M8 HaRGB

[Benjamin]

Thought I'd see what I could do with some old pre-pandemic RGB data (all 20 minutes of it) when combined with the recent 6.5 hours of Ha. Wasn't hoping for much but quite pleased with the result. Colour with RGB images always makes me feel uncomfortable given there is a more or less 'real' colour to these things which I end up being very intuitive about when processing. Hope its not too far off the mark.

Scope: Skywatcher Quattro CF 8" f4 Newtonian
Mount: Skywatcher EQ6-R
Camera: ZWO ASI1600MM-Pro (NB Gain 200,-10º and BB Gain 139, -15º)
Filters: Astrodon Ha 5nm (6.5 hours of 60s and 180s subs) Gen II RGB (40x10" subs through each filter)

Astrobin: https://www.astrobin.com/full/3q3ytn/0/

[John W]

A superb image Ben - well done. A lot of detail in that image.

Regards John W.

[Benjamin]

Thanks John. One of those objects I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of processing/viewing just for the sake of the detail it contains.

[PKay]

Nice one Ben.

Some very sharp detail.

Processing our data is a great journey :)

[Benjamin]

Thanks Peter. Couldn’t agree more :-)

[multiweb]

Top shot Ben. Really well done. Fantastic details and image scale. :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

[Benjamin]

Cheers Marc. Hoping to get some fresh RGB to better align with the Ha so can up the image scale a little more. So much in there!

[CoolhandJo]

thats pretty close up! you get to see details you dont normally see. nice shot

[Benjamin]

Cheers. The 5nm Ha filter certainly cuts through the haze of city lights.

[Bassnut]

Excellent!. Huge detail and thoughtful colour processing.

[Benjamin]

Thanks Fred. Thoughtful yes, but hopefully approaching something recognizable, even if the Ha splashes the salmon pinks about a bit :-/

[Benjamin]

Shifted things toward the redder end in light of Peter’s comments about colour in his fantastic image of M8. Still a bit too pink in the middle but hopefully a little more in the right direction as to what a natural colour might be.

https://www.astrobin.com/full/3q3ytn/D/

[Nikolas]

Love the detail in the core Ben that amount of data from the Ha really does this image justice

[Benjamin]

Cheers. I’m keen to get some more Ha data to see if I can better define the hourglass, and some of the small regions around rim. This dark looking region seems to have some texture that I’d love to bring out, along with some definition in the rays of light emanating form behind some of the ‘clouds’. Might need a bigger scope though :-)

[Shiraz]

beautiful central detail Ben. Top image

[Benjamin]

Thanks Ray. Looking to go further if I can, just to get a less overly sharpened look to it. Not sure what will come from more data at this image scale but may as well try.