WR134 in Narrowband with RGB Stars

Mike Lewis

Mike Lewis

Staff Member
So, I continue to try to work through 'teething' issues with my remote setup in TX at Starfront Observatories, but things are starting to come together and I am taking data with a much lower rejection rate than I had been getting. I have also been able to get my autofocuser to start running reliably again, which has been critical in being able to take data in a more unattended manner again.

So here is my next image, just processed a day or 2 ago. This one has been on my list to get for a while...

This is another very active region in the constellation Cygnus, the Swan. The blue circular region in the center is caused by a giant, hot, Wolf-Rayet star (WR134) that has a radius 5 times larger than our Sun and whose surface temperature is 63,000K - making it 10.9 times hotter and an amazing 400,000 times more luminous than our parent star. It is burning through its supply of fuel at a prodigious rate, and is surrounded by a faint bubble formed by its intense radiation and solar wind.

This area was imaged in narrowband and mixed using the Foraxx palette, with separate RGB data added in for the stars.

As always, thanks for any comments, critues, or questions, and most of all thanks for looking. A larger resolution version can also be seen on Astrobin, here:
https://app.astrobin.com/u/mlewis?i=svadjs

LRCC_sRGB_FW_UTIFF2_WR134_Foraxx_LHE_DSE_SmrtS_PSCC-Color2_WithStars_BBSR-3-1-1_Clean.jpg



Equipment:
Poseidon-M Camera @ -5C and
Gain:125 Offset:25
Astro-Physics Mach2 Mount
Williams Optics Cat 91 Refractor, 448mm @ f/4.9
Antlia Pro Filters (3nm narrowband plus RGB)
Askar FMA180 Guide scope with ASI290MM

Software:
Pixinsight Commercial Version 1.9
Lightroom CC
Photoshop CC
N.I.N.A. Control Software
BlurXTerminator (Russell Croman)
StarXTerminator (Russell Croman)
NoiseXTerminator (Russell Croman)
Astro-Physics APCC and APPM

Light Frames:
Gain 125 / Offset 25
Hα: 24 x 600 secs (4 hrs)
Oiii: 24 x 600 secs (4 hrs)
Sii: 20 x 600 secs (3 hrs 20 mins)
Red: 19 x 60 secs (19 mins)
Green: 17 x 60 secs (17 mins)
Blue: 18 x 60 secs (18 mins)

12 hrs 14 mins total

Dark Frames:
10 x 60 secs (10 mins)
10 x 600 secs (1 hr 40 mins)
 
JimFox

JimFox

Moderator
Staff member
I am glad you got the AF going.

As for the image, it's so good it almost doesn't seem real! You have so much great detail in this and the light Oiii, is done perfectly.

This is maybe your best image ever, and you have had so many great images!

What's the Daily or Weekly award Astrobin gives out? This should be in the running.
 
Mike Lewis

Mike Lewis

Staff Member
JimFox said:
I am glad you got the AF going.

As for the image, it's so good it almost doesn't seem real! You have so much great detail in this and the light Oiii, is done perfectly.

This is maybe your best image ever, and you have had so many great images!

What's the Daily or Weekly award Astrobin gives out? This should be in the running.
Click to expand...

Jim,

Thanks for the high praise, I really appreciate it.

Astrobin has a 3 tiered recognition system that is based on reviews by volunteer judges. It goes "Top Pick Nomination', 'Top Pick", and then "Image of The Day". Images are automatically submitted to this review process unless you disable the process. I always submit my images. So that being said, for whatever reason, I almost NEVER get any of my images recognized in any way, even though I frequently get a large number of likes from the general user base on Astrobin. For example, this image currently has 62 likes in about 24 hours so far. It has been reviewed by 15% of the reviewers so far, and has no votes to be moved up to Top Pick Nomination status. In order to go up to the next level of recognition for any of the 3 levels, 3 voters must select the image. Out of my total 105 images submitted, I have 6 that reached Top Pick Nomination Status (3rd level), and 1 that reached Top Pick Status (2nd level). I have never had an Image of the Day. Personally, I really don't know what is lacking for my images to be more recognized. But with so many images to review, they simply cannot take the time to tell everyone why their image did not 'make the cut'. It is a source of frustration for me, but I have learned to live with it.

But that makes your very high praise all the more important, so thank you for that :)

ML
 
JimFox

JimFox

Moderator
Staff member
Mike Lewis said:
Jim,

Thanks for the high praise, I really appreciate it.

Astrobin has a 3 tiered recognition system that is based on reviews by volunteer judges. It goes "Top Pick Nomination', 'Top Pick", and then "Image of The Day". Images are automatically submitted to this review process unless you disable the process. I always submit my images. So that being said, for whatever reason, I almost NEVER get any of my images recognized in any way, even though I frequently get a large number of likes from the general user base on Astrobin. For example, this image currently has 62 likes in about 24 hours so far. It has been reviewed by 15% of the reviewers so far, and has no votes to be moved up to Top Pick Nomination status. In order to go up to the next level of recognition for any of the 3 levels, 3 voters must select the image. Out of my total 105 images submitted, I have 6 that reached Top Pick Nomination Status (3rd level), and 1 that reached Top Pick Status (2nd level). I have never had an Image of the Day. Personally, I really don't know what is lacking for my images to be more recognized. But with so many images to review, they simply cannot take the time to tell everyone why their image did not 'make the cut'. It is a source of frustration for me, but I have learned to live with it.

But that makes your very high praise all the more important, so thank you for that :)

ML
Click to expand...
I have learned that judges in general are a crazy bunch. Before the Pandemic I used to always go to the Orange County Fair in Southern California. They have an art exhibit and show, that will have hundreds of photos exhibited. And it never fails to amaze me how sometimes the judges will chose for 1st place a photo that is literally horrible in every sense, and then a few photos down in the exhibit area there will be for that category an awesome image, well composed and processed and it doesn't even get an Honorable mention.

Judges clearly have their own bias, you just need to perhaps watch what is winning, and copy that look or object perhaps? I know if you say you have 200 hours in acquisition time, that will perk the judges ears. In Astro people always seem to get wowed, when someone has put hundreds of hours into an image.
 
Mike Lewis

Mike Lewis

Staff Member
JimFox said:
I have learned that judges in general are a crazy bunch. Before the Pandemic I used to always go to the Orange County Fair in Southern California. They have an art exhibit and show, that will have hundreds of photos exhibited. And it never fails to amaze me how sometimes the judges will chose for 1st place a photo that is literally horrible in every sense, and then a few photos down in the exhibit area there will be for that category an awesome image, well composed and processed and it doesn't even get an Honorable mention.

Judges clearly have their own bias, you just need to perhaps watch what is winning, and copy that look or object perhaps? I know if you say you have 200 hours in acquisition time, that will perk the judges ears. In Astro people always seem to get wowed, when someone has put hundreds of hours into an image.
Click to expand...

Yes, I have not been able to really see a great pattern in the images that win when I compare them to mine (often of the same object). Initially I thought that maybe the judges did not like my colors being so bright, but I have since tossed out that idea when looking at other winning images. It would be nice to get some recognition, but I guess I don't feel strongly enough about it to change the look of my images, especially since I do seem to get a reasonable amount of positive feedback on most of my posts on AB.

Thanks for listening and responding to the rant though, I appreciate the support 👍
 
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