Allinthehead

Thanks Brendan, could you point me to the discussions you mention?

Yes, that's the one. Once I'm finished my work for the day I'll show you what I mean. With the image above it doesn't seem to have added anything in. More like a combination of using a high pass filter, local contrast enhancement and noise reduction in one.

When comparing this new image to my previous version posted above I was struck by the improvement in resolution. I recently downloaded a plugin called Topaz denoise which I used here and while it's incredible at reducing noise I think it could potentially be corrupting the data. I just used it on an image of B150 and it seemed to actually alter some details in the Nebula rather than just supress the noise or sharpen details. I'll throw up an example tomorrow when I get the chance.

Exciting, have you an eta?

Thanks Brendan, I've spent about 2 days glued to the screen browsing and tweaking. I could see the HH when I closed my eyes last night😃 Thanks Padraic. Well worth trying that combination, I've used it for a few years now and gives a pleasing result, of course the beauty of a layers based program allows you to adjust the opacity to taste, or you can just select the areas you want to present ha, for example I always find adding ha to the flame area ruins the colour turning it orange. You loose the subtle changes in colour that the rgb data provides, if you look at the image you can even make out some blue which again is usually overpowered in most hargb combinations.

Thanks Dave, It's a great method for adding in the ha. If you find it adds nothing to your image then what I would do is go to adjustments/Levels and raise the white point which can sometimes be too much so then I would go to adjustments/contrast and increase to taste. All of the above is obviously done on the ha layer.

Thanks Adam, I think the ability to zoom in and see detail comes from the camera. The small pixels have deep wells and allow for cropping with acceptable resolution. This was my last effort at this region with a smaller scope and about 10 million less pixels.

Nice view, looks like a wave breaking over the head of the horse. Pity about the obstruction limiting time, my votes for rgb.

Hi, hope everyone's keeping well. I got lucky on Thursday and Friday night with some of the best conditions for imaging I've seen in months and with no plan in place I decided to go for the Horsehead. Whenever I image something I try to learn a little about the target and to my surprise It's not that clear who discovered this nebula. It is believed Herschel may have been the first to observe it in 1811 but his descriptions are vague. Edward Charles Pickering had photographic plates of the area which were cataloged in 1888 by Williamina Fleming who had previously been his maid and was then hired to analyse stellar spectra. It wasn't until 1913 that Barnard observed and photographed the nebula. Taken with my Takahashi Epsilon 160 and Asi2600mc 8hrs in 180 second subs rgb with Ha added from my sold WO Star71 and Asi1600mm. Here the Ha was converted to rgb, the green and blue channels deleted and black inserted, then pasted over rgb with blend mode changed to screen. Method described in detail here although I used screen instead of lighten. http://bf-astro.com/tutorial/addHa.htm Stacked in APP and processed in APP, PI and PS Regards, Richard.

😁👍 Thanks, always nice to get a Wow.

Thanks Olly, that's very nice of you to say.

Thanks Dan, glad you like it. Happy new year to you too neighbour, I've had the pleasure of imaging from your bortle 2 sky a couple of years ago in Finian's Bay. I try to go there at least twice a year.

The extra time pays off on this one, it's pretty feint if I remember correctly.

Thanks Thanks Gorann

Thanks, i'm sure you'll enjoy yours when it arrives. The parralax rings should work well and are much cheaper than the Tak ones.

Thanks very much.

Hi all and happy new year. This is just a quick look at the Flaming star nebula. It's my first time imaging this in rgb, I gathered the rgb on Saturday night as the moon was rising and then switched to the Stc Duo narrowband filter to grab the ha. It could do with lots more time in rgb but when I processed what I had I felt it was okay and I've other targets in mind to spend more time on so I won't be adding to it. 59 x 180 second subs Asi2600mc gain 100 50 x 300 second subs Asi2600mc gain 100 Stc Duo Narrowband filter 7.1 hrs total Takahashi Epsilon 160ED. Processed in APP, PI and PS. Hope everyone is safe and well. Richard.

Nice Brendan, don't think I've seen that one before.

Nice one, the Monkey head has some interesting structures. Did you process in Pixinsight?

Nice first light. Has that camera got the imx571 sensor?

Thanks Tom, yes it may be possible but is it sane, fast optics certainly help. Thanks Dazza.

Thanks, I see what you did there🤣

Thanks Brendan, nice of you to say.

Nice one Gorann, I'm surprised that this target is so rarely imaged. Did it myself a few years ago, might try again next year.

2020 hasn't felt like the best year for imaging but I suppose we're rarely satisfied with the time we get under the stars in this part of the world and having a quick look back on my images has reminded me that I've done okay. Clear skies to all and most importantly good health to enjoy for 2021. All shot using a Osc camera from my backyard in the South of Ireland. Richard.