Horsehead in Ha AP140

[gregbradley]

Here is one I took a few weeks ago.

The Horsehead Nebula in Ha before it is gone for the year.
17 x 10 minutes. AP140 with 155TCC giving F5.7. Proline 16803.

http://upload.pbase.com/image/124055594

Greg.

[batema]

Congratulations on a fantastic shot.

Mark

[peter_4059]

Great shot Greg. It's an interesting target because the background nebulosity can appear as blotchy noise in some images when in fact it is detailed clouds of gas that clearly show up in this image.

The detail in the pillars between the horse and the flame is amazing.

Peter

[RobF]

My wife says "Wow - who's is that?"
Fortunately leaving out - "yours never look that good"

Wonderful shot Greg.

[Peter Ward]

Oh bugger it.....I was going to be PC and shut up, but, sorry, the noise is obvious. This area of the sky has been imaged many times before....eg

http://www.atscope.com.au/BRO/images/nb/MrEd.jpg

Good effort just the same.

[Hagar]

Nice image Greg. What a whoppin big field of view. It fits it all plus a bit in. I just wonder if maybe you have stretched it a bit hard and lost a bit of the contrast. I hope you don't mind I had a little play to lift the contrast a little. If you dont like it I can remove it.

[gregbradley]

I've posted a less pushed version now. I disagree that it was noisy, there is actual structure in the gas clouds as long exposures reveal. Have a look at Rob Gendlers images of the area and you'll see that same structure. There was a bit of graininess in the left side but I thought the revealed structure was worth it. So to some degree a point of view.

Still another few hours would have smoothed it further and enabled that level of stretch without that bit of graininess. I wouldn't call it obvious and perhaps it is better to be PC and not post critical comments which is typical of your posts Peter.

Greg.

[Paul Haese]

Nice Ha image Greg. Field is huge mate.

[Peter Ward]

I would have guessed you'd know me by now...I call a spade a shovel.

What I did say was: "a good effort". Plus the noise was obvious. (sorry, it was/is)

Typical of me? Maybe. Terse....I think not. Take it easy.

[Dean]

Greg, Your image has a great "3D" look to it that the others dont seem to display. I like yours the best :)

[multiweb]

That version is superb! That's a massive square field. Real real good details in there. :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

[renormalised]

Huge FoV!!!....Great shot, Greg. Always love Ha shots:)

[peter_4059]

It's an interesting comparison but I know which version I prefer - great image Greg.

[gregbradley]

Well for comparison purposes here are the 2 versions:

the original with the lighter background showing all the gas and its details but less contrasty and a bit of graininess in the left side
A:
http://www.pbase.com/image/124074995[/URL]

And the 2nd version with a darker background, less detail, more contrast and the graininess on the left hidden:
B:
[URL]http://www.pbase.com/gregbradley/image/124055594 (http://www.pbase.com/gregbradley/image/124055594)


Which do you prefer?:question:

Greg.

[peter_4059]

Greg,

When I see your two images side by side I prefer the latest repro as the contrast seems better however I was referring to your image compared to Peter's in my post. What I originally commented on re the detail in the nebulosity is present in both of your images.

Regards,

Peter

[Bassnut]

wow Greg, both are awesome, jump right out. You could easily blend the 2 with masks in PS. In fact this image would well suit serious PS time with all the tools at hand to produce an absolute best-in-class cracker, with high contrast and all the extended nebulosity intact with no noise.

[wasyoungonce]

Fence sitting here...both...they are both stunning.

[gregbradley]

Now 2 versions. The stretched version I agree is pushing it. More exposure time once the moon is down before its totally gone for the year will help.



Gotta love this AP140 and its reducer. Not many scopes can handle that chip so well.



Thanks Dean.



Thanks Marc and thanks for the tip.



Ha has its appeal for sure.



Thanks pater.



Thanks Peter.



Thanks Fred. I'll shoot some more Ha before its gone for the year to build it up. I did take some more after I received the correct adapter but there was a reflection from where I ground down one adapter to fit my filter wheel. I need to blacken it.



Thanks for that.