First Rosette of the season?

[RickS (Rick)]

I'm sure it won't be the last

Imaged from Glen Aplin over two nights last new moon. Not as much data as I would have liked since it is still rising late. LRGB only. I didn't want to waste dark sky on narrowband. I will try to get some Ha and OIII from home.

Mount: Astro-Physics AP900
Scope: Tak FSQ-106ED
Camera: Sbig STL11K, Astrodon Gen 2 filters
Guiding: Tak FS-60C and Lodestar
Focuser: Atlas
Exposures: 18x300s Lum, 6x300s each R, G & B + some 30s subs
Processing: PixInsight

The small attached version suffers badly from compression artifacts. Larger version (with suggested improvements to contrast) here: http://rickstevenson.smugmug.com/Ast...cropmed-X3.jpg

Creative criticism welcomed as always. Thanks...

Cheers,
Rick.

[tilbrook@rbe.ne (Justin Tilbrook)]

What a ripper Rick!!

The large version is stunning and vibrant.

Question, will O3 get you much more?

Cheers,

Justin.

[Larryp (Laurie)]

That's a great image!

[jjjnettie (Jeanette)]

Stunning!!

[TrevorW]

Very well done

[naskies (Dave)]

Beautiful!

The background seems bright, i.e. it looks there's plenty of room for boosting contrast. Was this an intentional creative choice on your part?

[ozstronomer (Geoff)]

Lovely work Rick, plenty of colour in the stars. Love those Glen Aplin skies

[Stevec35 (Steve)]

Very nice image Rick. My only adverse comment would be that it looks slightly flat. Tuning the contrast would make it even better I think.

Cheers

Steve

[Ross G]

A great looking photo Rick.

Love the colours and detail.

Your telescope gives a great FOV.


Ross.

[RickS (Rick)]

Originally Posted by tilbrook@rbe.ne

What a ripper Rick!!

The large version is stunning and vibrant.

Question, will O3 get you much more?

Cheers,

Justin.

Thanks, Justin. I have seen some nice Rosette images with both Ha and OIII blended so I assume it is worth trying!

Originally Posted by Larryp

That's a great image!

Thanks, Laurie!

Originally Posted by jjjnettie

Stunning!!

Thanks, JJJ!

Originally Posted by TrevorW

Very well done

Thanks also, Trevor!

Originally Posted by naskies

Beautiful!

The background seems bright, i.e. it looks there's plenty of room for boosting contrast. Was this an intentional creative choice on your part?

Thanks, Dave. I did try a quick S curve and wasn't that fussed on the result but perhaps I'll experiment a bit more.

Originally Posted by ozstronomer

Lovely work Rick, plenty of colour in the stars. Love those Glen Aplin skies

Thanks, Geoff. Yep, some nice skies down there. It was pretty frosty too!

Originally Posted by Stevec35

Very nice image Rick. My only adverse comment would be that it looks slightly flat. Tuning the contrast would make it even better I think.

Cheers

Steve

Thanks for the suggestion, Steve. I'll give it a try.

Originally Posted by Ross G

A great looking photo Rick.

Love the colours and detail.

Your telescope gives a great FOV.


Ross.

Thanks, Ross. It's a great FOV for big game! Not much use for galaxies though, apart from M31 and the Magellanic Clouds.

[alpal]

That's looking great Rick,
I think you could get even more out of that data with a bit more processing.
I would play with contrast ( in curves ) & selective sharpening.

[atalas]

Very nice Rick.

[gregbradley]

Great image Rick. FSQ/ST11 is a match made in heaven.
One point though is the image seems a tad washed out, a bit of lack of contrast. Perhaps a bit of light pollution? Are you able to try out a bit more contrast or levels/curves not so pushed? Adding Ha will help, in fact your neb areas are quite saturated for LRGB only.

Greg.

[multiweb (Marc)]

Great capture Rick. Very deep shot.

[David Fitz-Henr]

That's a great image Rick! Probably as per other comments a tad more contrast would make it even more stunning!

[RickS (Rick)]

Thanks for all the suggestions. Updated version with higher contrast is here: http://rickstevenson.smugmug.com/Ast...cropmed-X3.jpg

Originally Posted by alpal

That's looking great Rick,
I think you could get even more out of that data with a bit more processing.
I would play with contrast ( in curves ) & selective sharpening.

Thanks Allan. Hope you like the new version.

Originally Posted by atalas

Very nice Rick.

Thanks, Louie!

Originally Posted by gregbradley

Great image Rick. FSQ/ST11 is a match made in heaven.
One point though is the image seems a tad washed out, a bit of lack of contrast. Perhaps a bit of light pollution? Are you able to try out a bit more contrast or levels/curves not so pushed? Adding Ha will help, in fact your neb areas are quite saturated for LRGB only.

Greg.

Thanks, Greg. I thought it looked OK at the time but increasing the contrast has made a big improvement.

Originally Posted by multiweb

Great capture Rick. Very deep shot.

Thanks, Marc!

Originally Posted by David Fitz-Henr

That's a great image Rick! Probably as per other comments a tad more contrast would make it even more stunning!

Thanks, David!

[Stevec35 (Steve)]

Much better! Now looks superb.

Steve

[adman (Adam)]

That new version is the business rick! Just spectacular!

Adam

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

Great start to the 2012/13 Rosette show Rick

Solid result

Mike

[gregbradley]

Yeah there it is. Superb.

I personally wouldn't add Ha to it - it'll only spoil your lovely neb colours and stars. Its perfect as-is. Nice magenta H beta areas, nice reddish pink Ha colour yet beautiful star colours and a nice dark background.

Ha Rosettes are usually way too red and most unattractive as a result.

I am still surprised you got so much of the Ha colours without shooting Ha. Must've been nice dark skies. You've got a good rock n roll setup now. Its all working beautifully - don't change anything! Lock it all down. Its easy to change something now and it gets worse.

Greg.