M42 HaLRHagb

[richardo (Rich)]

Hi all,
finally some clearish nights here as the moon wains.
Did the colour channels tonight so added these to the already collected Ha and Lum.

I have pushed the processing to bring out better the dust and reflection.
The core is probably not to many peoples liking...

Did a 'soft light' blend in PS of the Ha to the meager luminance I had collected and also did a 20% blend of the Ha to the red channel to accentuate the HII.

Here's a link to my front page, hit the 'latest image' to take you to the full version.
http://www.baytop-observatory.com/

Best viewed in full screen mode (F11)

Hope you are able to be getting out of late.
I know many are still experiencing floods and rain, so to those I hope you are safe and well.
Hope you all had a great Xmas.
I wish you all a happy and prosperous New year for 2011.

All the best
Rich

[telemarker (Keith)]

Wow. That is spectacular. The detail in the dusty areas is really something to aspire to.

Regards
Keith

[h0ughy (David)]

well done - very impressive and what a great effort

[Astroman (Andrew Wall)]

I think you have done a great job, even the core looks good, well done, lots of stuff to look at. Thanks for sharing!

[multiweb (Marc)]

Saw that one on the starlight group this morning. Very nicely done Rich. You're pumping out some excellent stuff in spite of the clouds.

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

A very nice rendition of this favourite Rich.

The pastel colours look very calming..might look good slightly more saturated but not absolutely necessary and there are some nice details showing, I like!

While better than the Ha version you posted earlier, I agree re the core area, to me it still looks like I am peering through a distinct unnatural hole in the nebulosity .

Otherwise a top portrait Rich

Mike
Ps. 4 days of clear weather predicted here

[richardo (Rich)]

Originally Posted by telemarker

Wow. That is spectacular. The detail in the dusty areas is really something to aspire to.

Regards
Keith

Thanks very much Keith.
The knots of gas while I notice them in my lum and Ha, are now quite interestingly invigorated with the rgb added.
Haven't taken this object for 4 years so even though it's imaged to death, still always something to find as our gear gets better.

Originally Posted by h0ughy

well done - very impressive and what a great effort

Cheers for having a look and commenting David!

Originally Posted by Astroman

I think you have done a great job, even the core looks good, well done, lots of stuff to look at. Thanks for sharing!

Thanks Andrew!
Been a hectic couple of months what with work, weather, then the Christmas drive down to Adelaide, and great the weather improved for the waning moon to finally put some colour on this.

Originally Posted by multiweb

Saw that one on the starlight group this morning. Very nicely done Rich. You're pumping out some excellent stuff in spite of the clouds.

Thanks very much Marc!!
Nothing like a new CCD for inspiration!
Certainly been challenging times for the last three or so months with weather.. as we all know! So it's a nice surprise when things clear up to get some colour to projects.
Hopefully it will continue into 2011..

Originally Posted by strongmanmike

A very nice rendition of this favourite Rich.

The pastel colours look very calming..might look good slightly more saturated but not absolutely necessary and there are some nice details showing, I like!

While better than the Ha version you posted earlier, I agree re the core area, to me it still looks like I am peering through a distinct unnatural hole in the nebulosity .

Otherwise a top portrait Rich

Mike
Ps. 4 days of clear weather predicted here

Thanks Mike
You know I'm a pastel sort of guy
Probably the only thing I really did to the colour channel was to saturate it a little. My first compilation did look a bit washed, so I added a bit more sat. I'm quite happy where it is now though as i can judge from my monitor.
As for the trap.... well I didn't really take any shorter exposure specifically for it, I just used some old data from 4 years back which I was never really impressed with... It's a funny thing, the Trap area to many images I've seen can look unrealistic, like it's just plugged in, even with Gendlers image/s of it... think it will always be one of those bones of contention.
Might see what I can do though as this was a fairly quick sort of process job.
Yes, hold the phone, make some good excuses, send the family off to the fireworks show, and pack your car mate, cause there she blows, clear skys ahead...

Thanks all for taking the time to comment.

All the best for New Years

Rich

[Hagar (Doug)]

Very nice Rich, that is very up close. Detail and colour look good to me.

[richardo (Rich)]

Originally Posted by Hagar

Very nice Rich, that is very up close. Detail and colour look good to me.

Thanks Doug for the nice comments.
The rgb's pretty much straight out of the camera with weighted ratios and extinction applied... just used the Lum/Ha composite straight onto the rgb composite and added a bit of Ha to the red channel and a tad of saturation.
Not much else in the way of tweaking.
Nice to see what's emission and what's reflection.

All the best
Rich