Cats Paw Nebula in Ha

[Hagar]

A second clear night in a row so I couldn't hold back.
I imaged the Cats Paw Nebula in Ha with GSORC10 and Atik 11002M with a Baader 7nm Ha filter.
Combination of 10 X 10 minute exposures combined using CCDStack and finished off in PS CS4.
The black spots in the image look like I need to capture a new set of dark files. The image was cropped a little to remove the seagulls from the corners until my FF arrives.

The second image was processed with a complete new set of dark frames and boy what a difference they make.

Hi Res Version http://www.darkskyau.com/cm/displayimage.php?pid=278&fullsize=1

[leon]

beautiful image Doug, I love the HA imaging, well done indeed, have to agree though those clear nights are few and far between.

Leon

[ptc]

nice data but you have overdone the sharpening in my assessment. Try it without any sharpening and then with a very slight amount and show us both: I'd be interested in the result

[multiweb]

:eyepop: That looks great! So sharp. Love it! :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

[jjjnettie]

Super work Doug!
Love it.

[gregbradley]

Great result Doug. The oversharpening takes a bit off the result but you got a lot of detail there I haven't seen before.
With selective sharpening its a good practice to block the stars from the sharpening layer. You do that by simply reversing the white/black so now what you rub or click on blocks the sharpening layer rather than show it. I normally just use the eyedropper tool and set a small circle and click on the oversharpened stars leaving the areas that can take the sharpening only and not the stars which always look too harsh otherwise.

That second ball type neb near the bottom has a lot of detail that almost looks like a supernova remnant. Very interesting. Worth a long focal length image I reckon.

Greg.

[Alchemy]

Looks really good Doug .... close up of the tendrils would be nice too.

[Hagar]

Thanks Leon, Have you left on your big holiday yet?



Thanks Richard, I tend to think I over did the sharpening a bit. Something I am always guilty of. I have to come to terms with the mix of detail and asthetics. I will post the 3 images you requested soon.



Thanks Mark, As Richard said probably a little to sharp. I just get carried away with some good data, considering the amount of nights I get to image these days I am not to worried about it.



Thanks Jeanette. Been a while between images.

Thanks Greg, I will give it a go but I must get some reasonable darks first then work on my flats a bit more.



Thanks Clive. I will post an image of the tendrill area.

[peter_4059]

That's a really striking image Doug. Can't remember seeing the cats paw in Ha before. Great work.

Peter

[mill]

Doug that looks very good and with lots of detail :prey2:
And only 10x10 Minutes.

[Hagar]

3 levels of sharpening.

Image 1 is the working Master image that all others were taken from with no sharpening.

Image 2 is an image with minimal selective sharpening.

Image 3 is a heavilly sharpened image.

Image 4 is a crop of the tendrill area as requested Clive.

[RobF]

You'll probably be able to get some great results with a bit of deconvolution at the FL that RC10 will be running at too Doug....

Great shot too BTW :)

[Paddy]

You're certainly off to a flying start with your new scope, Doug. Seems like only yesterday you were breaking in the 8". Looking forward to more.

[marki]

Looking good Doug :thumbsup:

Mark

[Hagar]

New image after a reprocess with a new set of Dark Frames. This has made a huge improvement and removed all the small dark marks scattered over the image. No touching up done only some selective sharpening and I mean very selective this time.

High Res Version
http://www.darkskyau.com/cm/displayimage.php?pid=278&fullsize=1

[jjjnettie]

Now that's a real improvement. Beautiful.

[ptc]

better on the sharpening.

now it is time to boost up the brightness... use photoshop's levels adjustment and move the middle slider....
:D

[Hagar]

Done.

[TrevorW]

Not bad but IMO with HA, Doug I'd go for 15 minute subs at least

[ptc]

better

now it is time to work on the stars: use photoshop: select/highlights
then select/expand 2 pixels

then select/feather 2 pixels

then use filter/blur/gaussian blur by 1 or 2 pixels

that will eliminate the "flat tops" on the stars and make them look more natural instead of sharp-edged

:hi:

[Alchemy]

:thumbsup: lots of detail Doug

[multiweb]

cool tip :thumbsup:

[strongmanmike]

Yeh that's looking great Doug! nice work, the real test will be the incorporation of RGB, but get it right and you will have a very nice image :thumbsup:

[spearo]

looks good and plenty contrast
you'd be happy
frank

[Hagar]

Thanks Peter. It is a nice nebula to capture in Ha as it's very rich in Ha so capture is relatively easy.



Thanks Martin



Thanks Rob, Deconvolution is somewhere down the track. Imaging at 0.95 aspp, decov can do more damage than good but will try it down the track a bit.



Thanks Patrick, The 8" just didn't cut it with the big CCD so a step up was required.



Thanks Mark, still a way to go.

[Hagar]

Thank JJJ



Thanks Richard. It's really great to have someone like you looking on who is prepared to offer advice on how to improve the image and make the best of some hard to get data. Thanks again.



Thanks Trevor but I elected to stick with ten minutes for this image because at 2M focal length guiding was going to be critical and at this stage it is an almost unknown quantity. Maybe longer on some future image but untill everything is sorted I will take shorter and more images.



Thanks Clive I was pretty happy with these results.



Thanks Mike. That will be the next challenge once this moon disappears and I get all the extras I have ordered and get them all working. I will probably redo the Ha as well without having to crop the image. So far the optics look good it's just the junky mechanicals I have to replace.



Thanks Frank. Now I know some of the problems you have had to overcome with your G11 and C14.

[Hagar]

Here is the latest update with a small Median filter to smoothe off the background a bit and the blurr and fix on the Stars. Thanks Richard.

[Bassnut]

Excellent detail there Doug, I think youve handled the selective sharpening very well, apart from perhaps the stars which Richard covered.

[Octane]

Fabulous first H-alpha light, Doug.

I can see that this is going to be a very promising, rewarding and fulfilling relationship -- this RC and 11K chip. : )

I'm starved of photons. It seems like I'll never image again.

H

[Hagar]

Thanks Fred, I'm very happy with the results so far but I still have an awful lot to learn but it is nice to be imaging again, seems like an eternity between images.



Thanks H, I know how you feel. Seems like ages between the images I have managed and I have a permanent setup. You better start saving for the house and a permanent observatory. It does make life a lot easier.

[Paul Haese]

The last image is certainly nice. I like the lighter version with the higher contrasted grey tones. Love the star sizes too.

[Hagar]

Thanks Paul. Love those Ha stars they stay nice and small.