Elephant Trunk - Only Ha So Far

Mike Lewis

Mike Lewis

Staff Member
So I dunno if it is good form to post an image out of frustration, but that is pretty much what I am doing. I have been working on my first NB image from my remote imaging sessions with my gear hosted down in AZ. I have over 24 hours of data on the Elephant Trunk Nebula. Long story short, while the data is pretty good (and by FAR the longest integration I have ever taken on any single target) to say that the post processing has been difficult would be an understatement. I am sure between calibrating, stacking, and attempting to combine my data, especially with all the reading I have been doing to try to improve my technique on images like this, I am likely approaching another 24 hours. While I actually normally enjoy the post processing of these type of images, my inability to get good colors out of my 3 narrowband channels has made this effort less than enjoyable. I will not give up on it, but I also think it is likely time to step away from it for a while in order to spend some more time researching techniques and to also get a fresh set of eyes on the project when I come back to it.

So in order to get a little closure, I am posting the Hydrogen-alpha channel as a B&W image for now. This image by itself is the result of calibrating and stacking 97 five minute exposures for a total integration time just over 8 hours. On this image, I then did an initial stretch, removed the stars, stretched and processed the nebulosity by itself a little more to try to accentuate the details, and then mixed the star layer back in. This was a new technique for me and while I can see lots of potential benefit from it I am not completely sure I have it figured out either. More proof of the astrophotographer's adage that you never really finish processing an image, you just get sick of working on it. That certainly applies here :)

Anyway, without any more whining, here it is:

LRCC_sRGB_Elephant_Trunk_FW_Ha_PSCC.jpg



ML
 
JimFox

JimFox

Moderator
Staff member
Very cool shot Mike, and thanks for posting it. The Elephant Trunk is an awesome Nebula, so I look forward to when you get this finished, as it will be stunning.

Although my captures and processing are miniscule compared to the amount of time you have spent with this, I can feel for you because I have experienced that also where it just seemed like it wouldn't come into shape. For me I found that by stopping working on it, like you are doing here, and then picking up some simpler data that's easier to process that when I came back to that original one all of a sudden it just all fell into shape. So maybe work on a simpler Nebula/Galaxy in the mean time, and then you can attack the Elephant Nebula after with greater success.

And for the record, my mind gets a bit blown when thinking about shooting with the different filters and then combining the 3 colors into a usable image. Right now, just using my unmodified DSLR is enough of a challenge for me. :)
 
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