LOBSTER NEBULA from Wiruna

Ross G · #1 25-09-2013, 11:05 PM

Hello,

My last trip to a dark site was in August to the ASNSW site Wiruna at Ilford, NSW.

It was a beautiful night, cold and clear.

I photographed the Lobster Nebula, ngc6357.
This photo is a combination of 20min, 10min, 5min and 2min exposures totaling 30 frames and 260 minutes.

The photo is here http://smu.gs/14GGg7N

What do you think?

Thank you for looking.

Ross.

TELEVUE NP101, 101mm, F5.4 REFRACTOR
QHY8L OSC CCD
SKYWATCHER HEQ6PRO MOUNT
WO 66mm GUIDESCOPE
ORION STARSHOOT AUTOGUIDER

PHD for guiding
EZCAP for capture

DEEP SKY STACKER
PHOTOSHOP CS2
GOODLOOK by Mike Berthon-Jones

Manav (Yugant) · #2 25-09-2013, 11:38 PM

Breathtaking

multiweb (Marc) · #3 26-09-2013, 08:19 AM

Really great color in there Ross. Super deep.

Larryp (Laurie) · #4 26-09-2013, 09:53 AM

Very nice!

Rod771 (Rod) · #5 26-09-2013, 10:15 AM

Very very nice Ross.

Colours are great!!

Well done.

RickS (Rick) · #6 26-09-2013, 11:30 AM

That's a vibrant Lobster! Nice work, Ross.

Draco (Draco) · #7 26-09-2013, 12:24 PM

this is awesome. i can clearly make out the red lobster

tilbrook@rbe.ne (Justin Tilbrook) · #8 26-09-2013, 01:21 PM

Good work Ross!

You have processed a lot into this image. A hell of a lot of dust and background nebulosity.

Cheers,

Justin.

strongmanmike (Michael) · #9 27-09-2013, 06:45 PM

Red is for Lobster yuuuum

Great shot Ross, lots going on in there.

Mike

Stevec35 (Steve) · #10 27-09-2013, 07:59 PM

Nicely done Ross. I see a bit of colour noise in the largest version but nothing too significant. Everything else looks great.

Cheers

Steve

Ross G · #11 28-09-2013, 07:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Manav

Breathtaking

Hi Yugent.

Thank you.

How are your astro plans going?

Quote:

Originally Posted by multiweb

Really great color in there Ross. Super deep.

Hi Marc,

As always, I wasn't sure about the colour so thank you.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Larryp

Very nice!

Thanks Laurie.

Glad you like it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rod771

Very very nice Ross.

Colours are great!!

Well done.

Thanks Rod. I do many, many versions trying to get the colour "right" and in the end I'm still not sure.

Quote:

Originally Posted by RickS

That's a vibrant Lobster! Nice work, Ross.

Glad you like the photo Rick.

Thank you.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Draco

this is awesome. i can clearly make out the red lobster

Thanks Div.

The red colour does bring out the lobster shape.

Ross G · #12 28-09-2013, 07:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tilbrook@rbe.ne

Good work Ross!

You have processed a lot into this image. A hell of a lot of dust and background nebulosity.

Cheers,

Justin.

Hi Justin,

I'm glad you like the photo, thank you.

I was able to bring out a lot of the background nebulosity and dust using GOODLOOK, an experimental program by Mike Berthon-Jones of the ASNSW.

Quote:

Originally Posted by strongmanmike

Red is for Lobster yuuuum

Great shot Ross, lots going on in there.

Mike

Hi Mike,

Thank you.

It's always good when you like my photo...means I've gotten it right!

I used Mike Berthon-Jones' GOODLOOK program for the first time and it brought out a lot of the faint dust and nebulosity.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stevec35

Nicely done Ross. I see a bit of colour noise in the largest version but nothing too significant. Everything else looks great.

Cheers

Steve

Hi Steve,

Thank you, glad you like it.

I did have a big problem with hot pixels in this photo. Hundreds of blue dots all over the image. I tried removing these but did not do any further noise reduction. I might experiment further.

cometcatcher (Kevin) · #13 28-09-2013, 07:36 AM

I can actually see the lobster! Usually I can't see any of these animals.

Ross G · #14 29-09-2013, 10:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cometcatcher

I can actually see the lobster! Usually I can't see any of these animals.

Thanks Kevin.

I have problems with the "animals" as well.

I'm yet to make out the Running Chicken or the Prawn!

Screwdriverone (Chris) · #15 29-09-2013, 11:45 PM

Wow Ross, that is spectacular!

Those QHY8L's sure do perform......I might have to put one on the shopping list me thinks.....

Very, very nice. You must be proud of that!

Cheers

Chris

Ross G · #16 01-10-2013, 10:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Screwdriverone

Wow Ross, that is spectacular!

Those QHY8L's sure do perform......I might have to put one on the shopping list me thinks.....

Very, very nice. You must be proud of that!

Cheers

Chris

Hi Chris,

Glad you like it. Thank you for the kind comments.

The QHY8L seems to perform quite well for an OSC, especially with telescopes and lenses in the 600mm focal length range.

naskies (Dave) · #17 01-10-2013, 11:15 PM

Very nice, Ross.

jase (Jason) · #18 03-10-2013, 11:40 AM

One of my favourites Ross. You've nailed this one. Looks great. The dusty background goes well with emission nebulosity emphasising the interstellar reddening. Looking forward to see more.

Ross G · #19 04-10-2013, 10:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by naskies

Very nice, Ross.

Glad you like it Dave.

Thank you.

Ross G · #20 04-10-2013, 10:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jase

One of my favourites Ross. You've nailed this one. Looks great. The dusty background goes well with emission nebulosity emphasising the interstellar reddening. Looking forward to see more.

Hi Jason,

It took a lot of versions to get to this one and still I was not sure.

Your kind comments give me more confidence in my processing as colour is still such a difficult area for me.

Thank you.