Rcw119

[jase]

Hi All,

Still getting through the data acquired on previous observations. I decided to shoot this region as its very close to IC4628 of which I enjoy imaging. In hindsight I should have also incorporated this area as part of the greater mosaic I produced...perhaps another time. Anyway, here is my rendition of RCW119.

>>> RCW119 (http://cosmicphotos.com/gallery/image.php?fld_image_id=240&fld_album_id=11)

Located in the constellation Scorpius is the rich HII region that is dominated by the open star cluster NGC 6281 seen at center of the presented image. The cluster has a mass of around 214 solar masses consisting of 55 stars with the brightest star being 9th magnitude. Overall, its integrated visual magnitude of 5.4 makes it easily observable with binoculars or small telescopes. The region contains various HII nebulae with the most prominent being RCW 119 (aka Sh 2-2, Gum 57) which forms a wind swept bubble caused by the eclipsing binary HD 153919. There are two other distinct nebula in the scene towards the right beyond the bubble. RCW 120 (aka Sh 2-3, Gum 58) appears as a 'S' shaped nebula with a dark nebula rift passing through it. Below this is the small, yet interesting planetary nebula known as the Bug Nebula due to its features (aka NGC 6302, Sh 2-6, Gum 60, RCW 124). The star cluster NGC 6281 resides 1,600 light years away, with most of the HII nebulosity much further in distance such as RCW 120 at 4,300 light years.

I will be honest, I had different intentions with this image. I acquired approximately 16hrs in total of Ha, OIII and SII data but found the area doesn't have a strong presence of OIII so didn't bother with a narrowband composite. I may consider working the data over just for fun, but there are other projects to move on to. The final result is noted as a HaRGB composite however I did blend a small amount of OIII into the areas where it was present in the raw master sub (done as a colour dodge blend mode). This gives the appearance of weak Ha+R blend alas it potentially a more accurate representation. I validated this with the base RGB master I use as a stars layer to confirm the areas were indeed less saturated in the red hue. I guess this all comes back down to a matter of taste but I'm fine with the result but the process need refinement. If you are wondering which star is HD 153919, its the bright one to very close to the lower left of the cluster NGC6281. The bubble/shock wave bow to the right is quite impressive. I'll try produce an annotated version when I get a chance. The Ha data set is certainly rich in detail. The bug nebula adds a cool dimension too. Not many other thoughts to add about this image. I defaulted back to MaximDL for pixel math Ha+R combine on the image as I had problems with CCDStack doing the task. Probable user error, I'll need to check it out again.

Thanks for checking it out. :)

[Alchemy]

You've certainly given the Halpha a work over as it's fairly faint between the cats paw and the prawn.

[jase]

Cheers Clive. Yes, 30min Ha subs will do the trick. Not much Ha will escape at that duration.

[Hagar]

Magnificent Jase. What else can be said. Love those Tak sharp stars accross the entire field.

[strongmanmike]

That's a beauty Jase, lots to see...found the bug too :thumbsup:

Ah sigh... to be unfazed by discarding 16hrs of data, I can only dream...

Mike

[Paul Haese]

Very busy image. Lots to examine at length. Thanks for the view.

[mill]

Very nice image to look at and so much to see :thumbsup:

[peter_4059]

Great image Jase. There's a lot going on in that region.

[TrevorW]

Thats a really nice image Jase plenty of detail and rich colours

[jase]

Thanks Doug. I sat on this image most of last week as had difficulty in deciding how far I should go in shrinking the stars or if I should shrink them at all. A field like this full of stars is a distraction from the nebulous features. I ended up only shrinking them by 30%, this seems to be provide a good balance as when they are too small, the image look weird given it's suppose to have plenty of stars due to its location along the Milky Way. Thanks again for the feedback.



Cheers Mike. Indeed, the bug adds an extra dimension to the image. I haven't discarded the data in entirety. All was not lost as used the Ha. It is however less than ideal from an efficiency perspective as the system could have been capturing data for other targets instead.



Thanks Paul. Pleased you enjoyed it.



Cheers Martin. There is certainly plenty of things to see. I think if there would be a touch of reflection nebulosity somewhere, it would have it all!



Thanks Peter. I was surprised when I trawled the web I didn't see many wide field renditions of the area, at least not to the level of depth and detail presented here. Base RGB data does not portray the amount of Ha in the area. It needs long exposures with a Ha filter to bring out the structure. Thanks again.



Cheers Trevor. The contrasting hues of golden star clouds and Ha red nebulosity seem to go well together from an aesthetic perspective. In hind sight the area is probably best shot with a traditional RGB palette as opposed to a narrowband Hubble palette. Thanks for your comment.

[CoolhandJo]

I find the contrasting colours and background depth in this image excellent!

[LightningNZ]

That is one truly spectacular image, especially at the 1700x1700 resolution or higher. So wonderful to see so much H-alpha and still have proper looking star colours. Masterfully processed.

Thanks for sharing,
Cam

[jase]

Cheers Paul. I've done a few Ha+R images along the MilkyWay star clouds to date. Quite addictive area to image as there are features from corner to corner. Appreciate the feedback.



Thanks Cam. Adding a well balanced RGB layer as lighten mode is the trick to getting the stars back to their normal profile with Ha blends. If you DDP the layer before adding it, you'll get very nice stellar profiles. I tend to boost the saturation on the layer to taste. Any changes to the nebulae is masked. Thanks for your comments.

=====
Thanks all :)

[atalas]

Another gorgeous unique view Jase!

[LightningNZ]

Thanks for the tip Jase, I've never heard of that before but it clearly works wonders! Sorry for my ignorance though, but what do you mean by 'DDP'? Is that some form of deconvolution? I use PhotoShop so maybe it's something I don't have access to?

Cheers,
Cam

[Lester]

Wonderful view as always Jase. Thanks. All the best.

[Martin Pugh]

Nicely done Jason.

the Ha adds just the right amount of punch to this image.

cheers
Martin

[SkyViking]

Wow that's fantastic! What a busy image. It's great to swim around in the full res version.
Excellent capturing and processing for sure. Thanks for the view :)

[Stevec35]

Beautiful stuff Jase!

Cheers

Steve

[Ross G]

Excellent photo Jase.

Love the colours and the sharp detail really stands out.

Thanks.

Ross.