IC2177 - The Soaring Seagull

[jase (Jason)]

Hi All,
Well, not as active in the imaging scene as I’d like. Work is keeping me extremely busy (I liken it to “organised chaos”). Will do my best to get online when possible. Anyway, I’m pleased to present my latest effort, IC2177 - The Seagull Nebula.

Soaring the night skies, the Seagull is a massive diffused nebula that flies the border of the constellations Monoceros and Canis Major. The head of the Seagull (NGC2327), displays an interesting dark lane of nebulosity that resembles a lightning bolt. The surrounding nebulosity is a magenta/blue hue due to the high volume of dust which reflects the blue light of the embedded stars. This is also seen on tip of the upper wing. The Seagull Nebula is approximately 1,800 light years away.

About the image;
The image is a [L]+[Ha+R]GB composition totalling 7.5 hours (L:60mins; Ha:120mins; R: 90mins; G:90mins; B:90mins) using 15min subs. MaximDL used for reduction/calibration (bias/dark/flats/hot&dead pixel removal) and combine (using Russ Croman’s Sigma Reject). Subs registered in Registar.
Didn’t do anything special in processing this target – wanted to simply ensure I was still “capable” of image processing considering I’d been out of action for a while. I did however experiment with what I call “SoftLight cascading” (others may call it something else). In PS, when you create/duplicate multiple chrominance layers (blended as SoftLight), they colour gets progressively richer (when managed/stacked correctly). I think a better method is to used DDP and then heavily saturate the chrominance before integrating it as a softlight blend in PS – similar to what RJ GaBany and Rob Gendler use to obtain colour depth. Still, I enjoy experimenting to determine what is possible in PS. I feel certain I only use 30% of what PS is capable of. I used Neat Image as a PS plugin for two iterations to reduce noise in the dim areas. I experienced an interesting image calibration problem with the bias frames on this image. When the bias frames where applied to the Ha subs, the data became black clipped. I’ve seen this happen before, but couldn’t recall what I did in the past. Thought it may have been something to do with the pedestal value so I manually calibrated the Ha subs. Certainly not optimal (and caused additional work), but the result speaks for itself. Personally, I think this image screams for more data, in particular Ha and believe the chrominance maybe too rich, though it certainly accentuated the lovely star field. For now, it will suffice. The image has been reduced by 70% for web presentation.

Enough bantering… Hope you enjoy it. As always, all comments welcome.

Cheers

[iceman (Mike)]

Beautiful, rich image Jase. Great to see something from you again - I had noted (with much dismay) your absence lately

Great to be back onboard the horse!

Was this with your scope or a GRAS number?

[jase (Jason)]

Thanks Mike. Simply haven't had the time to be online. This was taken with my own FSQED earlier in the month but hadn't had time to process the image until now. I will however use some internet controlled scopes while abroad. Thanks again.

[Dennis]

Another stunner from the Jase imaging factory! I must say, I now have an even greater understanding and appreciation of the skills and dedication required to produce these masterpieces, having just tentatively dipped my toe in the ocean of large sensor, colour astro photography. Boy, the water was hot!

I guess that if you produced these incredible images weekly, we might become a little de-sensitised to their awe and beauty, perhaps dulling our appreciation. It would not be good to become blasé with these beauties!

Hope that your schedule settles down and thanks again for the comprehensive write up.

Cheers

Dennis

[skeltz (Rob)]

Yes brilliant image jase the full resolution is simply gob smacking.
Well done

[edwardsdj (Doug)]

Incredibily detailed image Jase

The colour is so rich too

[EzyStyles (Eric)]

heaps of details and rich colours jase. i have to give this object a go myself.

[Ric]

Hide your chips Jase, it will swoop down and pinch them.

Seriously though it is a wonderful image. The colours are the first to jump out and grab you, very vivid reds and subtle touchs of blue. Then all the detail emerges and the lightning bolt looks great.

Well done on another great image

[glenc (Glen)]

Another amazing image Jase!!!

[jase (Jason)]

Originally Posted by Dennis

Another stunner from the Jase imaging factory! I must say, I now have an even greater understanding and appreciation of the skills and dedication required to produce these masterpieces, having just tentatively dipped my toe in the ocean of large sensor, colour astro photography. Boy, the water was hot!

I guess that if you produced these incredible images weekly, we might become a little de-sensitised to their awe and beauty, perhaps dulling our appreciation. It would not be good to become blasé with these beauties!

Hope that your schedule settles down and thanks again for the comprehensive write up.

Cheers

Dennis

Thanks Dennis. Big chip imaging is fun, but it has its problems. The larger the sensor the more prevalent gradients typically are and its also not fun dealing with huge files. The images you recently produced are great. I’d be happy if I could obtain a high volume output achievable with OSC cameras. However, with mono chips, the workload is considerably higher, hence I can only produce one or two images a month if lucky (given work schedules and other factors – weather). Providing the thrill of seeing an image come together isn’t lost, I’ll keep imaging. Thanks again for your comments.

Originally Posted by rpsastronomy

Yes brilliant image jase the full resolution is simply gob smacking.
Well done

Cheers Rob. Haven’t seen you around lately (look whos talking). Hope to see some output with your 12.5” kit soon. Don’t keep us hanging for the results.

Originally Posted by edwardsdj

Incredibily detailed image Jase

The colour is so rich too

Thanks Doug. Appreciate the kind words.

Originally Posted by EzyStyles

heaps of details and rich colours jase. i have to give this object a go myself.

Eric, its well positioned at the moment to obtain good resolution – rather high. I obtained the RGB close to last new moon to ensure it was clean, then the Ha while the moon was getting brighter. Thanks for the comments.

Originally Posted by Ric

Hide your chips Jase, it will swoop down and pinch them.

Seriously though it is a wonderful image. The colours are the first to jump out and grab you, very vivid reds and subtle touchs of blue. Then all the detail emerges and the lightning bolt looks great.

Well done on another great image

Thanks Ric. The colour is perhaps too rich/saturated, but does not detract from the details which I felt was important to convey. More experimenting would have undoubtedly revealed other results. Thanks again.

Originally Posted by glenc

Another amazing image Jase!!!

Thanks Glen. Pleased you liked it.

=======
Thank you all for your comments.

[Garyh]

Another ripper Jase! beaut colors and lovely contrast throughout the neb!
If you only use 30% of PS then I might use 10% if lucky..lol
Look forwards to the next lot of eye candy..
cheers

[Rodstar (Rod)]

I am always grateful when people post images of less well known objects. I have never seen or heard of this one before. I imagine it is a very dim visual target, but I have duly noted it for observation under dark skies as soon as these clouds clear.

As others have said, what a spectacular image. I also loved the one you posted last year which looked like a foetus. Amazing stuff!

[glenc (Glen)]

It is a visual target Rod, use low power and a UHC filter. The brightest part is 1.5 degrees long.

[spearo (Frank)]

Woah!
what a stunning amount of detail!
The stars are also just incredible in the background, they're all perfect pinpricks of color!
Simply inspiring
frank

[Peter Ward]

Jase,

To be hyper-critical, the colour stauration a little too high in the red...hard to see where the H-alpha/H-beta starts/ends.

Tracking focus etc. Spot on

Layering H-Alpha can be very tricky...as you end up with cyan rings around the stars which detract from the real star colours. Backing off the H-Alpha layer is a possible fix.

Otherwise...hey...you are in a different league...this is a very pretty image...nicely done.

Peter

[danielsun]

WOW!! Another stunning image Jase!!!

[jase (Jason)]

Originally Posted by Garyh

Another ripper Jase! beaut colors and lovely contrast throughout the neb!
If you only use 30% of PS then I might use 10% if lucky..lol
Look forwards to the next lot of eye candy..
cheers

Cheers Gary. Pleased you liked it. Thanks.

Originally Posted by Rodstar

I am always grateful when people post images of less well known objects. I have never seen or heard of this one before. I imagine it is a very dim visual target, but I have duly noted it for observation under dark skies as soon as these clouds clear.

As others have said, what a spectacular image. I also loved the one you posted last year which looked like a foetus. Amazing stuff!

Thanks Rod. It is somewhat off the beaten path. A magnificent target for a wide field instrument such as the FSQ. It does have a low surface brightness which makes it all that more appealing to target with sensitive cameras.

Originally Posted by spearo

Woah!
what a stunning amount of detail!
The stars are also just incredible in the background, they're all perfect pinpricks of color!
Simply inspiring
frank

Cheers Frank. While I like the surrounding star field, I think I'd probably do this differently should I get time to reprocess the image again. Thanks for your comments.

Originally Posted by Peter Ward

Jase,

To be hyper-critical, the colour stauration a little too high in the red...hard to see where the H-alpha/H-beta starts/ends.

Tracking focus etc. Spot on

Layering H-Alpha can be very tricky...as you end up with cyan rings around the stars which detract from the real star colours. Backing off the H-Alpha layer is a possible fix.

Otherwise...hey...you are in a different league...this is a very pretty image...nicely done.

Peter

Thanks Peter. Indeed, as I mentioned in the original post, I too believe the saturation is a little on the high side. Not sure what you mean regarding the H-beta as this isn't near the 656.3nm of Ha. I did blend 10% of the Ha data into the blue channel and 5% in the green. Ha was blended into the red channel by approx 25%. I then relayered the stars to mitigate the anomalies you mention. I do have another version which is perhaps a cut above this one, but as they say, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Thanks again.

Originally Posted by danielsun

WOW!! Another stunning image Jase!!!

Cheers Daniel.

[tornado33]

A lovely shot there. The subtle blue and purple right at the top is very impressive as is the little "bow shock" nebula round the bright blue star near centre
Scott