IC 1396 Elephants trunk in Ha + color

[jsigone]

Did a later session then I should have during the work week but was clear night and my alignment was pretty good so I just stuck to it. Down side was I didn't have darks for 10min subs so that was some imaging time lost last night making them, but gained on future nights as I build up that part of the dark library.

Here's the data using the canon and astronomiks 12nm filter, I'm thrilled I got this much to show on this target.

ISO 1600, 14 x 10min, 10 darks& 50 flats

IC 1396 Ha 14 x 10min, Canon XS iso1600 by jsigone, on Flickr

Here's my old RBG image I got last month with the CLS filter

ISO 1600, 30 x 5min, 20 darks & 50 flats

IC 1396 30 x 5 min darker by jsigone, on Flickr

Here's the two file merged together. I'm very pleased with the added constrast but the purple around the bright stars are bugging me. Any ideas how to get rid of it? Or is that normal part of the blend?

IC 1396 HaRGB, Canon XS by jsigone, on Flickr

ANY feedbackis welcome:D

[johnh]

That looks like an excellent result, you need Photoshop for layering to control the stars. The CLS looks very good especially the stars. Would the Ha work with lower ISO to reduce noise, the Ha does need a heck of a lot of time with a DSLR for sure. You can use colour select tool around stars to remove purple/blue halo with layers, Marquee Tool in Photoshop also can isolate stars too for treatment. A very good result with lots of dark stuff and Elephants Trunk looks splendid.

John.

[jsigone]

thanks for the tips, I'll give them a try when I get home.

[jsigone]

thanks!! I tried to get rid of some of the magenta halo on the brighter stars. My PS skills aren't super. How's this look?

IC 1396 HaRGB less halo by jsigone, on Flickr

[johnh]

Well that looks much better, colour select tool in select tab is pretty good and by taking a layer first you can hide and apply to just a few places needed and then gaussian blur the layer mask to blend, just takes practice, please ask if you struggle with PS but it looks good to me. Noise control may work on some areas but a little noise looks natural I think.

John.

[Andrewsean1985]

Very nice!

[swag72]

I like this - I love to see what is achievable with a DSLR as well, very heartening for many of us that use them. Definately better without the magenta halos. How did you merge the data?

[jsigone]

Well that looks much better, colour select tool in select tab is pretty good and by taking a layer first you can hide and apply to just a few places needed and then gaussian blur the layer mask to blend, just takes practice, please ask if you struggle with PS but it looks good to me. Noise control may work on some areas but a little noise looks natural I think.

John.

thanks John, I'll try that method later today. For this one, I made an adjustment layer with Vibrance/saturation to tone it down. I had tried the color select, levels and curves but those seems harsh on the adjustments. I used the quick selection tool around the halos, feathered 4px and use the opacity to help blend. There is still a tiny bit left in there but doesn't seem like the focal point of the picture now. I was also able to get rid of the magenta center and brighten up the image a bit. I'm pleased with the the new make over.

I like this - I love to see what is achievable with a DSLR as well, very heartening for many of us that use them. Definately better without the magenta halos. How did you merge the data?

I used method #2 of this tut to blend it

Starizona's Guide to CCD Imaging

[shaunster]

Very nice, some cracking DSLR images being produced right now

[ollypenrice]

This is going really well.

I don't quite like the look of either of the methods in the link, though I didn't have time to look carefully. To have a minimal impact on stars I would split the channels and paste the aligned Ha onto the red, but not in blend mode Normal. Change the blend mode to Lighten. Set opacity to about 30%, flatten and merge channels. If it looks OK save it and do the same again, taking the opacity up to 70% this time. See how that looks when flattened.

And then maybe a third dose?

At the very end it is worth trying the Ha as a luminance layer but at a really low opacity. I never go beyond 15% and maybe won't do that at all. That can be 'pink with blue haloes' territory!

Olly

[jsigone]

Can I align/rotate the Ha in the red channel like that? My Ha framing was off a few degrees. I only have CS4 and Nebulosity2.

[Tom OD]

Does deep space stacker do a roate and save program? Its free online.

Otherwise you might need something like Registar

Tom

[jsigone]

I haven't tried DSS for anything other then stacking, so not sure if they can rotate and align a particular layer. I could try to separate the channels in PS then put them in to DSS and see if it will align the image that way. But won't it get to the method Olly was talking about though.

[shaunster]

Pixinsight will do it with ease

DSS can do it when stacking using the reference frame option

[jsigone]

I don't have the full version, but do have the LE version I got before they took it down. Would that work? I haven't used it in a while to know the software well enough.