Dark Tower HaRGB revisited

[RickS (Rick)]

I first processed this data a year ago and while the RGB version wasn't too bad the HaRGB was truly awful. I have done a repro using my improved PI chops and I'm a lot happier with it this time. Of course, I may be horrified by this version too in a years' time

Scope: Ceravolo C300 @ f/9 = 2760mm FL, Atlas focuser
Mount: AP900
Camera: U16M
Filters: Astrodon E series Gen 2 LRGB, 3nm HA, OIII, SII
Guiding: Lodestar / MMOAG
Image scale: 0.67 arcsec/pixel
Exposures: 58x1800s Ha, 7x900s R, 7x900s G, 8x900s B (29 + 5.5 hrs)

Processed in PixInsight.

High res version on Astrobin: http://www.astrobin.com/126037/

RGB version is here: http://www.astrobin.com/125623/

Cheers,
Rick.

[Stevec35 (Steve)]

Looks good to me Rick but possibly a bit over saturated.

Cheers

Steve

[ozstronomer (Geoff)]

I really like this one Rick, nice blending of the Ha data

Geoff

[Slawomir (Suavi)]

For me the highlights of this photo are beautiful rich star fields and small areas of luminous gas in the vicinity of two bright stars. The new version also seems to have less noise and is more contrasty

[gregbradley]

Very nice, perhaps a tad scarlet for my taste but that's just me.

Greg.

[RickS (Rick)]

Originally Posted by Stevec35

Looks good to me Rick but possibly a bit over saturated.

Thanks, Steve. Highly saturated is the way I roll

Originally Posted by ozstronomer

I really like this one Rick, nice blending of the Ha data

Thanks, Geoff!

Originally Posted by Slawomir

For me the highlights of this photo are beautiful rich star fields and small areas of luminous gas in the vicinity of two bright stars. The new version also seems to have less noise and is more contrasty

Thanks, Suavi. It's definitely an improvement. The question is whether I can do better again! It's a shame that the lovely "golden sand" of the stars in the RGB version was lost when I added the Ha.

[Placidus (Mike and Trish)]

The wonderfully deep H-alpha exposure of the cometary globule wrapped around the tower adds a lot to just RGB. You've made it much more interesting than plain RGB or just a quick H-alpha snapshot.

[Eden (Brett)]

Nicely done, Rick

[RickS (Rick)]

Originally Posted by gregbradley

Very nice, perhaps a tad scarlet for my taste but that's just me.

Thanks, Greg. It is very red!

Originally Posted by Placidus

The wonderfully deep H-alpha exposure of the cometary globule wrapped around the tower adds a lot to just RGB. You've made it much more interesting than plain RGB or just a quick H-alpha snapshot.

Thanks, M&T!

Originally Posted by Eden

Nicely done, Rick

Thanks, Brett.

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

Hmmm?..I think it is lacking a bit of colour Rick and have you removed a few stars? ....

Rather saturated colour but has a wowy feel too it, a vibrant image for sure with beautiful looking stars.

Nice job

Mike

[gregbradley]

I looked at it again and it doesn't appear too scarlet to me anymore. Not sure what happened there, probably something to do with my monitor.. But it looks fine. A beautiful image.

Greg.

[RickS (Rick)]

Originally Posted by strongmanmike

Hmmm?..I think it is lacking a bit of colour Rick and have you removed a few stars? ....

Rather saturated colour but has a wowy feel too it, a vibrant image for sure with beautiful looking stars.

Nice job

Mike

Thanks, Mike I can turn it up another notch if you think it's too pastel

Originally Posted by gregbradley

I looked at it again and it doesn't appear too scarlet to me anymore. Not sure what happened there, probably something to do with my monitor.. But it looks fine. A beautiful image.

Greg.

Thanks, Greg!

[Ryderscope (Rodney)]

A stand out image that has made the dark tower the main feature which is what I suspect you were trying to do.

[RickS (Rick)]

Thanks, Rodney!

[LucasB (Lucas)]

Great image Rick! I am a fan of the very vibrant colour.
Lucas