Colour added to AG12 Ha Cats Paw - feedback please

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

I got frustrated waiting for the weather to be kind so bah!! I have added some colour data to the 20min (10X2min) of Ha I got with the AG12 last time out (so long ago I can't remember now..? ).

I used the RGB (30, 30,30min) data I collected on the Cats Paw last year with the Starfire

So the following is an HaRGB image and still illustrates the star size, image depth and detail resolution achieved with the AG12 with just the colour pallet supplied by the Strarfire RGB.

due to miss matched fields and the required cropping, it is now only 1.5deg X 1.5deg field though

Cats Paw

and a little closer in:

Close up on Cats Paw

Hopefully it will clear (properly) this week

Mike

[tlgerdes (Trevor)]

Sorry Mike, but I think you should have waited. I personally think you have gone backwards on this blend.

[Paul Haese]

I like the wider field of view. With the close up there is some colour mis-registration; mainly the blue channel.

[gregbradley]

Yeah didn't really work out. I know how that goes. I can tell you're excited and biting at the bit to get an image together.

AG12 colour data no doubt will be superior to your Starfire's.

Greg.

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

Hmmm?..I didn't think it was that bad ...I (or you guys? ) must be getting old eyes ..I thought for such little data it held up pretty well considering and kinda bodes well for the future me thinks? Anyway, wasn't intended as a masterpiece, done just to fill in time , can't expect too much more from 20min worth of Ha in 2min subs..?..can you?

Mike

[avandonk]

For twenty minutes I reckon it is fine. It takes me longer to drink a couple of tinnies. It only gets far better from here.

Bert

[Hagar (Doug)]

Nice start to your new scope Mike but I think you have maybe suffered the same outcome as I did when using images which required scaling as well as alignment to make them work. I have found this to be the hardest thing to accomplish yet and even just a smidgen out on one of the colours does something to the image which is very dificult to recover from.
I have found that even using Registar to align the images doesn't do a good enough job and taking the images from there into CCDStack and doing a full manual alignment and rotational correction is the only way to go. (even with thyis I still get into trouble).

As an image to frame your new scope and as a first light image it's great. Shows the scope will become your workhorse I'm sure. It resolves the smallest stars beautifully and can only improve in your hands. Don't get to dejected with the comments.

It's great to see someone of your standing copping a bit, it makes the rest of us mere mortals feel human again.

Good luck with it all and lets see a full colour 12" image.

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

He he Cheers Dougie

I'm not worried at all ...naah, I think it's funny actually, many think an image has to be prefect before posting and then those commenting often feel comments must be solely about pointing out what they think is wrong with an image ...all's good and I agree with your comments..although it's not so much a registration issue as the tiny Ha stars in the AG12 data were hard to match 100% with the corespondingly larger blue stars in the Starfire data so there are some residule blue halos...they don't seem to bother me as much as others , actually someone commented on blue halos in Rich Bowdens latest image and quite frankly I thought they were mad

Oh ye I meant to add, Tom Davis told me it would be hard to register wide field frames using the 16803 chip and the AG12 100% evrytime, so I was prepaired

Cheers

Mike

[RobF (Rob)]

Yes, can relate wholeheartedly to what you saying Mike. We're doin' this for fun, so every outing doesn't have to be a masterpiece. Mind you, it could be your fault for always setting the bar so high too sometimes
I've never taken the time to image this sucker, so its nice watching it come together.

Something a bit hubble-esque about those brighter stars in the AG12.

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

Originally Posted by RobF

Yes, can relate wholeheartedly to what you saying Mike. We're doin' this for fun, so every outing doesn't have to be a masterpiece. Mind you, it could be your fault for always setting the bar so high too sometimes
I've never taken the time to image this sucker, so its nice watching it come together.

Something a bit hubble-esque about those brighter stars in the AG12.

He he thanks Robbo

Ah, we'll just let them have their say, hope they feel better for it and...... ignore'em kidding kidding

The star patterns you refer to seem to only be in the Ha filter ..they don't really bother me but it is interesting

Mike

[atalas]

Mike,I think It's a great looking shot and I love the pink! the close up is high impact and the detail speaks for Itself! is It your best?cause not,is It good?hell yeah!

[multiweb (Marc)]

Little overwhelming Ha but I'm sure you'll get some fine colours when the clouds clear with the big one.

[John Hothersall]

I agree Ha is certainly overwhelming but can't wait for a proper dark site result. Will have to wait for clouds to move, my guidecam is not working so I know the frustration.

John.

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

Cheers for the feedback guys

While I recognise this is not my magnum opus ..I am struggling to understand the "overwhelming Ha" bit though..? I am not being concieted I just genuinely want to get a feel for what some of you are seeing here...?

This is normally displayed as a pretty red nebula with little or no colour variation.

Interested in any comments along these lines and would like to see an example of what you think this nebula should look like..?.

Mike
worried about his eyes

[Paul Haese]

The colouring and blending of the Ha looks fine to me Mike. There appears to be a lot of Ha in the surrounding areas but not as intense as the actual object. This might be what is causing some concern. If anything the background looks a little red to me but that might well be the gas within the region. Star colours look great overall. This looks very similar in colouring to many of your other HaRGB blends in the past.

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

Originally Posted by Paul Haese

The colouring and blending of the Ha looks fine to me Mike. There appears to be a lot of Ha in the surrounding areas but not as intense as the actual object. This might be what is causing some concern. If anything the background looks a little red to me but that might well be the gas within the region. Star colours look great overall. This looks very similar in colouring to many of your other HaRGB blends in the past.

Cheers Paul

Much more meaningful reply thanks for that Paul . I have looked at few of the better versions of The Cats Paw on the web and to me there isn't much in it except I have gone for a more meagenta/pink bias and extracted some variation in colour tones compared to most other versions..probably becasue I just liked it that way..? . It is a well known obscured dusty area so I would expect the surroundings to be week in Ha and thus more uniformly weak given it is a HaRGB blend..?

Cheers

Mike

[multiweb (Marc)]

Originally Posted by strongmanmike

I am struggling to understand the "overwhelming Ha" bit though..? I am not being concieted I just genuinely want to get a feel for what some of you are seeing here...?

This is normally displayed as a pretty red nebula with little or no colour variation.

The Ha is used to emphasize the deep red parts. There are also blue reflection nebulae within the cat paws that would be levelled by the Ha blend. You should be able to capture those with the bigger aperture of the new scope compared to the starfire.

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

Originally Posted by multiweb

The Ha is used to emphasize the deep red parts. There are also blue reflection nebulae within the cat paws that would be levelled by the Ha blend. You should be able to capture those with the bigger aperture of the new scope compared to the starfire.

Perhaps you are onto something, can you show me a good example image Marc, I couldn't find one..? The ESO shows very little colour variation too ...it does follow the traditional red look though.

My Previous LHaRGB version with the starfire, the RGB from which I used for this latest image, does show some slight colour variation in the central areas but this is vey rare from what I can see out there .

Of course we cannot expect to get a straight HaRGB blend to cover the full gamut of colours and often such a blend is used to remove this variation for more impact, no?

Mike

[multiweb (Marc)]

Originally Posted by strongmanmike

Perhaps you are onto something, can you show me a good example image Marc, I couldn't find one..?

My Previous LHaRGB version with the starfire, the RGB from which I used for this latest image, does show some slight colour variation in the central areas but this is vey rare from what I can see out there .

Of course we cannot expect to get a straight HaRGB blend to cover the full gamut of colours and often such a blend is used to remove this variation for more impact, no?

Mike

I added the link in the prevous post. You can see tints of blues in the core between the three pads behind all the brown dust. They're supposed to be very young massive stars burried in there. You can also see hints of blues in the trailing dust. Your 12" will show that no problem. I reckon the starfire although sharp as doesn't have the aperture needed to pick this up. That's why I think you should try color with the big one first then blend additional Ha if needed for details but you might not have to in the end.

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

Originally Posted by multiweb

I added the link in the prevous post. You can see tints of blues in the core between the three pads behind all the brown dust. They're supposed to be very young massive stars burried in there. You can also see hints of blues in the trailing dust. Your 12" will show that no problem. I reckon the starfire although sharp as doesn't have the aperture needed to pick this up. That's why I think you should try color with the big one first then blend additional Ha if needed for details but you might not have to in the end.

Sorry I had updated my post (see above) before this reply came through...

Mike