Another M8

[JohnH]

In testing my new Qguider the other night I took 16*5 min shots of M8, this is the best 10 calibrated, aligned and combined in IP...then levelled and hi-pass filtered in PS...I tried to bring out the reds to compensate for the unmodded camera and like the details in the fainter regions but I think I have overdone the colors, what do you think?

[ballaratdragons]

I like it John.

Interesting how on my monitor the centre section looks like The 'Mother of Pearl' effect one sees inside an Abalone Shell!!!

[jase]

I'm not to sure whats happened here John. The center is looking great, but the outer nebulosity doesn't flow well from the core. Did you use the PS selection tool to highlight the outer edges of the nebula to bring out the red? If so, you may need to increase your feathering so you get a smoother transition from the outer nebulosity to the detail rich core you have there.

[JohnH]

Jase, nope I didn't do anything odd in PS, I think the hi-pass was to agressive and that combined with my boosting the red channel caused this odd fringe - so I have re-processed less agressively, I prefer this version I think I have still got the details...

[jase]

Much better John. :thumbsup: The transition from the outer wisps of nebulosity to the core is a lot smoother and aesthetic. This object is traditionally not all that red, but takes on more softer subtle tones. I feel you have captured this well. Your tracking/guiding is on the ball. I think you might get some more nebulosity in the outer regions using curves. Be sure you don't clip the white point though. Don't stretch too far as you may introduce noise in the dim regions which you'll then need to selectively smooth.

[Bassnut]

John, you got a lot of Neb there for an unmodded DSLR (well at the bottom), nice work, and yes, guiding is spot on. How long were the sub exposures?.

[JohnH]

Fred,

The subs were 5 mins at iso800 - total of 10 frames combined in IP using min/max excluded average.

[Garyh]

Hi John, well guided and focused, looke like the Qguider is working a treat!! much better on the second process, to me it still looks a little on the red side, but then this comes down to personal taste, there`s no real right color only speculation....a nice M8 there!!
Well done!!!

[Dr Nick]

Great work! ;)
I'm gonna try this one soon.

[Phil]

they get better as you scoll down the page. Great stuff.
Phil