NGC1999 The Black Pearl

[Comet Hunter]

About 12 hours of 5 min subs. Using my GT71, ZWO533mc, HEQ5m, L_Extreme filter taken 1-1 and 1-8
Do you prefer the lighter or darker version? I like a little of each and can't decide which to keep?

Here is the final, kinda cross between the 2

 

[AlanLichty]

Both look pretty neat but I get a greater sense of depth in the darker version of the image.

 

[JimFox]

Wow Ed! I haven't even heard of the Black Pearl before. You are really killing it! I need to get a place where I have more open sky available to me.

I prefer the darker one too. I have been in your shoes too where I had a lighter and darker version I liked. What I did was just put them both in layers with the lighter one on top. Then just adjust the opacity slider back and forth until you get to just the right level of darkness.

 

[Comet Hunter]

Wow Ed! I haven't even heard of the Black Pearl before. You are really killing it! I need to get a place where I have more open sky available to me.

I prefer the darker one too. I have been in your shoes too where I had a lighter and darker version I liked. What I did was just put them both in layers with the lighter one on top. Then just adjust the opacity slider back and forth until you get to just the right level of darkness.

FYI, its just under the Orion Nebula. you can see the tail end of Orion in the upper right corner. I was going to crop that out but left it to make it more interesting.

 

[JimFox]

FYI, its just under the Orion Nebula. you can see the tail end of Orion in the upper right corner. I was going to crop that out but left it to make it more interesting.

Sounds good I am going to check it out!

I might try for the Spaghetti nebula again tonight. With the L-Enhance filter and Bortle 9, I couldn't see it at all even with a 5 minute exposure. I have clear skies again tonight so I had left my gear setup, I will try a test image at 10 minutes with the Antlia ALP_T filter and see if it shows at all. Bortle 9 might just be too bad of light pollution for the fainter nebulas. Otherwise I might go for the Jellyfish. I have such a small window to the sky at my place here in California, it makes it hard to get some different objects.

 

[Jameel Hyder]

The darker one for me as well - as has been mentioned, it gives a better sense of depth to the image.

 

[Mike Lewis]

Nice comparison, perhaps a slight nod to the darker one as well, although I think the final 'blend' between the 2 strikes a nice balance.

ML

 

[jsb]

That’s a very image. I like your final version as I see more detail, depth and balance of contrast. Another new target to add to list!