The Eta Carinae Nebula (NCC 3372) in Carina - Mark III (higher resolution linked)

[Octane (Humayun)]

Well.

Here it is, proper first light for the SBIG STL-11000M and the Takahashi FSQ-106N. My very first ever hydrogen alpha + LRGB image. This is the first time I've ever combined monochrome images to form a composite. Wow, what a rush it was to finally see colour on screen.

Click here.

It's only taken me, what, nearly a year to take my first proper image since purchasing this immaculate gear? I think the wait was worth it.

This image was captured over six nights, totalling 10.5 hours of data. That's right, I don't do anything half-arsed.

To say that I'm pleased would be an understatement.

Would love to hear from the seasoned monochrome imagers as to things that could be improved.

I ditched IRIS and switched to MaxIm DL 5 to calibrate, register, align and stretch. I really miss IRIS' stellar registration routine, as it's second to none, but, IRIS is really designed more for DSLR work.

H-alpha+LRGB; 160 187.5 93.75 93.75 93.75
H-alpha and L bin 1x1, RGB bin 2x2

H-alpha was blended as a luminosity layer at an opacity of 64% to help suppress the overwhelming star field and to provide further contrast/definition in the nebula. Slightly cropped to remove registration artifacts between frames and to maintain a 3:2 aspect ratio.

Dedicated to Frank (spearo) and his partner Lisa for all their hospitality and kindness. Thanks, guys.

Comments, critique, etc., most welcome.

H

[richardo (Rich)]

Woo hoo, I feel your excitement H..... nothing like it when you put it all together and the colour comes back at you!

Looks really nice, can see the Gem cluster and Mistral neb which look outstanding...... but, could you publish a larger image H ??
This present one with the link I'm really only seeing 2/3 of it on my monitor..
be good to swim around in it some.
Go on, you've got the real estate, lets really see it

It's great your under way old chap
Talk about patience

All the best
Rich

[alan meehan (Alan)]

Top shot H,I got to agree with Rich needs a larger image,need to go for a swim with this one.
AL

[marc4darkskies (Marcus)]

Great result H!! And welcome to the club! You should be very pleased with that, it's tricky to do an effective HA blend and avoiding the salmon colours.

You definitely need to display a higher res version though ... full res would be nice! I want to see PIXELS!

The colour looks spot on to me but I'm suspecting you can tease out some more depth of neb from your HA (?) Did you blend some HA into your RED channel?

Cheers, Marcus

[gregbradley]

A beautiful image Humi. Love it.

You have gotten your stars to look nice. But as Marcus pointed out there could be more of the Ha neb teased out and perhaps a bit more saturation in the neb colours (at least to my taste which is subjective of course). That is the cost of Ha as Luminance. It tends to wash things out and it also tends to make the Ha areas more pinkish again that is fine but is a taste thing also. There are a few schools of thought about how to blend in Ha. I have tended to take some from both plus a bit of my own. I also think the approach varies a bit from image to image. I am happy to PM you some approaches. My current view is Ha is a beast that needs to be reined in otherwise it dominates the image too much. Yours is nicely controlled from that viewpoint.

How did you combine your LRGB? That can make a fairly big difference to the image as well depending on how it is done.

Fabulous first light.

Greg.

[jjjnettie (Jeanette)]

hmmmmm yes, it's divine.....

[RobF (Rob)]

Congratulations Humayun - so glad you've got it all off the ground. That doesn't look good enough for first light though. Please throw away 2/3 or your subs, apply some gaussian blur to what's left, then recombine, then excessively sharpen (to make it look like something the rest of us might have produced! )

Seriously though, that's just candy to the eye - pretty pretty please can we see a higher res?

Edit: Oops - you did of course link to a bit higher res - just drinking it in now.....

[Hagar (Doug)]

Very nice H, I am glad to see you have final lost your virginity with this rig. It has definitely been too long between drinks. I can say one thing. You have started with a bang and set the bar pretty high for your followup images.

Good stuff Mate. Keep it up.

[TrevorW]

Nice H but I'm with Marc, need a higher res version

thanks

[mill (Martin)]

Excellent first light H
Could you please post a full res picture?

[CoolhandJo (Paul)]

Nice image. Great capture and FOV. I usually add Ha to L and also to R at different blends - I feel it tends to give a more "red" than "Pink". But, Eta tends to give the colours you have produced regardless (as can be seen in the blue stars also). Great excellent monumental first light effort!

[DavidU (Dave)]

Beautiful H ! breath taking.

[DavidTrap (David)]

Well done H - you are making it seriously hard for me to refrain from purchasing a monochrome CCD...

I like the higher res version, but an even higher one would be worth it for this fine image.

Cheers
DT

[troypiggo (Troy)]

Wonderful result. I can understand the excitement after having the gear and finally being able to use it.

[Bassnut (Fred)]

Very nice indeed H, well balanced, detailed. Pretty exceptional for a 1st time use of Ha, cam, software, it all came together well.

[Ken Crawford (KenC)]

Outstanding first light!! I can hear the excitment in your post and your efforst were well worth it.

congrats!

[desler]

Oh H, what a ripper, must be pleasing afetr such a long wait. Can't wait to go swimming in the full res version.


Darren

[alexch (Alex)]

Nice one, H!

[SkyViking (Rolf)]

That's amazing H, very well executed with beautiful framing and I very much like the soft colours in this image.
Now for some crops and a full res version

[batema (Mark)]

That does look wonderful. congrats and have fun with the new toys.

Mark