Thors Helmet with 19 hours of data

[Paul Haese]

This has been my summer project. It is comprised of 19 hours of exposure time. 8 hours of Ha and 3.6666 hours in each colour. It probably needs a lot of luminence data to make it really pop. That said I am really happy with the image.

Click Here (http://paulhaese.net/ThorsHelmetHaRGB.html)for image

Comments welcome.

[Bassnut]

wow, that fairly pops the way it is, very nice indeed Paul.

A huge effort well worth the monster exposure time.

[Jeffkop]

Great image Paul. The extra luminance data can only further enhance what is otherwise a really successful photo. Are you going to continue with the HA for the extra luminance or use a clear filter ??

[DavidU]

Bellissimo !:thumbsup:

[Kevnool]

That is a great image of Thors Helmet Paul of one of my faves on my observing list.
Cheers Kev.

[troypiggo]

Wonderful dedication and image scale.

[cwjames]

Wow, thats a VERY nice image Paul. The time you have spent on it shows.

Well Done !

[AlexN]

Phwoar!! :) Niice image Paul...

Very slick! Good to see you really pushing out the exposure times.. 19hrs is nothing to sneeze at.. Do you find images much easier to process when you have plenty of data? I almost always find the results much easier to attain when going > 8hrs data on a target.

Great work mate..

[TrevorW]

Top image Paul

[rat156]

Hi Paul,

WOW, that's excellent.

I have tried to shoot Thor's Helmet with my GSO, but I have horrid reflections off Sirius. See the image below. How did you rid yourself of these?

Cheers
Stuart

[h0ughy]

fantastic result Paul

[Paul Haese]

Thanks all for the comments.

Jeff, I think I am gonna use a clear filter for Luminence. I just want to deal with a noise issue I have at present.

Alex, more data means less noise overall but it takes longer to do everything because of the volume of subs.

Stuart, you may remember that I have one of the early RC models from GSO. In fact I think I was either the second person or third person to buy one in Australia. The scope had a bad baffle design (much worse effects than what you have shown me); so I pulled the baffle out and flocked it with flocking felt. That completely removed the problem. You might want to consider doing that yourself.

[Octane]

Beautiful, Paul. Sensational.

Stuart, that's not a reflection. You're very much mistaken. That's just the Veil supernovae remnant extending down into Canis Major. :P

H

[Leonardo70]

Great shot Paul.

Leo

[gbeal]

Woowsers, looks great as is. 19 hours is above and beyond the call of duty.
Gary

[CoolhandJo]

Wonderful! The FOV (Close up) is exceptional. The colours are very nice.

[Hagar]

Come on Paul, if this image pops any more it will be a new supernova.

Really beautiful image, by far the best Thors Helmut I have seen.
Well worth the effort. A definite APOD, send it off to them.

Well done.

[Tamtarn]

Absolutely stunning Paul :thumbsup:

Wow! 19 hours :eyepop: certainly well worth the effort - great detail and the colours are super

[Peter Ward]

Try a long dew shade...of at least equal length to the OTA. Also try changing the framing a little. A fraction of a degree can make a world of difference to stray reflections.

[Martin Pugh]

Nicely processed Paul

a fine image indeed.
cheers
Martin

[Rodstar]

That is a lot of work there Paul. Thanks for posting it.

I was visually observing Thors Helmet from my backyard a few days ago, with the OIII filter I could make out the overall shape etc, but to see the detail in your image is taking things to another universe! I look forward to further study of this object under dark skies. In particular, the part which extends above the helmet - that was not something I particularly noticed the other day.

[multiweb]

Beautiful intricate details in the neb. Top shot indeed. :thumbsup:

[Garyh]

Nice work Paul! All that time has payed off!
Might give the helmet a go tonight!
cheers Gary

[Gallifreyboy]

By Odin thats sensational

[strongmanmike]

Yep, that's a very fine image Paul :thumbsup:

Your colours look great and the detail is really good too.

I'm not sure what is causing your noise problem, I looked at the files you sent and I notice there is patchyness in your Lum shot that is being revealed when you combine the colour data, strange but I have seen this before and have never been quite sure what's going on :shrug: may be in your DDP process of shadows highlights filter or something similar used on the Lum (Ha)..?

I dunno but when Thors Helmet is displayed in this orientation it always looks like the Magic Pudding to me, running along :shrug:.....:screwy:...:rolleyes:

Mike

[Paul Haese]

Mike now you see what I mean. It is quite odd. I think just adding 5 or so hours of Lum could solve most of the noise issue. The stretch in CCDstack will not have to be as hard to get the histogram up and this will most likely prevent the noise from appearing. Just a theory but one that I am going to test.

It does look a bit like a magic pudding. Except I see it flying.;)

[robin]

Stunning Paul. I always keep an eye out for your work & am always blown away by your dedication

[richardo]

This is a beautiful image Paul.
Looks like you have things ironed out with your scope.
Your colour looks spot on!

This time of the year in SA(over here at least) is a pain I've found over the years. For me being on the far west coast... about 10hrs West nor west of you, the evening skies are filled full of dust, heat haze and salt particles.. very rarely can I get good tight stars... but we keep at it!
I've been doing quite a few projects and one of them is 'Thors'. However everything is soft looking and the 'bubble' lacks clarity, unlike your rendition.
The amount of hours you invested is well worth the effort.

After another hot spell of 6 days around 42-44*C, am glad the cool change has hit...
Maybe things will clean up some...

Keep up the good work.
Rich

[RobF]

Stunning work Paul. Sounds like the search for perfection continues!

[marc4darkskies]

Very nice work Paul - and what a marathon effort!! :thumbsup::thumbsup:

Cheers, Marcus

[Paul Haese]

Thanks all for the comments.

Rich, I don't have the dust problem down at Clayton. Air quality is pretty good there and particulate matter is kept to a minimum. My seeing there has been tested and rated at around 1 arc second on average. It can peak as high as 0.78 arc seconds. Only real issue there is cloud can be a problem at times.

[Ric]

I'm glad I caught up with this thread.

What an excellent image Paul, all that time really payed off.

Fine work indeed.

[gregbradley]

That's a great image Paul and a tremendous effort. The long exposure times really pay off and are the way to go if you can get the skies and time.

Greg.

[RB]

That's a fantastic image Paul.
It certainly pays off in the end when you expose for longer.
19 hours is a feat !

Well done on this fantastic shot.

My only suggestion is to maybe try and crop the RHS so you can centre the Helmet in the frame.

[spearo]

Woah!
Just saw this image.
What a top shot !

fine detail and razor sharp too.
just beautiful! Something for me to aspire to.

well done
frank

[Dennis]

That’s a beautiful portrait of this fascinating structure. I’m also impressed by your dedication to the art; these multi-session projects certainly lift these images to a new level of clarity, depth and beauty. The detail in the “helmet” is quite exquisite – nice processing!

Cheers

Dennis

[allan gould]

Absolutely brilliant image. I just don't know how you have the patience and perserverence for the type of imaging you do. Dedication springs to mind.
Im all to ready, once Ive got some sort of image, to go to the next object and see whats there.

[telemarker]

This is one hell of an image. The detail and colour are exceptional. This is something to aspire to when I get some serious toys..... and you haven't finished!!! :eyepop:

Top quality imaging. :thumbsup:

Regards
Keith

[AlexN]

I dunno Andrew, I think the 2/3rds principal extends from photography into astro photography.. I really quite like seeing targets interestingly framed... All too often you see images with a target dead center in the field of view... Whilst on some larger targets its the only way to do it, sometimes I find it a little monotonous... I really liked the off center framing of this shot...

[erick]

Lovely, Paul. I have always loved the colours in this object - soft with a nice transition between them.

[RB]

I understand your point Alex and a long while ago we had a discussion on here about that very same thing.
It's a personal thing of course, but to me the rule of thirds just doesn't seem to work on astro images unless there's more than one object in the frame and that you can balance it so.

I just think that a single main object being offset on a starry background isn't as pleasing.
It usually works for terrestrial but not for astro IMO.
With astro I like to see the main point of interest in the centre of a starry sky.
For some reason it feels more precise to me.

:shrug:

[Paul Haese]

Mike Sidonio suggested that I should post the Ha version of this, so here it is.

Click Here (http://paulhaese.net/ThorsHelmetHa.html) for image

[gregbradley]

Nice one Paul.

This object is brightest in O111 though so capturing some O111 would add a new dimension.

Greg.

[Jeff]

What a beautiful object and complex shape. The "bubble" structure is very easy to see, so much so that it looks almost like a huge jellyfish.

Lovely processing too Paul. I like your colours better than some others I've seen for this target. You must hang a mounted copy of this on the wall somewhere. :thumbsup:

[desler]

That really is a spectacular image, you've really outdone yourself this time Paul.


Darren

[strongmanmike]

What a shame you vowed to never enter the David Malin awards again Pauli :whistle: surely you wouldn't give him "another" chance to redeem himself?

....bah! you'll give in ;)

[Paul Haese]

Thanks all for the kind comments.