Rosette Nebula

[Tilt]

Hi all,

I captured NGC 2244 and surrounding Rosette Nebula last night, I wanted to try something new with the 350D which was leaving ICNR off and taking darks at the end of the run. Temp ranged between 20 - 15 degrees during the whole session which wasn't ideal, as I think the temp of the darks were cooler than the light frames. Under close inspection I can see some small black spots which I believe is due to temp differences, not the greatest, but much better than my previous attempt at real darks with a DSLR... I'll get there one day :lol:

Anyway, image details.



12 x 600 sec (light frames)
12 x 600 sec (dark frames)
Baader modified 350D @ ISO800
ED80
WO 0.8x II
Hutech IDAS LPS-P2-48


Stacked in DSS, processed in CS4.

NGC 2244 (http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4041/4371330455_21ce3c5db9_b.jpg) 700kb

[mill]

Pretty good pic Michael.
If you would reprocess this pic with less sharpening and less noise reduction it will look a lot better :)
Other than that, it looks pretty good :thumbsup:

[Tilt]

Eh? **rubs tired eyes** I think you have a point there.. I really should wait until later in the day to process images.

[Geoff45]

Guiding is great, framing is good and there's lots of data--everything necessary for a good image. Processing can always be fiddled with later. I agree with the previous comments about the sharpening.
Geoff

[spearo]

????
I can't see a picture or a link to a picture at all.
I even reloaded the page.
frank:shrug:

[Tilt]

Sorry Frank, its back up now.

[troypiggo]

That's fantastic! Well done.

[spearo]

Michael,
that was worth the wait!
Superb shot, nice and crisp, pinprick stars, lovely colors
well done mate
frank

[gregbradley]

Fantastic image.

With regards to the sharpening - broadshoot type sharpening like
unsharp mask that sharpens everything in the image are not that useful as many things in an image look better unsharpened.

Its better to master selective sharpening which is well documented on the net and allows you to sharpen only those areas that need it and you can also unsharpen any stars that accidentally get sharpened.

Noise reduction also is a tricky process where not enough and the noise can be distracting especially in summer for DSLRs yet too much can make the background too black and rob some of the fainter nebula.
Noise Ninja is a Photoshop plugin that does a super job.

I'll see if I can find a link to a tutorial for you on selective sharpening.

Here is one:

http://web.me.com/davidsaffir/davidsaffir.com/David_Saffirs_Photography_and_Print making_Blog/Entries/2009/3/9_Photoshop_CS4_New_Selective_Sharp ening_Method.html

Greg.

[Tilt]

Thanks Troy, Frank and Greg.

Greg, yep I have the Noise Ninja plugin for CS4. With this image I only just touched it with Noise Ninja, because I know that it will ruin faint data if you go too heavy on it. As for the sharpening, this image doesn't have any done to it at all. Originally I did crank the image with a bit of sharpening, but it looked wrong (as kindly noted by a few quick responses earlier today). Therefore I didn't use sharpening at all on this version of the image.

Thank you very much for the link and encouraging words :thumbsup:

Michael

[Garyh]

Thats a nice Rose Michael! I`d be happy with that!

[Tilt]

Thanks Gary :)

[mill]

Now that is what i am talking about, from drab to fab, that one can be framed and hanged Michael :thumbsup:

[iceman]

Lovely image Michael, you've come a long way very fast!

[Ken]

Excellent image Michael great focus and giding with pinpoint stars except in the very corners maybe the focal reducer is slightly to far from the sensor. I have used the W.O. type 3 reducer on my ed80 and it gives perfect stars across a aps sized sensor, hope this helps.
clear skies Ken.:)

[Tilt]

Thanks, I appreciate the comments. The reprocessing was well worth it :thumbsup:



Thanks Mike, I'm learning more and more all the time. I'm certainly happy with taking dark frames, however I must move into the realm of taking flats as well :thumbsup:



Thanks Ken. Yep I agree, with the WO 0.8x II I just cannot seem to get the image totally flat. Originally when I was looking into buying a FF/FR I was reading the type II was suitable for the ED80, so I went ahead and purchased that. It did well in helping flatten the 'super curve' the ED80, but it didn't totally solve it.

So the type III does the trick :question: Now you are giving me more reasons to spend $$$ :lol:

Michael

[RobF]

That's an awesome Rose!
No criticism here - very hard to get something that nice - hat's off to you sir!

[Tilt]

Thanks Rob :) I certainly believe the IDAS LPS filter assisted on improving the final result.

Michael

[multiweb]

Beautiful details with very vibrant colors. Great shot! :thumbsup:

[Tilt]

Thanks Marc! With these kind comments rolling in, I'm beginning to think this image is actually ok :). I look forward to finding the time to do some more imaging.