourne to acquire more images, yours are an inspiration.

[graham.hobart]

Holy jalopena batman that is fine!
tell me, what is this stuff on the raspberry pi you speak of?

[graham.hobart]

Ah! just found it, looks good but maybe one day when I don't have to open the close the dome manually!

[Karlz]

Stunning Andy, your images are always an inspiration to me.

[strongmanmike]

Lovely result Andy. That area is full of lots of potential tid bits to frame, conjures up images of a harp in my minds eye :)

Mike

[Peter Ward]

Nice to see an new installment...particularly given my underwater camera is about the only useful one I have with this lovely weather for ducks. :rain: :rain: :rain:

I'd guess you've processed the nebulosity independently to the stars and gave it a soft, buttery look.... :question:

A strong image regardless. :thumbsup:

[Bart]

Very lovely, Andy. Top shelf for that one!

[Andy01]

Thanks for nice feedback Nikolas, Graham, Karlz, Mike, Peter & Bart! :thanx:

Yes Mike, nice to find something new and Vela keeps on giving!
Peter - regarding processing I was keen to maintain the gaseous appearance of the O3, so I did the following steps...

>Pre-process / calibrate subs, flats, darks, dark flats & bias in APP.
>Remove stars from O3 & Ha masters with Starnet++
>Minimise noise using Topaz Ai (but NOT create any artificial structures!) :lol:
>Process RGB independently to create nice stars
>Layer all the masters in PS-Lighten mode
>Hue/Saturation O3-Blue, Ha-Red

Bake until done! :D

Cheers all,
Andy

[PKay]

Your a very good cook Andy...

Time for Master Chef :)

[pkinchington]

A very interesting and subtle image.
Cheers Pete

[Wilsil]

That is an amazing image.

[Andy01]

Given I do most of the cooking at home and my love of slow smoked meats on the BBQ, and crispy salmon & salads, my wife would likely agree Peter! :lol: Cheers! :thumbsup:



Thanks Kanga! :)



Cheers Wilco - appreciate the nice feedback. :thumbsup:

[Ryderscope]

Another IOTD Andy! Well done indeed :thumbsup::thumbsup::eyepop:

[Andy01]

Thanks Rodney! :D
I've created a new version with Akira Fujii effect (https://www.astrobin.com/full/t1i5d9/B/) stars, be interesting to hear your thoughts on this. :question:

[Ryderscope]

I can see that from an artform and presentation perspective the Akira Fujii effect stars can have a place and can provide a soft and somewhat pleasing affect. Kind of like applying a soft focus filter to the stars and enhancing the colour.

For me though I bump in to the need to have some realism particularly in the star field. I feel that some management of stars to stop them blowing out and a little extra colour saturation whilst still being kind to the underlying data is ok. I'm fine with getting rid of the stars altogether if it allows the detail in the nebulosity to come to the foreground.

I guess that the discussion points may stem around whether it is ok to remove stuff that is there as opposed to including stuff that isn't. All in all though I think that it is an important topic that we continue the discussions on as it ain't going away and time soon :D

CS,
Rodney

[Andy01]

Seems this image is AAPOD2 (https://www.aapod2.com/blog/blue-chilli-nebula?fbclid=IwAR3IrLf-XXhwey1Lye0X0HmM4fszbTg7N4T95jhVMf2 TyRK2DRFz9k-kbIU) today 😊

[Robert_T]

and very deserving it is too. Well done Andy!

[Geoff45]

Beautiful Andy. I am surprised that this is not imaged more often. In fact, your image was the only one I could find with Mr Google.

[Nikolas]

Hey Andy what are the coordinates for this? congrats on aapod2

[Andy01]

Thanks very much Robert :)



Yes Geoff, there are many lovely targets & sub targets for the adventurous to discover & image in Vela. For some reason most folks seem to get a bit stuck on Hershels Ray & the sting/tail, but a little research and star hopping can Indeed be rewarding. Thanks for your welcome encouragement & feedback :thumbsup:



Hi Nik, cheers!
Here you go- from the Astrobin link- RA center: 8h 47' 36"
DEC center: -45° 3' 14"

[Nikolas]

Thanks Andy, next clear night

[AnakChan]

How did I miss this? What a beautiful capture & processing!

[Paul Haese]

Colour and composition looks good Andy. Very smooth too.

[Andy01]

Thanks Sean, much appreciated! :thumbsup:



Cheers Paul - appreciate the positive comments from a well experienced imager, thanks for the good vibes :D