M78 Nebula

[JimFox]

M78 is one a few of the guys in here have been capturing lately, so it wet my appetite to try and give my hand at it. I think it turned out really well. At least I am happy with it.

I captured it with both the L-Pro and the L-Enhance filters. But I ended up not using the L-Enhance in the processing as it cut half of that blue Oiii signal in half. It did show a bit more of the Ha (red) signal, but in this image I cropped out the Ha as I wanted to focus just on M78.

I also processed it to keep the dark nebula visible. It's something I am more conscious of now, so I am trying to preserve or enhance them as I think the dark nebula can look cool.

I am going back out to image tonight, the forecast is for clear skies and no wind, though I am up in Colorado, so the night time temperature is supposed to dip to 20 degrees, which is actually much better then when it had been forecasted to drop to 13 tonight just a few days ago.

27 - Lights at 600 secs with the Optolong L-Pro Filter
30 - Flats
30 - Dark/Flats
10 - Darks

iOptron Gem28
ZWO ASI2600mc Pro
ZWO 120mm Mini - Guide Camera
Askar Fra500
Stacked in Pixinsight
BlurXterminator
NoiseXterminator
StarXterminator
Processed in Pixinsight and Photoshop

All comments are welcome,

Jim

 

[Ben Egbert]

I see two eyes. What beautiful colors

 

[AlanLichty]

Wonderful color and detail.

 

[Jameel Hyder]

Interesting that most of the color is in the blue channel. Nice detail in the core.

 

[Mike Lewis]

Lovely, really liking you keeping the faint details visible, makes for a more complete image IMHO.

ML

 

[JimFox]

I see two eyes. What beautiful colors

Thanks Ben, I can "see" that.

 

[JimFox]

Wonderful color and detail.

I appreciate that Alan, I am slowly improving on my technique.

 

[JimFox]

Interesting that most of the color is in the blue channel. Nice detail in the core.

Yeah, I was drawn to the blue in this. It seems like 90% of space has red colored objects, so where the blue pops up I know attracts me.

 

[JimFox]

Lovely, really liking you keeping the faint details visible, makes for a more complete image IMHO.

ML

I appreciate that Mike. I worked hard on trying to keep those details from melting into the background.

 

[Andy Nowlen]

Outstanding. Great job on the dust! Something I am still trying to learn how to better preserve!

 

[Comet Hunter]

Nicely done

 

[JimFox]

Outstanding. Great job on the dust! Something I am still trying to learn how to better preserve!

Thanks Andy, it's been something I have been focusing on, because I know early on I was smashing that dust into the background.

 

[JimFox]

Nicely done

Thanks Ed! I do appreciate that.

 

[Mike Lewis]

Jim,

Excellent result! Lovely colors and detail, and as I have stated previously, I like your new approach to the background level that is letting us all enjoy the faint detail and dark nebulosity in this and other images as well. Keep up the great work!

ML