NGC7293 - Helix Nebula

[Doogs38]

Just like John (Oska), I too like the Helix nebula and as my confidence and understanding of my imaging gear grows, I have found myself starting to return to specific targets. I now have 3hrs 45mins of data on the Helix captured across three sessions. Some of the detail is starting to shine through although it took four attempts at processing the combined image to produce something I was happy with.

Things I've learnt: the Baader UHC-S filter does not like bright stars - halos and colour casts; it can be quite difficult to remove light pollution gradients; aligning framing between different imaging sessions is tedious when done manually!

SW120ED x 0.85 Reducer/Flattener
10 x 300s RGB, 35 x 300s UHC-S, ASI294MC
Darks, flats, dark flats. APP, PS, DeNoise and cropped.

Any and all feedback most welcomed. Thanks for looking. Alex

[xelasnave]

Come on Alex you cant upload a Hubble image and call it yours:lol::lol::lol::lol:
OR did they pinch theirs from you:D
Excellent capture you can be very proud of this one excellent detail ...well done.
My daughter is impressed and that is not easy to do.
Alex

[oska]

Wow! There's that detail I'm looking for. Two thumbs up.

[AstroViking]

Holy cow... I wanted to say something else, but would get banned for it.

That's a fantastic image. Hat's off to you!

[ahmed_haider]

That is an amazing capture! So much detail is visible. You need to post this on the regular forum not the beginners one :)

[Doogs38]

Gosh, thanks folks :thanx:

Alex - thanks mate, and I'm glad your daughter likes it. My 120ED refractor is no HST but I'm quite impressed with what it can capture. Hope you're ok.

John - thanks. I reckon your recent Helix image has the same amount of detail (if not more) in it just waiting to be 'dug out' with some extra post-processing. I'm starting to think this astro-imagery gig is as much about collecting the data as it is about image editing!

Steve - thanks. I said pretty much the same thing after APP produce the initial combined image/FIT as even the comparatively unprocessed image had loads of detail and rich colour. The results of my stacking etc have rarely been that good!

Ahmed - thank you. This is just one of those lucky beginners things where playing and playing and playing with imaging editing 'stuff' produce something half decent!

Back to the trial and error process of editing my most recent image of NGC6744 image :D Alex

[Dave882]

Great image mate- tonnes of detail and lovely colour. Well done!!

[Doogs38]

Cheers Dave! I'm quite impressed by APP's ability to process multiple sessions with different exposures etc and make sense of it. The RGB data I included in this image (in addition to the UHC-S data) was washed out and pretty ordinary to say the least. But APP found the good bits in it! And I'm now using your hot tip about 'RGB correction' when calibrating stars - thanks for that. Alex

[Dave882]

I think this is APPs strong suit for sure. I have a similar set of data for the helix, a combination of 2x c14 f7 (rgb & IDAS NBZ) & c14 Hyperstar f1.9 and it’s worked out how to put it all together using the fov of the Hyperstar and detail of the set @ 2700mm. The original data was terrible, but it managed to put it together for a respectable result. One things I’ve learned tho It pays greatly to integrate all the individual sets separately and then combine those finished stacks as another integration playing with the settings till you get the best result.

[oska]

I'm hoping the data collecting can make up for the lack of processing skills :)

[Doogs38]

Another great tip - thanks Dave. That will be my image editing fun for this week. So far, I've been combining multiple sessions in one pass through APP and hadn't considered the possibility of stacking/integrating each session individually, then stacking/integrating those into a final image. Makes me wonder if I can also try rolling in some faux Ha and OIII I've pulled from the UHC-S frames. More experimenting :-)

John (Oska), what image editing tools are you using? Alex

[oska]

Pixinsight mainly. Mostly because there's so may tutorials.

[Crater101]

That's fantastic. Seriously impressive work mate, well done!

:2thumbs: