NGC 6357 The Lobster Nebula

[strongmanmike]

While all those lucky buggers were swilling beer and lapping up all those awards in Parkes...I was out where I belong :sadeyes:.. in the cold grabbing data :D

This is the first of two data sets gathered Friday and Saturday nights. The good thing was the seeing was excellent for a change and remained so for 1.5 nights woohoo :thumbsup:. The guide star hardly moved all night and went for hours without a single even random excursion, outside the 1 pixel radius circle in Astroart (1 arc sec) = heaven.

The new camera purred like a pussy cat without missing a beat too, the air reached basically 100% humidity in the end too (foggy and everything was soaked, including me!) but with no sign of CCD widow fogging, a real pleasure to use.

Here is the usual data set of images of The Lobster Nebula (http://www.pbase.com/strongmanmike2002/ngc_6357) in Scorpius. To see the largest file in each case, scroll to the bottom of each image page and click on "original" in the other sizes menu.

I think the Ha only version is my favourite actually, lots of fine wispy details showing up well in the Ha contrast.

Enjoy

Mike

[Alchemy]

Yes Michael, sounds like you didn't get the invite to the awards? The image presented is ok not burnt out in the brighter areas , still retaining data in the faint bits.

Re the awards, just took a look at the winners lists, plenty names there we don't see at IIS, with today's equipment such as these cameras you are using , the gap between the top end has closed, it will be harder to get "that" image,

I have noticed of late certainly here a decided swing to wider field images using big megapixel cameras. No recession here it seems.


Anyway back to your images, always of a good quality, and I like your passion.

Clive.

[h0ughy]

LOL you must have been watching Masterchef last night Mike to come out with a Lobster!!? So was M6 a focus run?

[gregbradley]

I was expecting a nicely done but a bit of a boring object image but I was nicely surprised.

You've done a wonderful job of this one and the fabulous seeing shows through. There's more detail in that image than any other I have seen of that object. Worth the cold and the dew!

Of interest too, is that only 2 out of the previous 7 yearly winners of the Malin Award used high end gear (CCD cameras etc). Its more about an image that is impactful with the general public in mind that would inspire and interest them to be involved with astrophotography. So high end cameras and gear is no guarantee at all. A clever and well executed DSLR image is more likely to bag it. 325,000 people viewed last years images so its quite a big deal. Possibly one of the most viewed in the world.

Greg.

[Hagar]

Very nice Mike. Great detail and colour but the background does seem a little blue and blotchy. May just be this laptop screen (Not yet calibrated).
How do you get bseeing like this, I would kill for this. mine at best is about 3 arcsec.

[strongmanmike]

No probs re the awards, I was just thinking of them all and how exciting it is at the awards presentation, while I was out there rugged up in the cold :lol:, a small plus of not being chosen this year I guess...ie I could image :thumbsup:

Glad you thought the image was ok Clive

Mike



Well known nebula not my moniker.

M6 is still to come :thumbsup:



Cheers Greg, glad you liked the creepy crawly :P...

Re the DM's, it is also about an image that David likes, it is not "always" just the impactful images that get a mention and that's a good thing because if only the big punchy images got a look in there'd be an awful lot of sky that would never feature in the awards :thumbsup:.



Cheers Doug

The blotchyness comes about from the usual squeeze I put on to reveal fainter outer stuff, I didn't think it was that bad though :shrug:...but I'll have another look, cheers for the feedback :thumbsup:

Mike

[TrevorW]

Very colourful image Mike

[DavidTrap]

Very impressive,

DT

[jase]

Well done Mike. I like the Ha rendition the most, the LHaRGB blend not so... I'm not certain of star colours that's all. I'm under the impression the large star SAO208789 is actually orange being a K/M class, but your rendition presents it as a light blue. On a straight RGB combine, is it also blue? Perhaps the blend has result in a colour shift. Not sure. Love the details though.:thumbsup:

[strongmanmike]

Thanks Trev, I was happy with the colours too :)



Cheers David, it is a very intricate nebula actually with a lot of fine wispy detail





I like the Ha the most too, I often do, I think it is the raw contrast it provides that looks good?

Regarding the star colours...hmmm, while sure, perhaps not perfect, I think they are in the ball park and seem to match ok with StarAtlas Pro colours and the straight RGB..? I was quite happy with the star colours actually :shrug: anyway the colour of one star ain't gunna cause any sleep loss :lol:

Cheers anyway...Malin winner ;)

[Garyh]

That Ha one certainly packs a lot of detail! real nice.
Plenty of detail in the Lhargb rendition as well :thumbsup:
Like Greg mentions, I find this area a bit boring but what you have done with it makes me change my mind!

[DavidU]

Very nice (and BIG) image Mike, love the colour.
I noted you are one of the few who have ever had enough gut's to clean an AP objective lens. (I would have had kittens !)

[richardo]

Damn beautiful image here Migel!
Full res version looks great on my 24"!
Lovely depth and detail to the core brought out by the Ha; nice rich saturation, resolution and pin pricks for the tiny stars.
Once again the Starfire delivers the goods... accompanied by your behemoth of a camera:P and of course some good skies.
Just a hint of colour speckle from the lower centre below the neb across to the lower right hand corner.. that's the only area.

Yes my pick is the Ha.... always something about Ha/ B&W... maybe its the tiny stars, maybe it's the contrast and depth, maybe I should blame my parents for not getting a colour TV when they first came out and all the other kids had one:mad2::shrug::lol:

All the best:thumbsup:
Rich

[multiweb]

Great Ha Mike. Very detailed. :thumbsup:

[SkyViking]

Another fabulous image Mike, there's a great amount of detail in there! I think I can see a tiny upside down 'pillar of creation' in the centre of the crop. And the Ha version is just stunning. Thanks for sharing :)

[CoolhandJo]

Lovely image. Exotic like colours!

[strongmanmike]

Cheers Gazza, I was after a bold looking version with some contrast, I wanted it more or less a natural colour image but bold none the less.



Thanks Dave, only big images for me. Actually the full frame image displayed is only 50% of full size. Although I often to do it, sometimes displaying the full frame full res isn't worth it because you need to pan around to see it all which can be fun in a galaxy field but I recon a nebula shot often needs to be enjoyed a little more in one go..?

Actually the cleaning of the AP glass was very simple and easy and after having done it now I wouldn't hesitate to do it again should the need arrise.



Thanks so much Richard

The Ha looks the goods huh? :P

It doesn't seem to happen all that often at my dark site but when the seeing is on the money it is really quite a buzz! :thumbsup:. I use my guide errors to asess the seeing actually and at one stage on Saturday night the average guide errors hovered around 0.1 pixel (or less) at 2"/pixel, for 20 to 30min at a time. Being from the old hand guiding days, to think I am getting ave errors of just 0.2" for half an hour at a time is just mind boggling really :eyepop:

[RobF]

Wonderful work Mike. Its sort of "all the same pink" throughout this neb, so agreed the Ha really is a pleasure to take in. Sublime.....

[Paul Haese]

Love the Ha version but my favourite is the medium close up. Detail, colour and globules.

[jjjnettie]

:) One could get lost in there. Plenty of nooks and crannies to explore.

[marc4darkskies]

Verrrry nice Mike! :thumbsup::thumbsup: My favorite is the "main nebula" crop - perfect framing and you've processed the detail & colour nicely. Yeah, I like & appreciate the Ha but with me it's always going to be a case of show me the colour!! :D

Is the Lobster a "boring" subject? Well, when I imaged the Running Chicken I thought it was going to be monotone and boring but with some processing effort it turned out anything but. I now think any subject, properly processed and framed to highlight its particluar nuances will be quite striking and the Lobster you've done here is no exception. Good one!

Cheers, Marcus

[renormalised]

Like the Ha version the best, but the colour versions are good as well :)

Well done :)

[renormalised]

Oh...and I like my lobster with mournay sauce, and some nicely blanched veg' as well :):P

[strongmanmike]

Cheers everyone for looking and your feedback.



I've turned it around now, so to me it is the Lobsters middle finger bit like the Fickle Finger in Eta....could be a cows teet...or a rubber glove getting ready for a prostate examination..or...? :P



Just re oriented the whole bunch and added another crop of the main lobster Rolf, if you care to have a gander. As Marcus says, there are little nuiances there. The Ha is often very dramatic.



Cheers Paul...wonder if Dave would'a liked this one? :P



Thanks Marcus

Yes I knew this nebula wasn't the greatest as far as colour variation goes but I also new it had some amazing filamentary detail ...luckily I got a Leo Trio-like night of good seeing :thumbsup: and two clear nights so I could give it a proper go :)

Mike

[Peter Ward]

True, but it depends on what you are trying to capture.... Sure, Eddie- T won in 2005 with a SBIG ST10, Martin Pugh in 2008 with SBIG STL11000.

Yet while the overall award has gone here and there in so far as equipment is concerned, the deep sky has been dominated by CCD users to date.

BTW nice shot Mike.... I also see you are in the running again at RGO this year ;)

[Bassnut]

Excellent in every respect Mike, quite dramatic and a good 3D effect. Exquisite detail too.

[strongmanmike]

Yes I am...but actually..on this topic, what's with three of your five entries ie The Sun, Cen A and M104..? They are all in clear contravention of the conditions of entry ie already been previously published in print and/or taken before 16 August 2008...?

Sorry but I am a just bit bemused :shrug:

Mike

[strongmanmike]

Thanks Fred, very happy that you liked it..given it's prodigious field size and all :P

Mike

[Peter Ward]

I was under the impression the rules were relaxed this year, aka:

Entrants to the three main categories may submit up to five photos per month to the Astronomy Photographer of the Year Flickr group and five photos in total to the Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition. By adding a photo to the group on Flickr you confirm to the Royal Observatory Greenwich that it:


was taken and processed by you
is consistent with the Flickr Community Guidelines (http://www.flickr.com/guidelines.gne)
is your original work
does not infringe the copyright or any other rights of any third party
does not contain any obscene or defamatory content or material

Hence I didn't see a problem....are there more rules elsewhere? As I couldn't find them.

P.S.
Opps! I just found this bit way down in their blurb:

Photos that have already been previously published or submitted to a print publication, or that have won a prize in a major competition (one receiving more than 500 photos) are not eligible. Photos taken more than two years before the competition closing date are also not eligible (i.e. taken before 16 July 2008).

Doh! Of course I'll withdraw any offending entries

In any event, the photo's used in the current RGO exhibition are not so constrained

[strongmanmike]

Ah well, easy oversight ;)