M13

[MikeD]

Hi all.

Clear skies last night.

The plan was to image M57 in Ha because the moon made LRGB imaging not ideal.

I started with some 20 minute subs hoping to get the outer shell.

After 5 subs I did a quick stack and although the shell was just there it was only just discernable from the background, so I upped it to 30 min subs.

After an hour I did the same with the data and found the shell just was not coming through any more, I came to the conclusion that unfortunately the transparency was not good at all and the conditions were just not good enough to pull the outer shell from the background.

So, stars were my best bet under the conditions and as the guiding was calibrated for the area I zipped over to M13 for some luminance.

I shot 25 @ 5 min's and added the data to last years raw data (32 @ 2 min's luminance and 10 @ 2 min's each RGB).

I can't decide if I like the core resolved or a more natural look with the core much brighter, so I have posted both.

Mike.

[MjrTom]

Wow that is spectacular :-)

[russ]

Absolutely incredible images Mike. The star colours are amazing.

[Coco]

You nailed those lovely gold star perfectly

[peter shah]

second rendition for me is breathtaking!

[ncjunk]

I like the one with the core resolved, the other core looks a bit burnt out.

Great images and lovely colours though.

[Shibby]

Smack, that one hit me right in the face Very nice, I think I prefer the first one personally.

[Adz]

Fantastic stuff, what a jaw dropper. I like the one with the less burnt out center

[MikeD]

Thanks guys.

My head also thinks the second is the one but my hart tells me it's too flat and the core should be slightly burnt to show the true dynamic range of M13.

Mike.

[MjrTom]

Yeah my preference is the second one, nice to resolve the core fully

[steppenwolf]

Both are really nice but I prefer the resolved core version.

[Deneb]

The 2nd image gets my Vote, a great M13

Nadeem.

[MikeD]

Thanks guys.

Mike.

[SlipperySquid]

Yup another vote for the second image here!!! Is it possible to get the best of both worlds with a layer mask? I know it would be a bit of a pain but go on...just for fun

Matt.

[ollypenrice]

I'd split the difference! This is a really interesting call. I think Martin started this little ball rolling and sent me back to my own for a brightening of the core in the name of honesty and impact.

I think you have a bit of green lurking in the lower part of your background. SCNR in PI or Hasta La Vista Green, from Rogelio at Deep Sky Colors, would nail it I guess.

Olly

[MikeD]

Good call Matt,

This is a 60/40 (weighted towards the burnt edit) as a masked layer, and a slight colour tweak too.

Works for me.

[RikM]

Yep, the new edit is great. They are all stunning images, but I think this balanced one is more natural and 'globby', if that's even a word!

Well done indeed.

[MikeD]

Thanks guys for the feedback, it's helped a lot.

Mike.

[R Fisher]

The combined image looks spot on,

The exposure time has certainly resolved many more of the dim stars.

[MikeD]

I think you have a bit of green lurking in the lower part of your background. SCNR in PI or Hasta La Vista Green, from Rogelio at Deep Sky Colors, would nail it I guess.

Olly

Thanks Olly, I missed that.

You can also see where the old colour data doesn't completely cover the new L data the bottom and left edges have no colour, might be worth catching some new colour.

Mike.

[dc509]

Wonderful images - and great processing

d

[MikeD]

OK, final edit..... I think.

I have cropped out the none colour overlap and manually fixed the gradients in Photoshop with the gradient tool and spot channels.

[Glasspusher]

Really nice image, well done.

John

[MikeD]

Ahhhhh.... can't stop messing now.

Weighted 60/40 to the resolved version and another colour tweak( a touch more green) and croped out the stacking noise from the top edge.

Mike.

[MikeD]

spot the question mark.