Carina Nebula in SHO - finally!

[pluto (Hugh)]

Finally after a solid month of cloudy nights in Sydney, and a couple of false starts due to unexpected cloud this weekend, I got to try out my new setup and make sure it's working before IISAC.

The new setup is:
Takahashi TSA-120 + SW EQ6 + SBIG STT-8300M + FW8G + AO-8T

Of course the AO isn't necessary at this FL but there's an RC in my near future and I figured it was easier to get it all at once

I'm pretty happy with this considering it needs a lot more data and it was taken on the balcony at work in Rushcutters Bay next to Sydney CBD.

I haven't got a flattener for the Tak yet so the stars are a bit nasty in the corners but I can live with that for the time being. I'm just very happy that after a considerable investment in gear that it's all working well and capable of producing good results.

The imaging was done in CCDSoftv5, processing was DSS -> Startools -> PS -> LR
SII – 3x5min + 15x10min
Ha – 14x5min
OIII – 14x5min + 3x10min

The larger/better quality version can be found here:
http://hughsblog.wordpress.com/2014/...ubble-palette/

Any critiques would be welcome

[RickS (Rick)]

Looks great to me, Hugh! I like the pastel colouring and the detail is very good.

Interesting to compare. I'm working on this one too (who isn't?) but at a bit smaller image scale.

Cheers,
Rick.

[multiweb (Marc)]

Truly superb!

[DavidNg (David)]

Clearly one of the sharpest Carina I've seen. I love the colours too.
You don't mind if I ask what do you do in PS? I currently use PI and PS, not familiar with DSS and Startools though.

Regards
David

[cazza132 (Troy Casswell)]

Looks great! Love the colours and nice details too

[Mighty_oz (Marcus)]

That is one Fantastic shot ! Love the placement and colours as well.
Thanks for posting.

[pluto (Hugh)]

Originally Posted by RickS

Looks great to me, Hugh! I like the pastel colouring and the detail is very good.

Interesting to compare. I'm working on this one too (who isn't?) but at a bit smaller image scale.

Cheers,
Rick.

Thanks Rick.
It can work at so many different scales, I look forward to seeing what you get

Originally Posted by multiweb

Truly superb!

Thanks Marc!

Originally Posted by DavidNg

Clearly one of the sharpest Carina I've seen. I love the colours too.
You don't mind if I ask what do you do in PS? I currently use PI and PS, not familiar with DSS and Startools though.

Regards
David

Thanks David,
I process each filter image in Startools and then copy them into the channels of a single image in PS.
For this image I then added a levels adjustment layer and tweaked the levels of each channel to get a nice balance. Then I added a curves adjustment layer and just tweaked the red channel as there was a bit of a red "wash" over the image.
Then I added a brightness/contrast adj layer and got the whole image looking ok.
Then I made two brightness/contrast adj layers and painted masks so that they just affected certain areas - namely a little patch to increase contrast and reduce brightness around the keyhole area and another one to increase contrast in the area to the right of the keyhole.

Then I took it into LR where I tweaked the hue of the yellows/oranges, desaturated the pinks to reduce the dreaded SII star bloat, and finally did some noise reduction.

I'd be happy to send you my PSD if you think it'll help

Originally Posted by cazza132

Looks great! Love the colours and nice details too

Cheers Troy!

[pluto (Hugh)]

Originally Posted by Mighty_oz

That is one Fantastic shot ! Love the placement and colours as well.
Thanks for posting.

Thanks Marcus, glad you like it

[Octane (Humayun)]

Mate, that is superb.

H

[pluto (Hugh)]

Originally Posted by Octane

Mate, that is superb.

H

Cheers H!

[Bassnut (Fred)]

Excellent !, way out there colour wise. A ton of detail and interestingly you reveal much on the right (of ETA) of the V shaped gas cloud.

[alpal]

Hi Troy,
So much detail - that's fantastic.

I see an IOTW coming your way!

cheers
Allan

[scopemankit (Chris)]

Wonderful image with great detail.

[pluto (Hugh)]

Originally Posted by Bassnut

Excellent !, way out there colour wise. A ton of detail and interestingly you reveal much on the right (of ETA) of the V shaped gas cloud.

Thanks Fred.
Personally I've always preferred the structures around the keyhole area to the keyhole area itself.

Originally Posted by alpal

Hi Troy,
So much detail - that's fantastic.

I see an IOTW coming your way!

cheers
Allan

The name's Hugh, but thanks anyway Allan!

Originally Posted by scopemankit

Wonderful image with great detail.

Thanks Chris.

[alpal]

Originally Posted by pluto

The name's Hugh, but thanks anyway Allan!


Thanks Chris.

Sorry Chris,
I saw the post at Yesterday, 01:21 PM & got mixed up with the name
when you wrote Cheers Troy.


cheers
Allan

[Octane (Humayun)]

^ you mean, Hugh!

[alpal]

Originally Posted by Octane

^ you mean, Hugh!

I still got it wrong.

Hugh signs off his posts as though it's his name
but he refers to the person he writes to.

Oh dear.

[Octane (Humayun)]

Oh, but, usually, signs-offs are done like:

Thanks,
xyz



H

[gvanhau (Geert)]

Very nice.
You got very good quality data considering the short exposure times.

[pluto (Hugh)]

Originally Posted by alpal

I still got it wrong.

Hugh signs off his posts as though it's his name
but he refers to the person he writes to.

Oh dear.

I have a bad habit of using the words "thanks" and "cheers" interchangeably, sorry for the confusion!
Also I see the forum as more like a conversation so I don't really feel the need to sign off every post... each to his own though