This has always been one of our absolute favourite objects because of its visual appeal. We've always seen the face as that of a chef busy at the wok, with clouds and clouds of steam and smoke (and noodles) flying out behind the hair.
The image is a partial mosaic, with 24 hrs from the last few nights, plus 8 hrs from 2015.
We wanted to make sure we had enough OIII and in particular SII to get the faintest bits right, and to have enough data to do some (very gentle) decon and sharpening without amplifying grit.
The chef's face is of great interest because it is largely composed of a very thin, strong, well-demarcated SII shock front. This seems to us to be a very rare thing. On the same topic, the magical rings of steam and smoke at the very left of the image are interesting if not actually puzzling in that they contain a lot of SII (think star-guts from previous supernovas) but very little OIII.
The sharp eyed will also see a large blue and gold kingfisher in left profile at the very top of the image, sitting on a twig, between said rings of steam and the back of the chef's head. There is also a large but worn-out teddy-bear occupying the lower half of the image directly below the chef's head.
Hubble palette: Red: 14 hrs SII, Green: 9 hrs H-alpha, Blue: 13 hrs OIII. All in 1hr subs.
Aspen CG16M on 20" PlaneWave on MI-750 fork. All processing (except making final thumbnail) using GoodLook 64.
I agree M&T a magnificent object and one of my favourites too Wow, looks sensational in full res and even the decon/wavelettes is almost imperceptible.. so I'll give you a tick on that score . I really had great fun surfing this one and I like the colours used, very believable and they make sense. One of the best 3D objects in the sky.
Hells bells guys, the detail on the full res version is astounding!
I too love this region, having imaged it several times previously but I've never seen those S2 shockfronts in that kind of clarity, wow!
As to the interpretation of Paradolia like creatures, well - that's always going to subjective but it certainly is fun racking one's brain to find familiar shapes in these objects.
A tad cyan for my lurid colour palatte tastes but lovely work guys, well done!
Wow, thats stunning M&T. Masterfull processing and it just gets better zoomed in. The composition is excellent too, very often the veil to the left is missing, it adds dramatically to the scene.
I agree M&T a magnificent object and one of my favourites too Wow, looks sensational in full res and even the decon/wavelettes is almost imperceptible.. so I'll give you a tick on that score . I really had great fun surfing this one and I like the colours used, very believable and they make sense. One of the best 3D objects in the sky.
Good one
Mike
Thanks hugely Mike. We are greatly encouraged.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Andy01
Hells bells guys, the detail on the full res version is astounding!
I too love this region, having imaged it several times previously but I've never seen those S2 shockfronts in that kind of clarity, wow!
As to the interpretation of Paradolia like creatures, well - that's always going to subjective but it certainly is fun racking one's brain to find familiar shapes in these objects.
A tad cyan for my lurid colour palatte tastes but lovely work guys, well done!
Thanks Andy. Delighted you like the detail. Knew you wouldn't be so stoked on the colour, but we wanted to stick to straight Hubble, with the only constraint that the image is, if you were to "stir all the paint together", neutral grey. Oh, the stars are just H-alpha.
Quote:
Originally Posted by RickS
A remarkably sharp & deep image, M&T. Congratulations on a fine result
Thanks Rick !!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bassnut
Wow, thats stunning M&T. Masterfull processing and it just gets better zoomed in. The composition is excellent too, very often the veil to the left is missing, it adds dramatically to the scene.
Thanks again, Fred. We remember fondly your comment on one of our earliest efforts: "Mike WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?". We must be improving
Quote:
Originally Posted by alpal
Hi Mike & Trish,
that's a beautiful picture with loads of detail.
Well done.
I am also working on this target and with very similar framing (albeit with far more modest equipment), so yours will be a key reference image as I progress the project
I like it. Firstly it shows that its a bowl shaped nebula rather than a pancake.
Also what is that gaseous trail from the bottom bright star in the bowl? Its purplish so it implies the gas is coming off the star rather than nearby gas in the neb?
Great work. I like the tendrils off Eta Carina to the side makes the FOV more interesting otherwise this neb is a bit uninteresting.
Very nice work MnT, come back to it a few times and just keep coming back to the right side of the image. It's fascinating!
Thanks muchly, Colin. At first we misread you to mean that we should do longer exposure on the right hand side. But yes it is fascinating trying to work out what astrophysics might have generated such an image.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Camelopardalis
What a beauty, well done M&T
Thanks, Dunk!
Quote:
Originally Posted by cometcatcher
Blimey! Can really see the face in this one. ...1 hour subs!...
Hi, Kevin. One of the few things that looks like its name.
Quote:
Originally Posted by marc4darkskies
Excellent in every respect M&T!
I'd of course opt for slightly richer colouring ... but totally respect your choices!
Thanks muchly Marcus.
Quote:
Originally Posted by rmuhlack
Excellent work. (I like the colour palette BTW)
I am also working on this target and with very similar framing (albeit with far more modest equipment), so yours will be a key reference image as I progress the project
Thanks Richard. We eagerly await your version.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Flugel88
Nice FOV i didn't know the Mistral dusty bits stretched out so far.
36 hours is a huge effort
Hi, Michael. It's an interesting trade-off, wondering whether to show the fainter outer bits and pieces, because making bits that would otherwise be black look interesting and colourful must reduce overall contrast and detract from the main show, but we thought the features in the background, (including the kingfisher and the teddy bear) were sufficiently interesting to bring out.
Quote:
Originally Posted by gregbradley
I like it. Firstly it shows that its a bowl shaped nebula rather than a pancake.
Also what is that gaseous trail from the bottom bright star in the bowl? Its purplish so it implies the gas is coming off the star rather than nearby gas in the neb?
Great work. I like the tendrils off Eta Carina to the side makes the FOV more interesting otherwise this neb is a bit uninteresting.
Greg
Thanks, Greg. We guess that the true three-dimensional structure that you are referring to might be a big ball of gas that gave rise to the brighter stars within, and then the "front" wall between us and them was thinnest, and totally blasted away, whereas the right hand wall was very thick, and formed the hard shock front that delineates the face. Perhaps thinking about all that action adds to the interest.
The magenta zig-zag lightening streaks heading off toward 7 and 8 o'clock from the very bright star are most enigmatic. Can't recall any other instance of such a thing. What could produce such an assymetric effect?
Mike thinks it is the lightning bolts from the Emperor's fingers at the end of the original Star Wars.
Thanks muchly, Colin. At first we misread you to mean that we should do longer exposure on the right hand side. But yes it is fascinating trying to work out what astrophysics might have generated such an image.
Nope, just kept coming back to it At 36 hours total with a 20" I think you should be fine!
It looks like the right hand side has been carved out by photon pressure, it has a hydrogen outer shell and an oxygen inner. The left hand side appears quite SII rich suggestion a turbulent past. I can only assume that the bright star at the bottom of the hollow bubble is what caused the bubble to hollow out
Quote:
Originally Posted by gregbradley
I like it. Firstly it shows that its a bowl shaped nebula rather than a pancake.
Also what is that gaseous trail from the bottom bright star in the bowl? Its purplish so it implies the gas is coming off the star rather than nearby gas in the neb?
Greg
As a complete guess I would say that it is a large... dare I say massive star (thinking WR like Eta Carina) and it is losing grip of itself; this would explain the purple, a lot of OIII and SII and no hydrogen. I'll have to do some digging.
Nope, just kept coming back to it At 36 hours total with a 20" I think you should be fine!
It looks like the right hand side has been carved out by photon pressure, it has a hydrogen outer shell and an oxygen inner. The left hand side appears quite SII rich suggestion a turbulent past. I can only assume that the bright star at the bottom of the hollow bubble is what caused the bubble to hollow out
As a complete guess I would say that it is a large... dare I say massive star (thinking WR like Eta Carina) and it is losing grip of itself; this would explain the purple, a lot of OIII and SII and no hydrogen. I'll have to do some digging.
Thanks for that, Colin. I feel you are right about the main cavity. The bright star with the magenta lightning coming out of it is spectral class A2, which while very hot, seems a bit cool for a WR, so perhaps the lightning is a rare coincidence, unrelated to the star. Out of my depth here.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Stevec35
Beautifully done M&T. This is one of those objects that always looks best in narrow band and you've nailed it in every respect.
Wow, looks sensational in full res and even the decon/wavelettes is almost imperceptible.. so I'll give you a tick on that score 
. I really had great fun surfing this one and I like the colours used, very believable and they make sense. One of the best 3D objects in the sky.
... but totally respect your choices! 
(I like the colour palette BTW)
But yes it is fascinating trying to work out what astrophysics might have generated such an image.
