Ngc 1499 - Modified.

[Martin Pugh]

Hello all

This is a HaL(Syn)RGB image of the California Nebula. RGB was 9 hours and Ha was 6 hours. FSQ106/16803 camera.

Controlling the reflections off Mag 4 Menkib was just as problematic as Altinak is.

What I did not expect to pick up is all the dust in the lower right of the image extending off the main nebula. I had not seen this before in images of this object. Sure enough though, even my planetarium software shows patches of dust there, almost devoid of stars.

http://tinyurl.com/32j82pg

thanks for looking
Cheers
Martin

[TrevorW]

Nice one Martin although the nebula has more a pinkish tone on my screen

[astroron]

Very nice Martin:thumbsup:

[Martin Pugh]

Thanks guys
I was very careful to not have the salmon pink look about this - particularly as the Ha is in such abundance.

On reflection, it did look a bit too bright in the centre of the nebula, so I dropped out one of the Ha layers, and replaced it with luminance.

the link in the opening post has been updated.
cheers
Martin

[RB]

Stunning result Martin.
Love the colour.

:thumbsup:

[Stevec35]

Another excellent result Martin.

Cheers

Steve

[Paul Haese]

Clearly a nice data set here Martin. Very smooth processing and certainly what I like to see. Not sure about the general look of this image though. Maybe it is the colour, I don't know.

[Martin Pugh]

Thanks chaps.

Paul - I know what you mean about this image. But you know, even with 3 hours of green exposure, you can barely tell its there, and only slightly more in blue. This is all emission nebula, and just red, red, red.

I will upload the Ha and you can see what I mean.
cheers
Martin

[richardo]

This has turned out lovely Martin!
Your colouration to the overall neb is spot on. No salmon over tones here.

I've seen many images of this neb over the years and always thought, ho hum, never really did any think for me... I guess this would have come down to the gear we, as with our brethren in the northern hem had.. talking 6 + years ago.
Now with the advent of these huge chipped cameras and with superb optics/ filters coming to the party... well, one can only be impressed.

This image just shows how far we've come... from now on I'll take note and compare future images of this northern object with this one.
Excellent indeed... lots to see!

All the best
Rich

[Martin Pugh]

Thanks Rich - very nice words, deeply appreciated.

All

if you have a moment, take a look at the Ha frame - really, quite unbelievable.
http://tinyurl.com/2d6mya5


cheers
Martin

[jase]

You've done very well here Martin. Matching RGB data to such Ha contrast would be quite overwhelming. The Ha strength in this target would make it a challenge to process. The details in the Ha data set alone are very impressive. Good stuff.

[richardo]

Martin, that is nice!
Some good structure going on...

Just looking at this, I reckon, and this is just me, maybe just mask in the more prominent darker structures as they are quite obvious in the Ha and washed a bit in the Hargb.
I think you'll find this will give a bit more depth.

Of course you could leave it and it's still a lovely image... just a thought is all.

All the best
Rich

[Paul Haese]

I see what you mean Martin. With that much emission it is no wonder that this object presents as very red. That Ha data is really rather striking. I think I prefer this to the colour image.

[zipdrive]

Amazing!!

[multiweb]

Wasn't too keen on the original but the blend looks great and makes this shot pop. The reds are so deep. Very cool. :thumbsup:

[Bassnut]

I like the Ha version, more detail.

[Hagar]

WOW, detail in this huge image is outstanding Martin but I'm not sure about the colour. Doesn't seem a rich enough red and still has that pinkish Hue.

[Martin Pugh]

Thank you all.

Yes Fred - I think agree, the Ha was a real pleasure to deal with, but as Jase has hinted at - the HARGB combination was not straightforward at all.

Rich - thanks for the suggestion. Going to do that, and I am going to drop the saturation a little.

cheers
Martin

[strongmanmike]

Hey that Halpha is amazing Martin, nice job.

The colour version seems to have lost the impact and detail present in the Halpha, probably to be expected though and it is still a lovely image for sure anyway :thumbsup:.

Mike

[Martin Pugh]

Thanks Mike

I am working on trying to improve the colour version.

cheers
Martin

[Martin Pugh]

Rich

the tip was a good one.

I took that luminance frame and simply put it to soft light blend mode and all of that lovely detail came shining through. I also dropped the saturation by 15%

Here is the first version.

http://tinyurl.com/32j82pg

and modified is here
http://tinyurl.com/3xd9w4u

cheers
Martin

[gregbradley]

You kicked a goal with that latest version. That looks just perfect now.

Greg.

[strongmanmike]

You have brought out some lovely detail from the Ha this time, looks great :thumbsup: :thumbsup:.

I see a brown ..I dunno if it is a gradient or what?..on the right and lower right side of the image, what do you think that is?

Overall a striking image Martin, nice job again.

Mike

[richardo]

Hi Martin,
yes, that worked very effectively indeed.
Retaining the Ha detail nicely now.

Good trick the 'blend mode' set to 'soft light'. Brings forward the layered images contrasted detail while retaining the background images core appearance/ star size but enhancing.
I just gave this a go with a Lum and Ha compilation and it worked a treat.
Certainly saves a lot of fiddling around with layer masking, 'hide all' then painting in the details you want to bring out.

Thanks for that;)

BTW... the image looks perfect now. Desaturating 15% was the go. It looks more ... 'natural'... mmm for lack of a better word.

Now go for an APOD.. reckon this will have a very good chance.

All the best:thumbsup:
Rich

[Martin Pugh]

Thanks very much. Yes, I am more pleased with this now.

Hey Mike - that's what I mentioned in the opening post - I did not expect to pick up tons of dust in the lower right of the image.

I checked the raw frames (and my planetarium software) and its there alright. So I was really pleased to see it.

cheers
Martin

[strongmanmike]

..ah yes..err?..I am just illiterut and inattetive :P

Seriously though, it just didn't look like dust to me, it is kinda uniformely smooth between the stars but this may just be a result of the specific processing used..?

Mike