Melotte 15 / IC1805 HOO

[Andy Nowlen]

Waaay back in October

before the unending clouds descended on my valley, I captured just short of 4 hours of data for this project. Normally I would get about 10 or 12, but maybe that will happen in the new year! Aaarrrgghh!

Overall I am pleased with the result from my B5/B6 home. Also, I used Bill Blanshan's Pixinsight Processing Icons to reduce the stars, create the initial HOO image, and eventually put the stars back into the image. I find those icons, along with RCAstro's Noise and Star xterminators to be of great value in my work flow.

Scope = FSQ106n @535mm
Filter = Radian Triad Ultra
Camera = ASI533mcp
Mount = CEM70G

Stack = Astropixel processor
Process = Pixinsight
Bill Blanshan's process icons
RC Astro Noise Xterminator
RC Astro Star Xterminator
plus Photoshop

 

[Ben Egbert]

Lots of detail for less than ideal sky's.

 

[AlanLichty]

Fantastic deep space color show. Beautiful imaging.

 

[Jameel Hyder]

Amazing to see such subtle gradations in the colors.

 

[JimFox]

Wow Andy!

Just 4 hours of integration? That's some amazing work you got there. I love the details and depth to this. Melotte 15 kind of sounds familiar like I have heard of it before, but I couldn't recall what it looked like. I need to check this one out.

 

[Andy Nowlen]

Amazing to see such subtle gradations in the colors.

Thank you. That is one of my purposes in this image. Thanks. The filter I have been using is the Radian Triad Ultra. I am still learning and trying to get the most from my filter. It is 4nm and 4 band passes - Hydrogen alpha, Hydrogen beta, Sulfur II, and Oxygen III wavelengths. I would say the manufacturer's description is accurate and I continue to try and extract better color in my post-processing. I think it requires more nuance than I may have used in the past. The gradations (I hope) represent a better processing result.

 

[Mike Lewis]

Andy,

Lovely version of this cool target - it is one of those that just yields more and more intricate detail the farther you 'zoom' in. It looks like you have gottenn a good result for the amount of data, and have discovered those great star reducing tools from Bill Blanshan - they are amazing IMHO, I use them now on all my images.

A quick comment/question - it seems like all your stars are white; assuming that is not by design have you looked at trying to use an under-stretched version of the data to add the stars back in? That might allow you to retain some of the colors? Just a thought on a little tweak you might explore, but in any case, a truly wonderful result!

ML

 

[Andy Nowlen]

Hi. Thanks. I actually haven’t ever thought about under stretching stars. I agree about my stars. I’m going “back to the drawing board”. Check with you later.

 

[Andy Nowlen]

Andy,

Lovely version of this cool target - it is one of those that just yields more and more intricate detail the farther you 'zoom' in. It looks like you have gottenn a good result for the amount of data, and have discovered those great star reducing tools from Bill Blanshan - they are amazing IMHO, I use them now on all my images.

A quick comment/question - it seems like all your stars are white; assuming that is not by design have you looked at trying to use an under-stretched version of the data to add the stars back in? That might allow you to retain some of the colors? Just a thought on a little tweak you might explore, but in any case, a truly wonderful result!

ML

HI again,
I did a quick investigation into my star colors or lack thereof. Some of it is in the post-processing. I did a careful restretch but see that will only go so far. Now I can see that I need to actually shoot some short UV/IR (L) filter only subs to use for stars. Since my opportunities for clear skies are so limited, I might first try some really short subs without changing the filter. I can create a sequence that will automate that part. I don't have a filter wheel. Maybe that will be a baby step forward. A year ago that would not have even made sense to me. Now I think I can begin to understand and implement.

Thanks again for your observation.

Regards,

Andy

 

[Mike Lewis]

HI again,
I did a quick investigation into my star colors or lack thereof. Some of it is in the post-processing. I did a careful restretch but see that will only go so far. Now I can see that I need to actually shoot some short UV/IR (L) filter only subs to use for stars. Since my opportunities for clear skies are so limited, I might first try some really short subs without changing the filter. I can create a sequence that will automate that part. I don't have a filter wheel. Maybe that will be a baby step forward. A year ago that would not have even made sense to me. Now I think I can begin to understand and implement.

Thanks again for your observation.

Regards,

Andy

Andy,

No worries. The fun part of the hobby is there are always new things to try, but of course you are now just considering adding tweaks to an already very accomplished process of collection and processing, so either way you have a great set up and approach.

ML

 

[CRTAstro]

Great job !