Cederblad 214

jase (Jason) · #1 22-11-2010, 07:50 PM

Hi All,

While I've been working to collect more data from my own gear to finish an imaging project (full moon frustrations), I wish to share a collaborative effort on a target that has been my list for sometime. I've worked collaboratively with John for sometime assisting with equipment tuning and bouncing ideas. Some may recall the IC410 image in which John performed the data acquisition and I processed. Anyway without further ado, here's our latest work;

Cederblad 214 (Hubble narrowband palette)

What a single frame image?...yes I've let you down - no mosaic this time! However, I hope its equally pleasing to the eye. I did wrestle with this data set for sometime. The Ha data was sublime, as was the SII...but the OIII killed me. Despite being a narrowband filter, it wasn't immune to the light pollution at the data acquisition site. This required specific gradient removal processing to balance the image. Still a mess however. I don't like the top of the frame. Looks a turbulent mess in my opinion, though it relatively accurate of the scene. USM across each emission line master before colour mapping with clipping masks in photoshop. Very powerful. Allowed for the fainter SII regions to pop through the OIII data. No HaSII:Ha:HAOIII here - pure SII:Ha:OIII mix. The ASA delivers interesting diffraction spikes. Had the same on the IC410 image. Was thinking of chasing them down in photoshop, but they grew on me. A signature stamp of a perfectly collimated ASA - John sure has it tweaked. Other than the OIII gradient, super clean data was obtained from the Apogee U16M. Minor noise reduction via a mask was applied. Could have probably gone stronger, but wanted to avoid a plastic feel. Still trying to perfect the purple star halo desaturation routine. Saturation (seasoned) to taste.

Hope you enjoy it.

All comments welcome.

Cheers

CoolhandJo (Paul) · #2 22-11-2010, 08:11 PM

Magnificant. Really detailed and perfect colours

Alchemy (Clive) · #3 22-11-2010, 08:34 PM

Nice and crisp detail in the high contrast areas, done well so it's not noticeably sharpened, I'm struggling to comment on the quality of the data as far as the top goes, not really knowing what it should look like, I can look at an rgb image and know very quickly what's not right... Don't have the depth of experience with narrowband to effectively critique, so i will jut say it looks good to me.

jase (Jason) · #4 22-11-2010, 08:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CoolhandJo

Magnificant. Really detailed and perfect colours

Thanks Paul. Pleased you liked it.

Narrowband has an artistic flavour to it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alchemy

Nice and crisp detail in the high contrast areas, done well so it's not noticeably sharpened, I'm struggling to comment on the quality of the data as far as the top goes, not really knowing what it should look like, I can look at an rgb image and know very quickly what's not right... Don't have the depth of experience with narrowband to effectively critique, so i will jut say it looks good to me.

I guess its about perception Clive. The OIII data has caused some areas to be higher in illumination than others. The flat corrected most of it but with an F/3.6 optical system flats can be erroneous. The top of the image I believe is accurate, but perhaps too light. Actually, to the top is NGC7822 so there is certainly nebulosity present there. I just didn't expect there to be much OIII. Appreciate your feedback and honesty.

Thanks guys

Cheers

Peter Ward · #5 22-11-2010, 08:51 PM

What's not to like?

Very pretty image. Top shelf.

jase (Jason) · #6 22-11-2010, 09:16 PM

Thanks Peter. Perhaps I'm getting fussy with age and scrutinise my images too hard. Not healthy!

Octane (Humayun) · #7 22-11-2010, 09:22 PM

Jase,

As always, <insert superlative here>.

I really, really adore the mottled look to the top half of the frame.

Nothing to dislike, everything to like, and, those diffraction spikes are way cool!

H

Peter Ward · #8 22-11-2010, 09:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jase

Thanks Peter. Perhaps I'm getting fussy with age and scrutinise my images too hard. Not healthy!

Isn't that the truth.

I think it was Fred V who made the observation, stars are in focus or "eggy" or they are not, the image is noisy or not.

I'd go further to say: there is shadow detail or not, structure within the highlights or not, accurate (or at least pleasing) colour or not

These are the technical "givens", when nailed, that make a great image.

Framing the subject is the artistic bit, but teeny Galaxies at 600mm you'd have to question....

In this case, all good.

Bassnut (Fred) · #9 22-11-2010, 09:55 PM

Sublime image Jase, teeny stars, expert NB processing without the crayon effect, extreme detail, no noise. Looks like you spent time getting it right and it shows. The U16 is a sweet cam, to die for, but ABG. What was the band width of the filters and the sub exposure times?.

marc4darkskies (Marcus) · #10 22-11-2010, 10:15 PM

I may not know much about NB but I can spot an image that's had a lot of effort put into it!! A very beautiful image Jase!

Cheers, Marcus

strongmanmike (Michael) · #11 22-11-2010, 10:46 PM

Processed very nicely with pleasing colours. Not the most spectacular subject as far as nebs go really but the subtle features here and there make for an interesting view none the less, very nice.

Don't worry about the diffraction spikes and the shape of the bright stars either, some optical effects inherent in the system are ok in images as far as I am concerned and considering their removal is probably being juuuust a little paranoid

That ASA looks to be the goods, is this the one that was for sale recently?

Top job

Mike

strongmanmike (Michael) · #12 22-11-2010, 10:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bassnut

Sublime image Jase, teeny stars, expert NB processing without the crayon effect, extreme detail, no noise. Looks like you spent time getting it right and it shows. The U16 is a sweet cam, to die for, but ABG. What was the band width of the filters and the sub exposure times?.

Soooo Fred, where are all the wide field woose comments, this is a 1.5deg X 1.5deg FOV at a mizerly 1440mm FL and box like 1.3"/pix image scale

Little joke for Fred Jase - top image.

MIke

jase (Jason) · #13 23-11-2010, 12:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Octane

Jase,

As always, <insert superlative here>.

I really, really adore the mottled look to the top half of the frame.

Nothing to dislike, everything to like, and, those diffraction spikes are way cool!

H

Thanks Humayun.

The image continues to grow on me. I suspect I've spent too much time looking and processing, so its good to get a fresh eyes perspective here on IIS. Thanks for your feedback.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Peter Ward

Isn't that the truth.

I think it was Fred V who made the observation, stars are in focus or "eggy" or they are not, the image is noisy or not.

I'd go further to say: there is shadow detail or not, structure within the highlights or not, accurate (or at least pleasing) colour or not

These are the technical "givens", when nailed, that make a great image.

Framing the subject is the artistic bit, but teeny Galaxies at 600mm you'd have to question....

In this case, all good.http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/....s/thumbsup.gif

Fully agree Peter. We all look for difference aspects (or should I say defects) mostly due to our experiences. The "anything goes" approach to narrowband imaging is perhaps a not my usual style. RGB is rigid and defined. Variety is the spice of life!

Thanks again.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bassnut

Sublime image Jase, teeny stars, expert NB processing without the crayon effect, extreme detail, no noise. Looks like you spent time getting it right and it shows. The U16 is a sweet cam, to die for, but ABG. What was the band width of the filters and the sub exposure times?.

Cheers Fred. Thought this may bring you out for critique.

Probably spent too much time but it was warranted. The Ha data set was awesome to work with. Indeed, the Apogee U16M is a solid performer (no complaints with mine). This set up has the Astrodon Series II 5nm Ha, SII and OIII filters installed. All subs were 600s in duration...as you'd expect operating at F/3.6! Plenty of signal to deal with even with the notoriously dim SII emission line. Of course 16" of aperture helps! Thanks for your comments.

Quote:

Originally Posted by marc4darkskies

I may not know much about NB but I can spot an image that's had a lot of effort put into it!! A very beautiful image Jase! http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/....s/thumbsup.gif http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/....s/thumbsup.gif

Cheers, Marcus

Thanks for your feedback Marcus. Hey, that makes both of us!

If you've ever played around with clipping masks in photoshop, producing narrowband images is simplified. Even more so with adjustment layers. Tweak to your heart's content, just watch your histogram for clipping. Thanks for checking it out and making comment.

Quote:

Originally Posted by strongmanmike

Processed very nicely with pleasing colours. Not the most spectacular subject as far as nebs go really but the subtle features here and there make for an interesting view none the less, very nice.

Don't worry about the diffraction spikes and the shape of the bright stars either, some optical effects inherent in the system are ok in images as far as I am concerned and considering their removal is probably being juuuust a little paranoid http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/..../rolleye09.gif http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/..../winking70.gif

That ASA looks to be the goods, is this the one that was for sale recently?

Top job http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/....s/thumbsup.gif

Cheers Mike.

Interesting you say that its not the most spectacular nebula. The lack of overall features draw the viewer into the selected few details. The is not overly busy and is different none the less. The diffraction spikes have grown on me, but they're not your usual RCOS variety. On the 1:1 image the diffraction spikes look dis-contiguous i.e. not connected - undoubtedly as you suggest, due to optical design.

No the ASA was not the one up for sale based out at RDO. This instrument is located in Texas, US. Thanks for the feedback - appreciated.

====
Thanks all.

Phil Hart · #14 23-11-2010, 12:48 AM

yep, a really sweet image jase.

i'm not a fan of all NB images but this one definitely works for me. beautiful, subtle hues through the middle of the frame and great tonal contrast as well. expertly processed indeed. without looking elsewhere i imagine it could look quite dull in true colour?

Phil

alexch (Alex) · #15 23-11-2010, 01:24 AM

What a treat, Jase!
I know very little about long f/l astro-imaging let alone narrowband and generally comment on something I like. It seems I can keep looking at this image forever - a very aesthetically pleasing result.

Thank you!

Alex

multiweb (Marc) · #16 23-11-2010, 07:13 AM

Most narrowband images are ultrasharp and pushed really hard but this one is just very natural, like a good RGB shot. The colours are sublime and the stellar profiles, well... just perfect. When looking deeper you realise the details are still there, sharp and well defined. Great process. You can't even tell where it has been enhanced because it just flows. Great work. Speechless.

SkyViking (Rolf) · #17 23-11-2010, 07:44 AM

Stunning image, very smooth and with lots of interesting details. It's definitely obvious that you've spent a long time carefully processing this data. Beautifully done.

Hagar (Doug) · #18 23-11-2010, 05:58 PM

Sensational image Jase. What else can I say.

RobF (Rob) · #19 23-11-2010, 11:04 PM

Thanks for showing how its done (again!) Jase. Just sublime in the centre - hubblesque really.

Martin Pugh · #20 24-11-2010, 02:07 PM

Nicely done Jase - I think this is the first image I have seen with a 16" ASA.

Its a lovely image, and I do not see any flaws in it at all really.

I did this area with the FSQ/16803 not long ago.
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/s...ad.php?t=67217

cheers
Martin