NGC 3247 (Gum 29, RCW 49, Whirling Dervish Nebula)

[TrevorW]

This giant HII region and massive star formation region in the Carina arc is associated with the star cluster Westerlund 2. There are two Wolf Rayet stars (WR 20a and WR 20b) as well as at least a dozen O-stars within this massive cluster. The hottest known O-star is the O3V. A 2007 study gives a distance estimate of 26 000 ly +/- 4 500 ly.


(?? re ringing around brighter stars anyone have a simple step by step sequence for constructing a star mask to avoid this in PS either CS2,3,or 6)



Equipment:
GSO 10" f/8 Truss RC Losmandy G11 Mount guided PHD2 Orion Starshoot on 60mm guide scope
QHY 268c one shot colour camera, -10c, . Gain 57 Offset 30, NINA sequence, with Optolong L Extreme filter
Time/Locale:
24 frame 3min exposures a total of 1hr 24min captured 15/05/2023 Bortle 5/6 sky between 8:00pm and 12pm, Najm Nazm Observatory Kelmscott WA, no moon, no wind, cold night
Processing: Stacked DSS, then P2, PS6, some Pixinsight

[Dave882]

Nice work Trevor. An interesting view and well framed too!
I can’t really advise on processing tips in PS, but to my eye the entire background has a bit of a reddish hue to it so perhaps pulling that back to a more neutral tone may be a first step and then a mask for the ringing?

[TrevorW]

Thanks David is this any better, the whole mask thing does my head in a number of tutorials on web all different and nothing step by step

[TrevorW]

Second attempt

[Dave882]

Hi Trevor yes definitely an improvement by my eye- but some dark ringing around those stars now if you zoom in. Sorry- wish I could help you how to do a mask but that’s on my gotta-learn-howto-do-that list as well. :thumbsup:

[matlud]

Very nice work Trevor. Would be interesting to see how it looks with some more integration time but is an interesting object and well framed. Cheers, Mat

[TrevorW]

Thanks Mat :)