M16 Ha & Ngc6744

[richardo (Rich)]

Hi all,
been quiet for a time so I thought
I'd show you what I've been up to inbetween
"The rain we had to have."
Yeah well, heaps of clouds and some good rain I
should say.

The Ha M16 is still a work in progress..
One lot of subs taken inbetween cloud breaks and
the other I did tonight.

10" F4 Newt.
SX H916
13uM Astronomik Ha filter.
3min subs guided. (HX515/ Ed80)
Total exposure- 117'
Conditions- reasonable transparency, fair to poor seeing.
[http://www.baytop-observatory.com/cc...m16-Hanewt.jpg]

And Ngc6744 lum taken as well tonight. Thought I'd better get
as much as I could done, who knows with this weather.
Have taken this one before but have never with the scopes I've had begin
to resolve the outer arm, satelite galaxy within it and H knots.
Needs more data to smooth things out but am happy with it
so far.
10" F4 Newt.
SX H916
Clear (IR blocking) Astronomik filter.
3min subs guided. (HX515/ Ed80)
Total exposure- 66'
Conditions- reasonable transparency, fair to poor seeing.
[http://www.baytop-observatory.com/cc.../n6744-lum.jpg]

It could be clear here tomorrow night so am hoping to get some colour down.

Hope your all well and the weather is behaving.
But looks like more bad stuff on the way, so get out if you can.


All the best
Rich

[jase (Jason)]

Rich,
The presented two images are marvellous. I can’t believe how well M16 turned out with the 13nm Ha filter only using 3min subs – incredible for such short exposures. I really enjoy the way the object it framed – great composition.

Wow, NGC6744 is certainly starting to take great form. Nicely stretched showing immense details within the arms. Well processed, particularly the galaxy nucleus. It looks aesthetic, though some could say subtly burnt out. I don’t think this is the case. My rule of them with processing such an object is to stretch the nucleus so it is similar to slightly larger than the largest star on the frame. If the nucleus is too small, the resulting image will look strange. To big and you’ll clip too much data. I look forward to seeing how you compile the RGB data into this one to bring out the redish-pink HII regions within the arms.


Well done on these two finely presented images.

[Garyh]

Both exellent images Rich!!!, can`t wait to see the color data added later!!

cheers Gary

[allan gould]

Absolutely Brilliant - Can't Say More

[Dr Nick (Nick)]

Amazing! Incredible! Wow!

[bluescope]

You really do good work Rich, gives us something to aspire to. I notice that these images are guided.

I wish I had your dark sky location, I'm sure it also helps immeasurably to get such results.

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

Two very nice images of two very different objects Richardo

I know what it's like to chase the weather and I don't have the luxury of an observatory anymore

I agree with Jase, some galaxy images have tried too hard to reveal core detail and end up making the galaxy look "unreal" The nucleus is usually dam bright and should look so.

One can aaaaalways use more data so an image survives the stretching and pushing better.

I look forward to seeing the colour version of NGC 6744 (it was near the top of my list for a deep image with the ASA N12 )

Mike

[richardo (Rich)]

Originally Posted by jase

Rich,
The presented two images are marvellous. I can’t believe how well M16 turned out with the 13nm Ha filter only using 3min subs – incredible for such short exposures. I really enjoy the way the object it framed – great composition.

Wow, NGC6744 is certainly starting to take great form. Nicely stretched showing immense details within the arms. Well processed, particularly the galaxy nucleus. It looks aesthetic, though some could say subtly burnt out. I don’t think this is the case. My rule of them with processing such an object is to stretch the nucleus so it is similar to slightly larger than the largest star on the frame. If the nucleus is too small, the resulting image will look strange. To big and you’ll clip too much data. I look forward to seeing how you compile the RGB data into this one to bring out the redish-pink HII regions within the arms.


Well done on these two finely presented images.

Thanks very much for the complements Jase, very much appreciated!
I've been waiting patiently for the weather to improve for well over two weeks.. I've had about 5 bouts of sucker skies on 4 different nights in between and last night looked like it was going to be the same... but just when I thought it was going to be another sit in front of the box, gazing through astro mags that i've read over and over....
A walk out side and .... I went running for the observatory power switch with my trusty astro dog close at my heels in anticipation.
Yes, I liked the way the core turned out on this Ngc 6744, I too am looking forward to the colour on it asin my past images of this, I wasn't always that happy.
M16 seems always to be a bit of a drama to process.... Especially with Ha, to bring out the 'pillar's' contrast, clips the dark cloud above.. I used about 5 different layers in different areas to try to prevent this but it's still a wee bit clipped...
So much for the colour tonight..... maybe soon.
Thanks once again!

Originally Posted by Garyh

Both exellent images Rich!!!, can`t wait to see the color data added later!!

cheers Gary

Thanks Gary,, stay tune for the colour some time soon I hope

Originally Posted by allan gould

Absolutely Brilliant - Can't Say More

Thank you for the very nice comments Allan

Originally Posted by Dr Nick

Amazing! Incredible! Wow!

Cheers for that Nick, appreciated

Originally Posted by bluescope

You really do good work Rich, gives us something to aspire to. I notice that these images are guided.

I wish I had your dark sky location, I'm sure it also helps immeasurably to get such results.

Hi Steve, thank you for the compliments...
I have to guide at 3min plus to ensure I don't waste time with throwing subs out, especially when the weather is so changeable. Also I was keen to see how well my new composite tube would do with eliminating flexure... it has worked out very well...
Cheers !

Originally Posted by strongmanmike

Two very nice images of two very different objects Richardo

I know what it's like to chase the weather and I don't have the luxury of an observatory anymore

I agree with Jase, some galaxy images have tried too hard to reveal core detail and end up making the galaxy look "unreal" The nucleus is usually dam bright and should look so.

One can aaaaalways use more data so an image survives the stretching and pushing better.

I look forward to seeing the colour version of NGC 6744 (it was near the top of my list for a deep image with the ASA N12 )

Mike

Hey Migel, thanks for the nice comments
I guess we need rain but it can be frustrating... especially like you now having to setup and be certain the weather will behave.

Yeah I agree also with what Jase said about galaxy's cores. Some are a little easier than others not to blow out and create what looks like a big bright star... (yuk) I use to try curves with the raw data, but it ended up making the stars look really mushy.... I'm tending to pay a lot more attention to stars and how they hold up under certain stretches..
All the fun of the game I guess...

I won't ask about what's happening about your ASA after the obvious dramas you have with it.. ??
But that beautiful 6" AP you have would certainly keep anyone very happy!!
And now you have that huge chip, you have one super rock solid mega imaging platform.
Any way, it's I reckon, if they don't work out, then it's not meant to be and just move a head and be happy..


Thank you all again for your comments..
All the best to you
Rich

[Ric]

Lovely images Rich, great work. M16 in Ha has a lot of depth to it, almost a 3D feel to it.

Cheers

[richardo (Rich)]

Thanks Ric,
last night got a little more time on N6744, no luck with any colour for either though.
Weather is being painful....

Hope your having better luck!

All the best
Rich