IC405 - Flaming Star Nebula

[jase (Jason)]

Hi All,
I’m pleased to present my latest effort, IC405 – The Flaming Star Nebula.

The scene:
The Flaming Star Nebula (IC405) resides in the constellation Auriga and is a very active star forming region. It consists of both emission and reflection nebula properties. The nebula's name comes from the rippling dust and gas lanes surrounding the bright star AE Aurigae (centre of frame) which provides an appearance that it is on fire. While the nebula predominately consists of red hydrogen gases, it is also laced with a carbon-rich dust which provides a unique blue tone as light is reflected off the particles. IC405 lies approximately 1500 light years away.

About the image;
This is another image I acquired remotely while travelling abroad, but hadn't had time to process until now. The image is an LRGB composite comprising 3.5 hours of data (L:80min,R:45min,G:45min,B:45min). I originally planned to make this image an a straight RGB to provide favourable colour accuracy, but wasn't happy with the details so decided to also acquire luminance data which greatly assisted in bring out the fainter knots of nebulosity. Certainly a tough image to process with a NABG chip and wide field instrument. The bright star in the center of the frame (AE Auriga) had massive blooms which sliced through the nebulosity. Very nasty. It took me some hours of layering and other bloom removal techniques to address this. Ron Wodaski's Debloomer MaximDL plug-in worked wonders (to an extent, then I was on my own). A quick run down as follows; All subs calibrated (dark/flat/bias/hot&dead) and "debloomed" in MaximDL. Aligned in Registar, the combined in MaximDL using Mr. Croman's Sigma-Reject plugin. The usual drill. Luminance passed through two iterations of LR deconvolution (CCDSharP). Colour combine back in MaximDL. All files saved as 16-bit tifs for processing in PS. Manually stretch luminance and RGB. DDP stretched another version of the RGB which was later blended as softlight for richer colour tones. Masked noise reduction with NeatImage followed by selective contrast masking to bring out highlights. Minor colour balance tweaks using curves. Flatten and seasoned to taste (purposely left out the DSLR vs. CCD wise cracks). Not my best piece of work, but found it inspiring while processing the image and watching it come alive.

Hope you like it.

Cheers

[glenc (Glen)]

Magnificent image again Jase.
I find IC405 a difficult visual target, the nearby IC410 is easier.
Maybe my eyes are more sensitive to red than blue.

[theodog (Jeff)]

Nice one Jase

[Alchemy (Clive)]

looks incredibly 3D.

heaps of detail there jase.

[Bassnut (Fred)]

Good one Jase, the blue nebulosity gives it a 3d look, nice change from a sea of red so common nowadays from RGB widefield.

[skeltz (Rob)]

Nice image jase,but how did you remotely acquire the image?
I ask because i can detect a bit of star elongation from bottom right to top left...think i got that right!

[jase (Jason)]

Originally Posted by glenc

Magnificent image again Jase.
I find IC405 a difficult visual target, the nearby IC410 is easier.
Maybe my eyes are more sensitive to red than blue.

Thanks Glen. I'd imagine it would be a tough visual target, at least from Oz.

Originally Posted by theodog

Nice one Jase

Cheers Jeff.

Originally Posted by Alchemy

looks incredibly 3D.

heaps of detail there jase.

Cheers Alchemy. On reflection, I think I could have processed this differently (could have been a little harder on the noise reduction), but for now it will suffice. Thanks again.

Originally Posted by Bassnut

Good one Jase, the blue nebulosity gives it a 3d look, nice change from a sea of red so common nowadays from RGB widefield.

Thanks Fred. Indeed, it is something different to what we common folk see. The wisps of blue add an extra dimension. Feels like I've been out of the imaging game for a while. Still have one more to process before I continue the photon collection process again. You got those RGB filters in yet?

Originally Posted by rpsastronomy

Nice image jase,but how did you remotely acquire the image?
I ask because i can detect a bit of star elongation from bottom right to top left...think i got that right!

Cheers Rob. http://www.global-rent-a-scope.com
Yes, very slight elongation is present. The Paramount 1100s just isn't up to the same mark as the Paramount ME with MKS4000. Nah, to be fair, the conditions were sub optimal, with thin faint (high altitude) cloud present. Looking at the subs again, I'd say it was a guiding problem. I did throw a few subs away due to this. Thanks again.

[EzyStyles (Eric)]

beautiful shot jase. colours looks superb! never heard of this object before.

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

Originally Posted by jase

Not my best piece of work, but found it inspiring while processing the image and watching it come alive.

Hope you like it.

Cheers

Yes your best work has been with your own gear huh? Maybe remote imaging isn't the best way all the time? Still, this is a fine image IMO, the colours are lovely and the floating blue nebulosity of this region sets it apart from most other nebulae - nice one

I've never processed NABG data either, is it much harder?

Mike

[Garyh]

Very nicely done Jase! Like Eric I have never seen a image of this region.
Lovely combo of neb in this image looks like its also a very faint target as well? Thanks for sharing this lovely image!
cheers Gary

[iceman (Mike)]

Beautiful image, Jase. What a lovely object, the faint blues really stand out from the background red.

Very well processed.

[Matty P (Matt)]

A very impressive image Jase. The colours are amazing.

Very well done.

[Ric]

First time I've seen this nebula Jase and what a beauty it is.

As mentioned it has a real 3D quality about it and the hues of the blue clouds are very spectacular.

A great image.

[beren]

Congrats very nice image Jase

[RB (Andrew)]

Stunning !!!
It really does look 3D and I love the blue highlights within the foreground cloud formations, just awesome.

hmmmm, nice name for a cocktail too......

[jase (Jason)]

Originally Posted by EzyStyles

beautiful shot jase. colours looks superb! never heard of this object before.

Thanks Eric. It's not a southern hemisphere target so not really well known down south. That's one of the joys of remote imaging - being able to hit targets that interest you regardless of where you live. Thanks again.

Originally Posted by strongmanmike

Yes your best work has been with your own gear huh? Maybe remote imaging isn't the best way all the time? Still, this is a fine image IMO, the colours are lovely and the floating blue nebulosity of this region sets it apart from most other nebulae - nice one

I've never processed NABG data either, is it much harder?

Mike

Hi Mike. Fully agree. Some of my better work has been on my own gear. Though I do like what I've done with some wide field instruments in New Mexico - namely the Soul Nebula and a few others. Imaging on your own gear gives you much greater time, but this doesn't always equate to a great image. The real work begins in processing the image to bring out the data you wish to convey. Both have their merits. I do remote imaging because of the flexibility it offers. Different instruments deliver varying results (and provide challenging processing experiences).

IMO, NABG chips have their place, but best utilised on much longer focal lengths, slower f/ratios or when using narrowband filters. Wide field images with plenty of stars (like what I've presented) is a pain. NABG can certainly reduce the acquisition time. Simply, I have yet to grasp dealing with blooms while still maintaining good star colour and shape on wide field images. I've been working on it, but haven't nailed it. Layering short RGB subs (say 120sec) solely used for star management works, but I don't always do this. ABG chips make imaging a "no-brainer". Go as deep as you want (15, 20 or 30min subs) and let the chip bleed - too easy. If you're looking for a bit of a challenge, give it a go sometime. Thanks again for your comments.

Originally Posted by Garyh

Very nicely done Jase! Like Eric I have never seen a image of this region.
Lovely combo of neb in this image looks like its also a very faint target as well? Thanks for sharing this lovely image!
cheers Gary

Thanks Gary. The star AE Aurigae (center of frame) is an O-type main sequence dwarf that is around mag 6. IC405 is approx mag 10.

Originally Posted by iceman

Beautiful image, Jase. What a lovely object, the faint blues really stand out from the background red.

Very well processed.

Cheers Mike. Something a little out of the mainstream. I too enjoy the contrasting red nebulosity and blue dust band. Rather unique.

Originally Posted by Matty P

A very impressive image Jase. The colours are amazing.

Very well done.

Thanks Matty. Appreciate your kind words.

Originally Posted by Ric

First time I've seen this nebula Jase and what a beauty it is.

As mentioned it has a real 3D quality about it and the hues of the blue clouds are very spectacular.

A great image.

Cheers Ric. Indeed, it does take on a 3d perspective after further observation. Pleased you liked it.

Originally Posted by beren

Congrats very nice image Jase

Thanks for checking it out and making comment Beren.

Originally Posted by RB

Stunning !!!
It really does look 3D and I love the blue highlights within the foreground cloud formations, just awesome.

hmmmm, nice name for a cocktail too......

Cheers RB. Pleased you liked it. Seems like I spend way too many hours processing and not enough time acquiring data these days. My image posts are few and far between. Oh well... its the quality not the quantity.

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Thanks again all for your comments. Much appreciated.

Cheers