BEAUTIFULLLL JASE! one of the best witches head ive seen so far. as always, i can't comment anything negative on your images. this one is too nice.
Cheers Eric. You’re too kind. The more I look at it, the more I think I could have done things differently – whether it would have improved on this rendition is a different story.
Quote:
Originally Posted by iceman
Very haunting object, beautiful captured and processed, Jase. Another masterpiece.
I love the red star in the heart of the nebula.
Thanks Mike. Agree, the orange star (spectral type K and K0) make a nice statement amongst the contrasting nebulosity.
Quote:
Originally Posted by avandonk
It is a very faint object and you have done well to get such a fine image.
Bert
I’m surprised others haven’t given this target much attention Bert. It is a tough target, but that’s what makes it all the more rewarding. Thanks again.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Garyh
Jase! what can I say?....
I think thats one of the best witchhead neb images I have seen. Visually very pleasing!
I tried this with my tv-genesis and 300d but it didn`t quiet fit into the field of view..another benefit of a big chip!
Very well done!!.
cheers Gary
Cheers Gary. You could always mosaic it with the Gen/300d. That was my original intention as I thought capturing two individual frames would give much better control over the contrast/intensity levels from Rigel. After careful planning, I thought I’d try taking up the challenge of fitting it all in one frame. Seems to have work reasonably well.
Quote:
Originally Posted by JohnG
Like others have said, what can one say, a truly haunting picture, got to be one of the best WitchHead shots I have ever seen. An excellent rendition of this truly difficult object.
Cheers
Thanks John. Appreciate the kind words.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ric
Hi Jase, a wonderful start to 2008 with a fantastic image. I enjoyed the way you have captured the subtle changes in colour throughout the nebula, I imagine that wasn't an easy task.
A top shot
Cheers Ric. The dusty characteristics of the reflection nebula resulted in different hues and tones. I’ve seen some images others have done which have not picked this up. I attribute this to acquiring the data when it’s high, specifically the blue channel to minimise atmospheric extinction. I knew I was onto something when the raw blue subs displayed few background galaxies such as spiral galaxy NGC1752(mag 12.6), PGC16607(mag 14.8), PGC16669(mag 14.7), PGC1015512(mag 15.1) and PGC16941(mag 16.8).
Quote:
Originally Posted by danielsun
As usual another jaw dropper Jase !!
Truly brilliant
Cheers Daniel. Thanks for taking the time to review and make comment.
As all have commented another very special image Jase.
The intricate detail in the dusty nebulosity that you have managed to capture have enhanced the Witchead more than we have seen in any other image of this DSO and it reveals much more detail of the eye nose cheeks and mouth. One cannot see it as anything else other than a witches head.
As all have commented another very special image Jase.
The intricate detail in the dusty nebulosity that you have managed to capture have enhanced the Witchead more than we have seen in any other image of this DSO and it reveals much more detail of the eye nose cheeks and mouth. One cannot see it as anything else other than a witches head.
Just Wonderful!!
Barb and David
Thanks Barb and David. Pleased you liked it. Was going to collect more data on this target, but felt the urge to move on to other targets. The nights are way too short.
Thanks Citivolus. It helps to have dark skies and a sensitive chip. The FSQ is also a fine instrument.
Quote:
Originally Posted by RB
What dark majik is this ??
Is this a promotional poster for Macbeth ???
One of the best versions of The Witchhead that I've ever seen Jase !!!
Even the kids thought it was fantastic.
Once again congrats on another wonderful image.
Cheers RB. A fun “fairy tale” target for the kids.
=====
Talking about productivity…
Over the past three nights, I’ve collected 11.5 hours (46subs – 15min each) of RGB data over two targets, one a mosaic. The frustrating thing is I’ve got nothing to show for it as I still need more data. This hobby sure tests ones patients…
Wonderful. This is the best shot I've seen of this nebula. The witch looks like she's looking at the star Rigel and gasping, and you can tell that it is the star that is lighting her face. Well worth all the effort, Jase.
Holy Focaccia jase!!!!!
Very entertaining image - great composition and processing.
Thanks for providing us with inspiring images like this one.
Cheers
Doug
WOW!! Beautiful!
always look forward to seeing your work!!
Thanks for checking out the image and making comment Dave. Appreciate it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ballaratdragons
Very nice work, Jase. The detail in the full res image is astounding!!!
I spotted some nice little galaxies (see below). Two in the upper left and a close pairing on the right
Cheers Ken. There are actually a few others in there as well. Really need some aperture to pick more of these faint PGC galaxies out. Still for a small 4” (106mm) aperture instrument, it’s not a bad effort.
Quote:
Originally Posted by 2020BC
Wonderful. This is the best shot I've seen of this nebula. The witch looks like she's looking at the star Rigel and gasping, and you can tell that it is the star that is lighting her face. Well worth all the effort, Jase.
Thanks Bill. It’s is certainly an interesting reflection nebula.
Quote:
Originally Posted by dugnsuz
Holy Focaccia jase!!!!!
Very entertaining image - great composition and processing.
Thanks for providing us with inspiring images like this one.
Cheers
Doug
Pleased you liked it Doug. Thanks.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jazza
Yeah... that is a seriously nice one
Thanks Jazza
Quote:
Originally Posted by glenc
The two galaxies in pic 1 are NGC 1752 (mag 13.3) and PGC 16607 (mag 14.8) according to Guide8.
Yep, that’s them Glen. I was looking at TheSky. There’s a considerable bunch of PGC galaxies between the nebulosity and Rigel, however I didn’t pick many up.
HI Jase - Congratulations on your image. Actually, I was delighted to see it because it cleared up something for me.
In your image there is a small patch of darker nebulosity that is not blue. I have this too but as I saw it in no other shots of this object, I assumed it was a gradient problem with my green channel. I feel much better to see it is real.
Here is a greatly compressed jpg of mine. I took it at 2x2(RGB) on the FSQ with the STL. I think each image is a 5 min exposure and there were 4 shots for each colour so about one hour in total. None the less I think I will have to be careful of skyglow at 2x2, my kit is very sensitive at this setting.
Yours is quite a piece of work - well done. PS - I saw those galaxies in mine too.... Very cute.
Thanks Monte. You've also captured it nicely. Those three stars in a row at the top of your frame is what caused flares in my image. I did have problems with the green channel. Not a very severe gradient, but enough to cause some processing challenges. I thought about binning the RGB data on this and also other images for the FSQ/STL11k combo, but seriously in its native 1x1 its already running at 3.5 arcsec/pixel. A 2x2 bin delivers 7 arcsec/pixel which is a significant hit on resolution. If you're taking lum at 1x1, then you'd probably be ok, though I've seen another person on the SBIG forums produce an L 1x1 and RGB 2x2 with a similar set up and to be really honest, I didn't like it. It could have been the way it was processed, but the RGB data caused the colour to "spill" into surrounding pixels of the stars. Everything looked well aligned. Perhaps the use of the minimum filter on the combined RGB data would have rectified this, but it wasn't an ideal solution. All my FSQ images are 1x1 for Lum and RGB. For this image, the blue channel was also used as the Lum so a 1x1 was the best method. Thanks again for your comments. I hope to see more of your FSQ images soon - been too quiet, you need to get out there.
Yes - its been a while. I haven't got much to show at the moment. I am having a review of my techniques. I am not really happy with the results I am getting. I will pick your brains later about that topic later. There are issues with darks and exposure times that need to be resolved before I will get results comensurate with my equipment.
Sometimes I feel like an L Plating kid in a top fuel dragster with this equipment. While I can get from one end of the street to the other, I usually hit a few telegraphpoles on the way. I know it is possible, you seem to do 5 sec quarter miles every time haha.....
As for the 2x2 it was a bit of a departure from the norm for me but I was curious to see how much I could get of the object in the limited time I had.
Unreal image, Makes me love this hobby even more. Keep up the fantastic work, must be very satisfying after many hours of patience to end up with a final prize like that .Well done and keep posting.
Excellent image, I've been wanting to image this since the day I got into astrophotography. I don't have a cooled camera though, so no use! Great image!!!
The more I look at it, the more I think I could have done things differently – whether it would have improved on this rendition is a different story.
It is a tough target, but that’s what makes it all the more rewarding. Thanks again.
