M16 - 50Hours of Narrowband Data

[Martin Pugh]

Hi Folks
one of my Sierra Remote colleagues, Larry Van Vleet (http://www.lvvastro.com), has kindly allowed me to process this whopping data set taken back in July of M16.

Its a total of 50.5hrs, comprised of 20 hrs Ha, 20 Hrs SII and 10.5 Hrs OIII acquired with a 16" RCOS and Apogee U16M.

http://www.martinpughastrophotography.id.a u/images/M16NB_Martin.jpg

Pixel scale is 0.55asp.

cheers
Martin

[Larryp]

Wow!!:thumbsup::thumbsup::eyepop:

[AstroJason]

I agree with Laurie, WOW!! :eyepop: Incredible image!

[tilbrook@rbe.ne]

It may aswell be 3D, in your large version I've been cruising around your image with almost a floating feeling, amazing!!!!

I would really like to see your image wall Martin.

Cheers,

Justin.

[allan gould]

Jaw dropping as usual Martin. An absolutely fabulous image - I'm in awe.

[peter_4059]

Amazing depth - great data and great processing.

[cometcatcher]

Looks like Hubble took it.

[Ross G]

A great photo Martin.

Amazing detail.

Ross.

[RickS]

A fantastic image, Martin!

[gregbradley]

Superb.

Greg.

[icytailmark]

wow 50 hrs of imaging. Martin do you just keep taking images and keep restacking them with old data?BTW fantastic work it looks like you hacked into hubble.

[Peter Ward]

Oddly enough, the depth of the data does not impress me.

The smoothness on the other hand....yep...wow! :thumbsup:

[Octane]

I just died and went there.

H

[TrevorW]

Impressive :thumbsup: but recently there has been a couple of images posted with 50+hrs of data collected but the images IMO don't seem that more impressive than others I've seen posted with a lot less data in total.

At what point in imaging does the law of diminishing returns apply :question:

[Ken Crawford]

This is a beautiful image for sure!

With NB data the signals are pretty weak and there is a law of diminishing returns but as long as the signal to noise ratio improves, it makes the image that much nicer.

At some point you may not get any deeper or see any more detail but the smoothness and contrast will normally continue to improve.

I have found that at least with NB data, there is no such thing as too much data :thumbsup:

[dvj]

Having posted a 50+ hour image, it's all about gathering enough signal to smooth out the background. Especially so with a small 105mm f/5 refractor. The story would be different with a 12" f/3.5 or 8" f/3. Aperture wins!

As my exposure set increased, I could definately see fainter detail as the signal smoothed during the combines. However, what I began to see at 25 hours in the H-a image was sky background beginning to wash out fainter details.

The filter bandpass is also a factor. 5nm vs. 3nm will show different details. I think with 3nm, I would rarely reach sky background with an f/5 telescope.

I also have to say that my processing of color images is really quite novice in experience. More work to do. In 50+ hours of total HII and OIII exposure, I have a massive data to work with. Makes it easier to process, sharpen and smooth without the obvious side effectes of such processing.

jg

[dvj]

BTW Martin, your processing is second to none. You should be teaching at AIC! :lol:

[ourkind]

Beautiful image all round :) I can clearly see why its called the Eagle Nebula, the beak, wings and tail are very discernable! The colours are stunning!

Out of interest how much time would you spend post-editing such an image including stacking?

[Astro_Bot]

As Kevin said, that's an image worthy of Hubble. Truly amazing! :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

[alexandre]

Hello Martin !

This is a beautiful image , is superb !!

@lex;)

[multiweb]

Great image scale. Very HST like. :thumbsup:

[marc4darkskies]

Allow me to offer some critique Martin:

Firstly there's the .... ummmmm .... Then, there's the ... errrrrr ... hmmm. And finally the .... the .... uuuummm ...

Aside from these, the image is gorgeous!

;) :thumbsup::thumbsup:

Cheers, Marcus

[Paul Haese]

Love the resolution in the eagle itself. Great processing of this data. I saw your APOD the other day of the data your processed. That was very nice too. :thumbsup:

[Stevec35]

What else can you say - another beauty!

Cheers

Steve

[Leonardo70]

:eyepop:

All the best,
Leo

[Martin Pugh]

Thanks everyone.

What both Ken and John said are right on the mark when it comes to answering the question 'when is enough, enough?'. That has always been my guiding principle i.e I continue to get data (esp. NB) until I can suppress the noise sufficiently without overdoing the smoothing.

I processed this data set over the period of 3 consecutive nights. I dont think I ever publish an image at the moment I first decide 'its finished'. The cold light of day can reveal all sorts of horrors.

....and I certainly do not add old data on top of new data, but I have produced a hybrid image in the past where I have taken hi res data and blended it into a widefield image. Arguably, that could be seen as the same.

John - thanks for the compliment....I am hoping to get invited back one day!
Again, thanks for the comments. Glad you liked it.

cheers
Martin

[alpal]

That image is perfect but what else would you expect from Martin?
Well done.

[astronobob]

Breath-taking image right there Martin, A lovely target to capture at that resolution, Envious indeed :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[marco]

OUTSTANDING, nothing more to say!
Thanks for sharing it :thumbsup:

Clear skies
Marco

[Martin Pugh]

Thanks very much!