Cederblad 214

[jase]

Hi All,

While I've been working to collect more data from my own gear to finish an imaging project (full moon frustrations), I wish to share a collaborative effort on a target that has been my list for sometime. I've worked collaboratively with John for sometime assisting with equipment tuning and bouncing ideas. Some may recall the IC410 image in which John performed the data acquisition and I processed. Anyway without further ado, here's our latest work;

Cederblad 214 (http://cosmicphotos.com/gallery/image.php?fld_image_id=216&fld_album_id=11) (Hubble narrowband palette)

What a single frame image?...yes I've let you down - no mosaic this time! However, I hope its equally pleasing to the eye. I did wrestle with this data set for sometime. The Ha data was sublime, as was the SII...but the OIII killed me. Despite being a narrowband filter, it wasn't immune to the light pollution at the data acquisition site. This required specific gradient removal processing to balance the image. Still a mess however. I don't like the top of the frame. Looks a turbulent mess in my opinion, though it relatively accurate of the scene. USM across each emission line master before colour mapping with clipping masks in photoshop. Very powerful. Allowed for the fainter SII regions to pop through the OIII data. No HaSII:Ha:HAOIII here - pure SII:Ha:OIII mix. The ASA delivers interesting diffraction spikes. Had the same on the IC410 image. Was thinking of chasing them down in photoshop, but they grew on me. A signature stamp of a perfectly collimated ASA - John sure has it tweaked. Other than the OIII gradient, super clean data was obtained from the Apogee U16M. Minor noise reduction via a mask was applied. Could have probably gone stronger, but wanted to avoid a plastic feel. Still trying to perfect the purple star halo desaturation routine. Saturation (seasoned) to taste.

Hope you enjoy it. :) All comments welcome.

Cheers

[CoolhandJo]

Magnificant. Really detailed and perfect colours

[Alchemy]

Nice and crisp detail in the high contrast areas, done well so it's not noticeably sharpened, I'm struggling to comment on the quality of the data as far as the top goes, not really knowing what it should look like, I can look at an rgb image and know very quickly what's not right... Don't have the depth of experience with narrowband to effectively critique, so i will jut say it looks good to me.

[jase]

Thanks Paul. Pleased you liked it. :) Narrowband has an artistic flavour to it.



I guess its about perception Clive. The OIII data has caused some areas to be higher in illumination than others. The flat corrected most of it but with an F/3.6 optical system flats can be erroneous. The top of the image I believe is accurate, but perhaps too light. Actually, to the top is NGC7822 so there is certainly nebulosity present there. I just didn't expect there to be much OIII. Appreciate your feedback and honesty.:thumbsup:

Thanks guys

Cheers :D

[Peter Ward]

What's not to like?

Very pretty image. Top shelf. :thumbsup::thumbsup:

[jase]

Thanks Peter. Perhaps I'm getting fussy with age and scrutinise my images too hard. Not healthy! ;):lol:

[Octane]

Jase,

As always, <insert superlative here>.

I really, really adore the mottled look to the top half of the frame.

Nothing to dislike, everything to like, and, those diffraction spikes are way cool!

H

[Peter Ward]

Isn't that the truth.

I think it was Fred V who made the observation, stars are in focus or "eggy" or they are not, the image is noisy or not.

I'd go further to say: there is shadow detail or not, structure within the highlights or not, accurate (or at least pleasing) colour or not

These are the technical "givens", when nailed, that make a great image.

Framing the subject is the artistic bit, but teeny Galaxies at 600mm you'd have to question....

In this case, all good.:thumbsup:

[Bassnut]

Sublime image Jase, teeny stars, expert NB processing without the crayon effect, extreme detail, no noise. Looks like you spent time getting it right and it shows. The U16 is a sweet cam, to die for, but ABG. What was the band width of the filters and the sub exposure times?.

[marc4darkskies]

I may not know much about NB but I can spot an image that's had a lot of effort put into it!! A very beautiful image Jase! :thumbsup::thumbsup:

Cheers, Marcus

[strongmanmike]

Processed very nicely with pleasing colours. Not the most spectacular subject as far as nebs go really but the subtle features here and there make for an interesting view none the less, very nice.

Don't worry about the diffraction spikes and the shape of the bright stars either, some optical effects inherent in the system are ok in images as far as I am concerned and considering their removal is probably being juuuust a little paranoid :rolleyes: ;)

That ASA looks to be the goods, is this the one that was for sale recently?

Top job :thumbsup:

Mike

[strongmanmike]

Soooo Fred, where are all the wide field woose comments, this is a 1.5deg X 1.5deg FOV at a mizerly 1440mm FL and box like 1.3"/pix image scale :shrug: :lol:

Little joke for Fred Jase - top image.

MIke

[jase]

Thanks Humayun. :) The image continues to grow on me. I suspect I've spent too much time looking and processing, so its good to get a fresh eyes perspective here on IIS. Thanks for your feedback.



Fully agree Peter. We all look for difference aspects (or should I say defects) mostly due to our experiences. The "anything goes" approach to narrowband imaging is perhaps a not my usual style. RGB is rigid and defined. Variety is the spice of life! :) Thanks again.



Cheers Fred. Thought this may bring you out for critique. ;) Probably spent too much time but it was warranted. The Ha data set was awesome to work with. Indeed, the Apogee U16M is a solid performer (no complaints with mine). This set up has the Astrodon Series II 5nm Ha, SII and OIII filters installed. All subs were 600s in duration...as you'd expect operating at F/3.6! Plenty of signal to deal with even with the notoriously dim SII emission line. Of course 16" of aperture helps! Thanks for your comments.



Thanks for your feedback Marcus. Hey, that makes both of us! :lol: If you've ever played around with clipping masks in photoshop, producing narrowband images is simplified. Even more so with adjustment layers. Tweak to your heart's content, just watch your histogram for clipping. Thanks for checking it out and making comment.



Cheers Mike. :) Interesting you say that its not the most spectacular nebula. The lack of overall features draw the viewer into the selected few details. The is not overly busy and is different none the less. The diffraction spikes have grown on me, but they're not your usual RCOS variety. On the 1:1 image the diffraction spikes look dis-contiguous i.e. not connected - undoubtedly as you suggest, due to optical design.

No the ASA was not the one up for sale based out at RDO. This instrument is located in Texas, US. Thanks for the feedback - appreciated.

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Thanks all. :D

[Phil Hart]

yep, a really sweet image jase. :thumbsup:

i'm not a fan of all NB images but this one definitely works for me. beautiful, subtle hues through the middle of the frame and great tonal contrast as well. expertly processed indeed. without looking elsewhere i imagine it could look quite dull in true colour?

Phil

[alexch]

What a treat, Jase!
I know very little about long f/l astro-imaging let alone narrowband and generally comment on something I like. It seems I can keep looking at this image forever - a very aesthetically pleasing result.

Thank you!

Alex

[multiweb]

Most narrowband images are ultrasharp and pushed really hard but this one is just very natural, like a good RGB shot. The colours are sublime and the stellar profiles, well... just perfect. When looking deeper you realise the details are still there, sharp and well defined. Great process. You can't even tell where it has been enhanced because it just flows. Great work. Speechless. :thumbsup:

[SkyViking]

Stunning image, very smooth and with lots of interesting details. It's definitely obvious that you've spent a long time carefully processing this data. Beautifully done.

[Hagar]

Sensational image Jase. What else can I say.

[RobF]

Thanks for showing how its done (again!) Jase. Just sublime in the centre - hubblesque really. :thumbsup:

[Martin Pugh]

Nicely done Jase - I think this is the first image I have seen with a 16" ASA.

Its a lovely image, and I do not see any flaws in it at all really.

I did this area with the FSQ/16803 not long ago.
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=67217

cheers
Martin

[gregbradley]

That's a beauty Jase. I take it this is a Northern Hemisphere object?

Where was the scope located?

Did John take the data and you process it?

Very nicely done and those fast Newts when they work are an impressive machine.

There has been an interesting thread by Massimo Ricardi on the Astrophysics website and there appears to be a number of very fast (F3.6 or less) large aperture astrographs being designed.

Imagine a 600mm F2.8 astrograph?

In the meantime the ASA16 if it works would be a nice substitute.
For narrowband the U09000 might even be better with that bit extra QE
or better still a Proline 9000 as then you get the RBI control you need with that chip. Come to think of it Apogee brought out an RBI fix as well.

Greg.

[jase]

Cheers Phil. I agree, narrowband isn't for everyone but it sure does extract what are almost invisible features compared to broadband RGB data. The aspect I enjoy with narrowband is in the act of processing. It is a refreshing change to processing RGB data sets. There are a few RGB images of this target out there but you're right, its not a profound as a narrowband palette. Thanks for the feedback. :)



Pleased you liked it Alex! :) No need to bother yourself about the various aspects of F/L astro imaging to appreciate an image ;) Thanks for checking it out.



Cheers Marc. Yes, I tried to avoid the electrifying feel with a heavily saturation boosted colour layer. I really toned this one down to see how it would turn out. There are parts that could do with more saturation I feel, but it then results in an imbalance between areas. The resolution of the Ha and SII data was a real treat to work with. Thanks again. :)



Thanks for the feedback Rolf. Appreciated. Too much time put in one could say! :)



Cheers Doug. Pleased you liked it! :)



Thanks Rob. Always good to test the skills and try something different. Believe me, where there is success there is failure. This image represents the former but the OIII data could have quickly turned it the opposite direction! :)



Thanks Martin. Your image is inspirational. Almost makes me want to try a mosaic to get the upper parts of neb above Ced214. The FSQ/16803 combo delivers the goods. Thanks for your kind words. :)



Cheers Greg. Yep, from up north in Cepheus. My gallery has targets from both hemispheres. Why restrict yourself I say! :lol: The 16" ASA is located in Texas. John acquired the data on this one, but I would normally control his scope remotely to get the composition I'm after. I've got another data set to process, but will not get around to it for a few weeks (working on another imaging project at the moment - not enough time in a day!). Corrected fast Newts are great, but are finicky to tune. John has had his fair share of issues and tweaks to get this scope to sing like it does today. Apogee have had the RBI fix since 2007. Don't forget they've been shipping KAF-9000 and KAF-16803 chip camera's since 2006. Not exactly an new player in the CCD arena! Thanks again for your comments. :)

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Thanks all for your support.

[Screwdriverone]

Hubble Palette?

You sure thats not a Hubble original??? :eyepop:

That is simply astonishing, Jase!

Cheers

Chris

[richardo]

Sublime Jase!
Great collaborative effort.

I do enjoy narrow band when the merits of an object are enhanced.
The palette selection has made this object just jump out... very nicely balanced.


Fantastic view!

Rich