Body of the lobster.

[tilbrook@rbe.ne (Justin Tilbrook)]

Hi,

NGC 6357 has been a real head scratcher to process.

It's so red and homogenous that it's difficult to enhance the many nebulous clouds and pillars in the body of the lobster.

This is the 30th rendition and finally some hint of the structures!

It required lot's of layering of contrasted area's, unsharp masking and altering the colour balance.

8” F/4 astrograph , baader type 3 coma corrector,. HEQ Pro 5 mount, orion mini guider.
Camera.
Unmodded Cannon 1100D plus cooler box. 48 subs x 2 minutes at ISO 6400. and 13 x 9 minutes at ISO 800 Stacked in Deep Sky Stacker .Processed in Photoshop Cs2..

Cheers,

Justin.

[Placidus (Mike and Trish)]

Hi, Justin. Remarkable what clarity and contrast you've achieved without using narrowband filters. You can even see the cute Border Collie sitting bang in the middle.

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

I seeeee strings and worms

Colour is nice though Justin

Mike

[marco (Marco Lorenzi)]

Nice color balance but I believe this one is a bit too pushed to my taste, in particular stars are a bit unnatural.. I would prefer a softer version, perhaps less details but more natural appearance.. anyhow it is i tough target without the help of a dedicated Ha channel..

Clear skies
Marco

[tilbrook@rbe.ne (Justin Tilbrook)]

Originally Posted by Placidus

Hi, Justin. Remarkable what clarity and contrast you've achieved without using narrowband filters. You can even see the cute Border Collie sitting bang in the middle.

Thanks Mike!

Probably over stepping my capabilities, but worth the attempt.

Originally Posted by strongmanmike

I seeeee strings and worms

Colour is nice though Justin

Mike

Thanks Mike!

Yep, strings and worms, too heavy on noise and minimum.

Originally Posted by marco

Nice color balance but I believe this one is a bit too pushed to my taste, in particular stars are a bit unnatural.. I would prefer a softer version, perhaps less details but more natural appearance.. anyhow it is i tough target without the help of a dedicated Ha channel..

Clear skies
Marco

Thanks Marco!

Yes I was deliberately heavy handed, just to see if I could bring out hose details.
Hopefully one day I'll be clever enough to get detail and a more natural image.

Cheers,

Justin.

[Slawomir (Suavi)]

Nice work Justin and for perseverance with the project. Structures have been altered by processing (sharpening?), but otherwise a pleasing photograph

[tilbrook@rbe.ne (Justin Tilbrook)]

Originally Posted by Slawomir

Nice work Justin and for perseverance with the project. Structures have been altered by processing (sharpening?), but otherwise a pleasing photograph

Thanks Slawomir!

Yes sharpening and minimum filter too.

Here's a not so frightening version.

Cheers,

Justin.

[jase (Jason)]

Colours look good but details are a little lacking Justin. Do your raw subs resolve Pismis 24 ok.

[Slawomir (Suavi)]

The new version looks much more natural

[tilbrook@rbe.ne (Justin Tilbrook)]

Originally Posted by jase

Colours look good but details are a little lacking Justin. Do your raw subs resolve Pismis 24 ok.

Thanks Jase!

Had to look up Pismis 24, but yes it is resolved in the raw image. ( see cropped image ).
Just destroyed it in my processing.

Originally Posted by Slawomir

The new version looks much more natural

Thanks Slawomir!

Cheers,

Justin.

[rustigsmed (Russell)]

g'day Justin,

definitely prefer the repro - great colour.

Rusty

[Regulus (Trevor)]

Both okay by me Justin, though the second is a 'softer' image. I wonder if there may be a point between the two that is ideal. Could be wrong about that though..
Although the first 'may' be pushed a little far, it gives a stronger sense of the structures in the nebula, and has a more velvety black background.
A good photograph mate. Well done.

Trev

[tilbrook@rbe.ne (Justin Tilbrook)]

Originally Posted by rustigsmed

g'day Justin,

definitely prefer the repro - great colour.

Rusty

Thanks Rusty!

Originally Posted by Regulus

Both okay by me Justin, though the second is a 'softer' image. I wonder if there may be a point between the two that is ideal. Could be wrong about that though..
Although the first 'may' be pushed a little far, it gives a stronger sense of the structures in the nebula, and has a more velvety black background.
A good photograph mate. Well done.

Trev

Thanks Trevor!

You nailed what I was trying to do.
Didn't quite work .

Cheers,
Justin.

[Flugel88 (Michael)]

A succulent looking Lobster Justin .
Was just thinking if your looking for Lobster structure you could have a go at HA.

My narrowband attempt at the Lobster didn't turn out so well for SII and 0III
but HA was fantastic.

[tilbrook@rbe.ne (Justin Tilbrook)]

Originally Posted by Flugel88

A succulent looking Lobster Justin .
Was just thinking if your looking for Lobster structure you could have a go at HA.

My narrowband attempt at the Lobster didn't turn out so well for SII and 0III
but HA was fantastic.

Thanks Michael!

Yep no good with my unmodded camera.
Like your Lobster.

Cheers,

Justin.

[multiweb (Marc)]

Repro's on the money. Nice close up.

[cometcatcher (Kevin)]

Nice one Justin. I had a go at this a month or so ago, but my attempt was so poor that I gave up. You have done very well to get what you did. Maybe I'll have another go at it with my Full Spectrum Nikon sometime as the Ha in this one is very faint for a regular DSLR. A modified camera with a nebula filter might be the go.

[RickS (Rick)]

I like the repro, Justin.