NGC 2070 Tarantula Nebula

[loc46south (Geoffrey)]

Hi - After nearly 2 months of crappy skies, last weekend they cleared for a little while and I was able to gather some data - sadly not enough for an complete image - in total frustration I took all the data I had gathered over the last 3 years on NGC 2070 - threw it in the pot - gave it a good stir and this is what came out.

http://www.pbase.com/loc46south/image/119192997/large

I don't know how many hours of data there is - exposures vary from 2 min to 25 min. There is standard RGB data plus H Alpha, H Beta, OIII, SII and UV plus a couple of snaps of 800/900 NIR thrown in for good measure. Please don't take it as a serious attempt at NGC 2070.

Cameras Used were ST7, ST8 & ST2000XCM
Telescopes used were ED120 Equinox, SW100ED, C9.25 @ f6.3 & f5
Mount G-11 Gemini

Cheers
Geof Wingham

[multiweb (Marc)]

All this mix makes for a wonderful pictures in the end. The result is simply terrific. Well done.

[jase (Jason)]

Nice work Geof. A dramatic scene of common target. I enjoy the details you've extracted from the different focal length data. Not entirely keen on the yellow core. Reminds me of the CFHT narrowband palette. The blend may have gone wrong given the rich Ha reds and the OIII teal/green in this area will produce such a hue. Maybe pull back the Ha on the blend. Would prefer to see a stronger presence of OIII. After all it is a pseudo narrowband image so anything goes. This aside, you've done well in keeping the traditional RGB star colours and their sizes. Well done and thanks for sharing.

[telecasterguru (Frank)]

Geoff,

I don't mind the pallete at all. What type of stacking and alignment software did you use?

Frank

[loc46south (Geoffrey)]

Hi Marc - Thanks for the Thumbs up - it was a good result from a dissapointing evening.

Jase - Thanks for the compliments - I'm practically a Photo Shop virgin - the first attempts I made to blend using PS ended up a total disaster (always does) - so I resorted to using Pixel Math to mix the NB data - I had more H Alpha than anything else because it was the first NB Filter I bought. I don't know why the centre turned out green/yellow but as the image started to develop I had to work hard to keep the central stars from being swamped - which is why it ended up the colour it is - I didn't know how to fix it. The experience has open up some exciting options for the future though.

Frank - All the data I had was in fits format so it was easy to work with - I plate solve each image and using MAXIM DL I astometricaly align all images against a master image - this realigns and resizes them - then I realign all images using CCDIS in CCD Stack - that further refines the alignment - from there its a piece of cake.

Cheers
Geof Wingham

[multiweb (Marc)]

Originally Posted by loc46south

I plate solve each image and using MAXIM DL I astometricaly align all images against a master image - this realigns and resizes them - then I realign all images using CCDIS in CCD Stack - that further refines the alignment

Geoff, I'm amazed at the way you've aligned all these. Sounds like a hard yakka although it worked. Have you tried registar? It's a beauty for that kind of hybrid subs. I will also warp your subs to accomodate. Then in the end you use CCDStack to do your data rejection and stack. I found CCDIS is great for subs that have the same rough framing but it does lose it on occasions and still pops up the "all imaged aligned" when they're not if you flick through.

[renormalised (Carl)]

Excellent image there, Geoff. The colour and detail is excellent...it's virtually 3D, and the star images are pinpoint. Great job

[Paul Haese]

It looks to be a nice image to me, but I admit I know nothing about blending of data such as this.

[loc46south (Geoffrey)]

Hi Paul - neither do I

[javier alves (Javier)]

. wow men is beatifull,excelent work.excume for my englis,but me encanto el contraste que lograste con los colores.
regards.

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

Great project Geof it's come up a treat

Very bold image indeed.

Mike

[loc46south (Geoffrey)]

Michael/Javier - Thanks, it's still a work in progress so who knows where it will end.