MGC 3372 Carina Nebula Eastern Region in SHO

[Startrek (Martin)]

Captured over 4 nights in March during the Full Moon period, here’s an SHO narrowband image of the Carina Nebula’s eastern region which is one of my favourite areas of this magnificent nebula.

Sydney Bortle 8 City Suburban location
Full Moon period
Seeing conditions average to good
Telescope 8” f5 Klaus Helmerich Carbon Fibre ( Self Built )
Mount Skywatcher EQ6-R pro
Imaging camera ZWO2600MM cooled to -10C , Gain 100 HCG
TS Optics GPU coma corrector with Beamtech 15mm spacing ring
Antlia 3nm filters
PHD2 Multistar guiding ( 0.40 to 0.50 arc sec total )
Orion 60mm guide scope with helical focuser
ZWO EFW 7 x 2”
ZWO EAF focuser
Tracking and Goto EQMOD and Stellarium
Aquisition and Capture , APT
Ha 141 x 2 min dithered subs
Oiii 108 x 2 min dithered subs
Sii 110 x 2 min dithered subs
Darks from Library
Full Calibration suite
Flats for Ha , Oiii and Sii
Flat Darks for Ha , Oiii and Sii
Total integration 12 hours
Subs reviewed in ASTAP
Data calibrated , stacked and aligned in ASTAP
Post processed in Startools version 1.8 via Compose module

NB: This image is presented as documentary astrophotography and has not used any AI enhanced or AI assisted technology during post processing.

Link to Astrobin for full resolution….,

https://www.astrobin.com/full/fm8qtt/0/

Thanks for Looking
Comments most welcome

Martin

[joshman (Josh)]

That's real nice! I'm a fan of the pastel colour palate, and the details look well captured and preserved.


Though the dark dusty bit in the center looks clipped to black on my monitor

[Startrek (Martin)]

Thanks Josh
Much appreciated
Yeh it’s fun to image various parts of this huge gem
That celestial black porthole you referred to is not clipped , look at any image of this Nebula on line and this porthole is visually darker than any other part of the interstellar background. It’s a natural feature, no fault of processing although some folk may tweak it to look brighter ?
Startools will never totally clip your data.

Cheers
Martin

[Startrek (Martin)]

Decided to reprocess the image and squeeze a bit more faint detail in the outer areas plus a minor tweak with colour.

Astrobin link for full resolution…..,

https://www.astrobin.com/full/fm8qtt/B/

Thanks for looking
Comments welcome

Martin

[Leo.G (Leo)]

That's beautiful Martin!

[Davidpmcadam]

Fantastic image Martin.

[Startrek (Martin)]

Originally Posted by Leo.G

That's beautiful Martin!

Many thanks Leo
So many images we see today are so close to perfect they look kind of fake. I suppose the introduction of AI to this hobby maybe the culprit.
I’ll never use this type of technology as I want my images to be a true and accurate representation of what’s actually captured ( including warts and all ) and then attempt to clean up the image as best I can and within the limits of my documentary type software , Startools.

Cheers
Martin

[Startrek (Martin)]

Originally Posted by Davidpmcadam

Fantastic image Martin.

Thanks David
Much appreciated
Let me know if you have any queries or questions concerning all the documentation I emailed you last week

Cheers
Martin

[joshman (Josh)]

Hi Martin, I really like the revision! There's a bit more contrast and the transition to the background and the dark areas is a lot more gentle


The clipping I was seeing in the original has been resolved. I'm not sure if it was clipping to black, but there was definitely a hard border where there should have been a gradual transition into to the darker region.

[Startrek (Martin)]

Originally Posted by joshman

Hi Martin, I really like the revision! There's a bit more contrast and the transition to the background and the dark areas is a lot more gentle


The clipping I was seeing in the original has been resolved. I'm not sure if it was clipping to black, but there was definitely a hard border where there should have been a gradual transition into to the darker region.

Thanks Josh,
Glad you like it
Your perception of clipping is probably different to mine.
Startools will never clip your data.
I was probably a bit heavy handed on Sharpening the dark areas. It sometimes coalesces the dark fuzzy areas into denser matter.
It’s all subjective anyway

Clear Skies
Martin

[Dave882 (David)]

Beautiful image Martin. Another creative framing which highlights some interesting detail and aspects of NGC3372 that are often overlooked. Lovely colour too!

[Startrek (Martin)]

Originally Posted by Dave882

Beautiful image Martin. Another creative framing which highlights some interesting detail and aspects of NGC3372 that are often overlooked. Lovely colour too!

Thanks Dave,
Much appreciated
I captured a similar image last year from my Dome down south using the 10” Carbon Newt, however as the 8” Newt in Sydney has a wider FOV it definitely provided a more expansive and dynamic image with more detail and structure.
Imaging at 1050mm ( Sydney) and 1280mm ( South Coast ) is such a versatile and all round length especially for a gigantic nebula like Carina with so many diverse regions to explore and image.

Cheers
Martin