Pillars of Creation (well maybe a smaller version)

[multiweb (Marc)]

Very smooth with some very nice details.

[RickS (Rick)]

I certainly wouldn't have gone that dark, Paul, but it definitely works. I think the smooth result is partly a consequence of the milder stretch but the combination of aperture and the big pixels of the STL11K gives you enough signal to overcome read and shot noise quickly.

An excellent image

Cheers,
Rick.

[AG Hybrid (Adrian)]

Holy cow! You can see the ionizing gases on the pillars themselve. This is APOD worthy imo.

[rustigsmed (Russell)]

really nice work Paul, i can see why you went dark if you were emulating the HST shot (i recently watched a youtube vid from nasa going through the ins and out of the pillars) and it isn't bright at all.

cheers

[Flugel88 (Michael)]

I'm always really jealous of those small tight stars Paul i recently took a few test shoots of the pillars with my GSO14 and my stars appear like giant marbles by comparison.

Also i do like the darker rendition very nice.

[Octane (Humayun)]

I absolutely love the dark moody feel to this.

We need to sometimes realise that we're not only creating scientific images, we are making art!

Top work.

H

[Paul Haese]

Thank you to everyone who has commented. I always enjoy reading what people think. Whether it be critique or not.

Originally Posted by gregbradley

Great image Paul. Lovely detail. Only comment is as you point out it may be too dark for some. Its a tad dark for me but not by much. It does make it a bit moody in the darker colour.

I think also the smoothness comes from the full frame size of the sensor versus the smaller size of the 8300 sensor. The 11002 is has several times the imaging area and light collection area of the 8300 chip. SBIG STXL read noise is listed at 11 electrons and the FLI ML8300 is 11 electrons also. QSI's 8300 may be a bit lower. Also scope aperture plays a big part. Big sensor large aperture is still the king formula. I remember really liking Russell Cromans Horsehead nebula and was stunned to find out it was something like an hour and a half exposure time with a 20 inch RC and STL11.

Greg.

Thanks Greg. I reckon the black point of each monitor has an impact on how this image looks.

I noted the same thing with the read noise of both cameras.

Originally Posted by RickS

I certainly wouldn't have gone that dark, Paul, but it definitely works. I think the smooth result is partly a consequence of the milder stretch but the combination of aperture and the big pixels of the STL11K gives you enough signal to overcome read and shot noise quickly.

An excellent image

Cheers,
Rick.

Thanks Rick, I sort of figured that the bigger pixels were part of the reason for the smoother back ground with the larger aperture. Both you and Greg have confirmed that thought.

Originally Posted by Flugel88

I'm always really jealous of those small tight stars Paul i recently took a few test shoots of the pillars with my GSO14 and my stars appear like giant marbles by comparison.

Also i do like the darker rendition very nice.

Thanks Michael. Which camera are you using with the RC14? Is you guide graph flat? I found tightening up my base guiding parameters impacted the usefulness of the AO. Seeing will make a huge difference too. I often get good seeing at my site. Combine that with the AO and the stars get quite small. Not as tight as some of the more expensive scopes but quite acceptable.

Originally Posted by Octane

I absolutely love the dark moody feel to this.

We need to sometimes realise that we're not only creating scientific images, we are making art!

Top work.

H

Thanks H. I certainly like to think more of the art rather than the science. I see it as being an essential aspect of public outreach. By making art and displaying our images online we are helping to encourage others to think about the issues that affect astrophotography and spread the science too. People are more inclined to ask science related questions if they think the images look aesthetically pleasing. Besides, I like making pretty pictures, it appeals to my creative side and I am doing this for me after all.

[Shiraz (Ray)]

been coming back to this one - didn't originally like the dark tone, but it is making more sense with more views . It really is a very dramatic rendition and technically excellent with fine detail and low noise. Very nice work.

[Regulus (Trevor)]

It's a detailed image. It is a bit dark but not so dark that it detracts. In fact all the dark edges just focus your eyes in the amazing detail at the heart of the image.
The toned down red version is superior.
It would be hard to beat it as foundation data set for added data; the details there and ready for a longer exposure.

Nice.

Trev

[Paul Haese]

Originally Posted by Shiraz

been coming back to this one - didn't originally like the dark tone, but it is making more sense with more views . It really is a very dramatic rendition and technically excellent with fine detail and low noise. Very nice work.

Thanks Ray, I am inclined to make it a bit brighter with the final image. I do like the dramatic look of this image but think something between this and a bright rendering might be better. I am still collecting data and managed on Friday night to get nearly a complete run on the RGB. My preference would be to get 2-4 hours in each colour and 5 hours in luminance so I can do several renditions.

Originally Posted by Regulus

It's a detailed image. It is a bit dark but not so dark that it detracts. In fact all the dark edges just focus your eyes in the amazing detail at the heart of the image.
The toned down red version is superior.
It would be hard to beat it as foundation data set for added data; the details there and ready for a longer exposure.

Nice.

Trev

Thanks Trev, time will tell what I can produce with the complete data set.

[SkyViking (Rolf)]

Awesome shot Paul, a great high resolution image of the pillars! Love the classical Hubble palette too, well done.

[Paul Haese]

Originally Posted by SkyViking

Awesome shot Paul, a great high resolution image of the pillars! Love the classical Hubble palette too, well done.

Thanks Rolf, that is the appeal I was looking for was the detailing in the pillars. I see a lot of images of this target which appear over sharpened either through use of high pass filtering or by some means. I think it is hard to get that feathery look to the pillars and detail sharp enough to be appealing. I think the Hubble palette lends itself well to this target too.