I have been collecting data on the tarantula for a few weeks now and thought I would produce a preliminary image of this well imaged object with the data I currently possess. My plan is to produce an image with full NB and RGB data at some point in the coming months. There is lots of time available to produce a very deep image.
This image contains 16.3 hours of data which is mainly Ha at 720 minutes. The OIII component contains 260 minutes. There is still quite a lot of noise in the back ground in both data sets, so I will be collecting data to minimise the visible noise. There is an odd magenta cast in the core of the image which will be dealt with in the finished image. I am not totally sold on this colour palette but using bi-colour only there is limited choice as to what looks better over another.
Some really interesting knots of dust and gas are visible in the image and I have also captured the are where 1987A is located. Though I don't think it can be made out with any clarity. This object is in my top 3 images to view through a telescope. I particularly like viewing the cluster in the centre which I hope is fairly clear in this image.
Click here for high resolution image.