The Pillars of Creation

[Stephane]

Hi all,

It's been ages I haven't posted, or imaged for that matter. Life's been pretty hectic as you all know - I'm sure none of you need reminding. Anyway, I've finally gathered some additional data on my Pillars project with my 6-inch Newtonian (still waiting for the 8-inch to be repaired ).

This image was taken over 2 years in my Bortle 7 backyard. In the first year, I was using a zwo 2600mc pro camera with an Optolong L-Extreme filter. Dithered frequently during acquisition and drizzled all the data. After about 20 hours of integration, I used the red channel of the master as a "Ha Master" and I combined the blue and green channels 50-50 to produce an "OIII Master". In the second year, I used a ZWO 2600mm pro camera and added about 6 hours of sulfur to create an "SII Master". I then combined these to create an SHO image as shown. The RGB stars totalled about 1h30' (Ideally, I'd like more RGB time, but the weather doesn't look promising and I'd like to move on to another target).

Overall I am pleased with this result, although some aspects of processing could be improved. Colour saturation is a little heavier than my usual style -but I thought "why not?"; it's all a bit of fun. BlurXterminator has been used with care. Constructive criticism offered respectfully is welcomed and appreciated. Hope y'all enjoy.

Full res on Astrobin

Clear skies,
Stéphane

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

An excellent Pillars there Stephane, a great several years work

Mike

[Retrograde (Pete)]

Wow - excellent Pillars there Stephane!

[Nikolas (Nik)]

Awesome Pillars Stephane!!!

[Stephane]

Thanks everyone. The Pillars are such a fun target. And so much happening around them too from the Spire to the Eagle staring at them - not to mention the inconspicuous boks. So much to look at!

[Startrek (Martin)]

Stephane,
It’s been a while !!
Beautiful image showing excellent detail
Well done indeed!!

Gee that 8” is taking forever to be repaired ??
What’s going on ?? Parts ?? Availability of Labour ?? Still fault finding ??
My 8” f5 CF Klaus Helmerich that I built myself for my Sydney rig only took around 8 or 9 weeks from order to imaging, and the OTA tube came from Germany.

Martin

[Paul Haese]

That is an excellent image of the Eagle. Everything looks very sharp and nicely processed. The saturation I think is very good.

[Stephane]

Originally Posted by Startrek

Stephane,
It’s been a while !!
Beautiful image showing excellent detail
Well done indeed!!

Gee that 8” is taking forever to be repaired ??
What’s going on ?? Parts ?? Availability of Labour ?? Still fault finding ??
My 8” f5 CF Klaus Helmerich that I built myself for my Sydney rig only took around 8 or 9 weeks from order to imaging, and the OTA tube came from Germany.

Martin

Thanks Martin! Regarding the 8-inch, it’s a combination of availability of labor and fault finding. We think we might have found the issue, so stay tuned. If this doesn’t work though, I might have to request a replacement.

Originally Posted by Paul Haese

That is an excellent image of the Eagle. Everything looks very sharp and nicely processed. The saturation I think is very good.

Thanks Paul. I’m working on colour saturation, I find it difficult to boost it without overcooking the image. Hopefully I can improve in that area.

[AlexN]

Stunning! The overall level of detail, colour and contrast is mind blowing!

Incredibly well done.

[Stephane]

Thanks Alex! I still feel it could benefit from some more data and better processing. Hard to do these Pillars justice.

[AlexN]

I guess the issue is that most people compare images they see, to ones taken with multi billion dollar space telescopes...

While yes, I believe that almost all images could do with more data (especially mine ) I think that your image here is a shining example of what can be done with relatively modest equipment. a GSO 6" F/5 is by no means a premium optical system - but this is definitely a premium image!

[Stephane]

Thanks so much Alex. It’s amazing what can be done with cheaper scopes. This hobby never ceases to amaze me as we all learn new tips and tricks to enhance our image acquisition and processing. All that said though, I’m hoping to get back my 8-inch soon.

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

Originally Posted by Stephane

Thanks so much Alex. It’s amazing what can be done with cheaper scopes. This hobby never ceases to amaze me as we all learn new tips and tricks to enhance our image acquisition and processing. All that said though, I’m hoping to get back my 8-inch soon.

On a similar vane, the progress over the years is also incredible.

27 years of progress

30 years of progress

... and then after another 10 years THIS

All with what are or were, pretty typical setups for amateurs of their time.

Got to love progress

Mike

[AdamJL]

yeah this is a great image, Stephane. Colours are perfect. That wider field (though obviously not wide!) I could look at for days.