Statue of Liberty Nebula

[alpal]

I managed to get 1.75 hours of data last night. Ha LRGB
NGC 3603 & NGC 3576 with my QHY9 mono & 8" f6 Newt.
I used a 20 minute subframe of Ha for a large part of the Luminance.
larger version here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/24719437@N03/16888794941/

Comments welcome.
I might re-process it.

cheers
Allan

[alpal]

I did another version - cropped with luminance & Ha mixed 50%.
Is this better?

Larger version here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/24719437@N03/16704639240/

[alpal]

The 20 minute subframe in Ha binned 2x2 with the QHY9 mono.
It did not need to be stretched in FITS Liberator -
just a slight tweak in Photoshop -
it's great when you do these long narrow band frames &
get good looking data straight off the camera.

cheers
Allan

[rustigsmed (Russell)]

hi Al,

good to see you imaging again.

you did a quick repro but not as quick as my one from the w'end!

I like the reprocess better more colour variation - is some of the stars look a bit wonky? maybe some subs hit by wind? could be worth weeding out the subs that caused it.

but good work - finally a clear night in Melbourne!

cheers

rusty

[LewisM]

H-a looks nice by itself, but to be honest, the colour versions appear odd and gradienty (new word )

Good start though

[alpal]

Originally Posted by rustigsmed

hi Al,

good to see you imaging again.

you did a quick repro but not as quick as my one from the w'end!

I like the reprocess better more colour variation - is some of the stars look a bit wonky? maybe some subs hit by wind? could be worth weeding out the subs that caused it.

but good work - finally a clear night in Melbourne!

cheers

rusty

Hi Russell,
Yes - I saw your repro NGC 3324 - much better.
It was great to have a moonless clear Saturday night in Melbourne.
The FWHM was below 3 arc seconds for all sub-frames.

I'll have to do a slower re-process & try not to damage those stars.
Some of my stacks in Luminance didn't quite line up so I had to use
warp to force them - maybe I wasn't accurate enough?

cheers
Allan

[alpal]

Originally Posted by LewisM

H-a looks nice by itself, but to be honest, the colour versions appear odd and gradienty (new word )

Good start though

Hi Lewis,
Yes - I had to work hard on gradients -
can't help but get them from a light polluted suburb in Melbourne.

cheers
Allan

[alpal]

I couldn't help myself - another re-process.
This time I made registered stacks & they did align properly
so the stars are better & I changed the colour scheme.
Is this better?

Larger version here:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/24719437@N03/16282721684/

cheers
Allan

[alpal]

What about an LRGB version?

50% of the Ha was added to Red. It's now an LRGB picture.
The result gives nice coloured stars but the stars are very large & overpower the picture - a bit.
Does anyone like this better?

cheers
Allan

[Ross G]

Nice photo Allan, especially with such little exposure and added pollution.

Great composition.

I think your original photo is the better one.

Good luck with it.

Ross.

[alpal]

Originally Posted by Ross G

Nice photo Allan, especially with such little exposure and added pollution.

Great composition.

I think your original photo is the better one.

Good luck with it.

Ross.

Thanks Ross,
I wish I could have got more time but a power supply problem -
a bad cigarette lighter connector - cost me 2 hours of imaging.
Still it's fun to try different processing.

cheers
Allan

[Paul Haese]

I think I prefer the second version and maybe the third one.

[alpal]

Originally Posted by Paul Haese

I think I prefer the second version and maybe the third one.

Really Paul.
I go nuts trying to process images.
There are an infinite number of variations.

cheers
Allan

[Paul Haese]

Allan, don't rush it. Process for a bit and then get up and walk away. Do this several times before you make your final decision. It should be a pleasurable experience. It took be some time to learn this myself, but now this is the most pleasurable part of imaging for me.

[alpal]

Originally Posted by Paul Haese

Allan, don't rush it. Process for a bit and then get up and walk away. Do this several times before you make your final decision. It should be a pleasurable experience. It took be some time to learn this myself, but now this is the most pleasurable part of imaging for me.

Hi Paul,
but nebulas are difficult.
How do you decide between Ha as part of luminance with the nice tiny stars
& an RGB version with big bright colorful stars?
I also like playing with selective colour to bring out more colour detail
& boosting colour in LAB mode.
The problem is - when is it too much?

cheers
Allan

[Paul Haese]

Originally Posted by alpal

Hi Paul,
but nebulas are difficult.
How do you decide between Ha as part of luminance with the nice tiny stars
& an RGB version with big bright colorful stars?
I also like playing with selective colour to bring out more colour detail
& boosting colour in LAB mode.
The problem is - when is it too much?

cheers
Allan

Ah the eternal question. The answer is all up to you. Rob Gendler has some helpful tips on his site for combining Ha to RGB. I find Ha blended with Luminance helps a lot. I did exactly that when I imaged this same object a few years back. You can find it in my gallery to see the result. You can make a false luminance by combining all the colour data too if you don't have a genuine luminance.

[alpal]

Originally Posted by Paul Haese

Ah the eternal question. The answer is all up to you. Rob Gendler has some helpful tips on his site for combining Ha to RGB. I find Ha blended with Luminance helps a lot. I did exactly that when I imaged this same object a few years back. You can find it in my gallery to see the result. You can make a false luminance by combining all the colour data too if you don't have a genuine luminance.

Yes Paul,
I like your version here:
http://paulhaese.net/NGC3576.html

You've gone deeper from your dark skies.
When I get my 10" f4 mirror - I hope to be doing a lot better.

cheers
Allan