The Dark Wolf howling at a 64% moon...redone

[Benjamin]

Not ideal sky conditions at the local farm stay last Friday (stars twinkling madly and the moon) but a clear sky none-the-less. Was keen to have a crack at SL 17 (the “Dark Wolf’ near the Scorpion’s tail). Processed it first without Luminance filter data, using the Ha as luminance, which made ‘the head’ quite wispy and light, and then processed it with the Luminance filter data, which really made the whole area much more opaque. Then....

....did it all again and got a much more natural look. Lum and Ha combined for Luminance and Ha as the Red channel with various adjustments to reflect the RGB colour when combining it all. I think a much better result. Astrobin: https://www.astrobin.com/full/3g2cxw/K/?mod=&real=

Skywatcher Esprit 100
ZWO ASI1600MM-Pro (NB Gain 200, BB Gain 76, -10°)
Skywatcher EQ6-R
Astrodon 1.25” Filters (Ha 5nm 56x180s, Lum 58x120s, R 29x120s, G 29x120s, B 27x120s)
Processed in PixInsight

[multiweb]

Simply superb Ben. :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:
To the poolroom.

[Benjamin]

Cheers. Wish I had a pool room! Straight to the kid’s playroom…

[marc4darkskies]

Nicely done Ben! Rich colour and good detail.

[gregbradley]

That turned out great.

Greg.

[Benjamin]

Thanks Marcus and Greg. Always finding something wrong with it but at the same time getting more on top of the HaLRGB processing game :-) Trying somehow to ‘respect the light’ (despite Ha messing this idea up somewhat).

[marc4darkskies]

Hehe ... there's always SOMETHING wrong with an image! Unless you're a processing genius, it's practically impossible to get it right the first time! I always iterate my processing, I walk away for a while and come back with a fresh set of eyes and I do that multiple times. :nerd:

I actually don't like the term "respect the light" - at all!. It doesn't mean anything because it doesn't convey information about what is right or wrong with an image. I think as long as an image has the relative intensities of the colours and structures approximately right (and even that is ambiguous), all is good with the world. And you're right, adding Ha muddies the waters significantly.

[Benjamin]

Interesting comment Marcus. I’m quite fascinated with that point where the image is both captivating for photographic reasons and just the sheer amazement that this thing in space is real! Ideally they coincide of course, although for me the processing is about bringing out what is there as a kind of observation of the object, or showing what I think is amazing about the thing. This certainly leads to distortions and probably demonstrates my own limitations in understanding the object itself. I reprocessed this to make the colour much more vibrant, but more for the sake of trying to show the various diagonal dark dust lanes which cross the scene, parenthesizing the Wolf.
Astrobin: https://www.astrobin.com/full/3g2cxw/M/

[marc4darkskies]

It's a cracker of an image Ben and you've certainly taken saturation to the limit there (which is fine of course).

I like how you think, and it's refreshing to see someone else who thinks as I do. It's a bit of an art to get the balance right though. But if you're not pulling every last bit of depth, colour nuance and real detail out of your data (which I think you've done BTW), you're missing the point IMO.

[matlud]

A very nice wolf 👍👍👍

[Ryderscope]

Fantastic, that is a top notch image Ben. Great composition and gets the thumbs up from a technical perspective. As Marcus indicated, it helps to take an iterative approach with our processing so no surprises that you are finding this. Once I think that I have done as much as I can with an image I will park it for a couple of days and then review. Amazing what one can see after a bit of a break (bad bits and good bits).

CS,
Rodney

[Benjamin]

Thanks Marcus and Matt. Couldn’t agree more Rodney. I always find an aspect I’ve missed or, more recently, a process that I’ve applied a little too heavily or that is ill suited to the data. All a bucket load of fun!

[Paul Haese]

Nice Ben. There is lots to like in the image.

[Benjamin]

Thanks Paul. Your M78 is etched in my mind as an example of something I’d like to be able to achieve with HaRGB in regard to having the natural colours speak so wonderfully. Of course the Ha upsets it all, but I do try to match it all to what the initial RGB suggests…. Sort of….

[AdamJL]

That's beautiful. I love the edges of the nebula at the bottom being lit by the big star down there.

[ChrisD]

wow, you've done a great job processing that image. I really like it.

Chris

[MortonH]

Awesome image. Hadn't seen the wolf before.

[Ant0nio]

A splendid Wolf Ben, I'm working on this one myself atm & you've set the bar at a very decent height. :thumbsup:

Cheers,
Tony

[Benjamin]

Thanks Adam. HD152161 is quite a bright yellow star and was a little tricky to manage, given some star reduction and its rather extensive glow.



Thanks Chris.



I saw Andy Campbell’s a while back and always wanted to have a crack. Stands out well in Ha :-)



Best of luck shooting it Tony. The weather has been clear for a few days in Brisbane (finally) but short lived it seems. Hope you haven’t been too affected by all the rain that hit your part of the world.

[alpal]

Hi Ben,
that's a great picture.
I've searched on the internet for other renditions and yours
is way up there with the best.
When it all works out like that it makes imaging well worthwhile.


cheers
Allan

[Benjamin]

I think you’re too kind! But it is nice to get fresh data in a nice location and take the time to pull it together (even in numerous iterations). Feel like I’ve learnt quite a bit doing it too so happy with that :-) Appreciate the lovely comment though. Cheers 🥂