Heart of The Heart "Melotte 15" 23.25hours

[SlipperySquid]

Hi again all, well with the magnificent clear nights we have had over the last few days I took the chance to grab as much as I could on one target, allowing for all the usual things that normally go wrong like tracking errors etc and managed to bag 7.75 hours in each narrowband channel.

I wanted to try something a bit different to the normal targets and this is still work in progress as I want to mess about with the colour a bit more as I think sometimes the hubble palette can look a bit garish at times with the smaller scopes and loose a lot of detail by pushing the colours to much.

So IC1805 (Melotte 15)

7.75 hours in each channel (SII,HA,OIII)

Resulting in 31x 15mins subs.

Darks,bias and flats subtracted.

As stated I'm still playing with the colour etc and it's been a tough old cookie to process so far (for me anyway )

Thanks for looking any comments or ways to improve the image taken in as usual.

Clear skies all,

Matt.

[Guest]

Woh! just...Woh! har har

This isn't astrophotography dood - it's Art!

Way to go, I'd love to be able to grab a shot like this, maybe one day....

David

[Crunchard]

OMG - truly awesome pic!

Congrats and thanks for sharing.

[peter shah]

great shot there matt

[SlipperySquid]

Thanks fellas for taking the time to comment! I need a break now but I reckon clouds should be on the way now for the rest of the year

David, I thought just as you do that you'd never be able to take an image like what are produced on this forum! But take heart 'cos If I can do it I'm sure anyone can It really is a lot headbanging and teeth gnashing and lady luck has to be smiling but when that magic all comes together it really is worth it.....I think

I've still got so much to learn it's enough to cause nose bleeds but I'll get there in the end I'm sure...I just need a second job to pay for it!!

Clear skies,

Matt.

[RobH]

Great work Matt.

The colour works for me....I agree that the Hubble pallette can sometimes come across a bit garish, but that isn't the case here, far from it.

Clear again here tonight, but after Kelling and the last 3 nights I'm shot, and off to bed!!

Cheers

Rob

[swag72]

I love this shot. The hubble palette works beautifully here. This is an inspiration to me and if I can produce anything half as good as this I'll be happy.

Can I pick your brains some time soon Matt? You have nailed those colours. Love it.

[SlipperySquid]

Thanks again Rob and Sara!

Rob I hope you had a great time at Kelling, maybe one for me to try next year?

I maybe getting my hands on a ticket for SSP this year as I would like to meet up with MickD again and sink a couple of boxes of wine as well as all the other rabble that turn up

Sara, contact me anytime and I'll help you as much as I can with the limited knowledge I have but I'm sure we can get half way there between us

Thanks again!

Matt.

[SlipperySquid]

A closer view of the central area,

[foundaplanet]

Stunning.

[cloudbuster]

nice one Matt....top draw as always!

[Darth Takahashi]

Wow, thats really nice and well processed too; the colour and detail are really great Matt.

23 Hours, can't believe it; only yesterday we were astro-tourists and now 23 hour on a single image, Well done!

[ollypenrice]

That is fabulous, lovely warm tones and none of the narrowband artefacts which sometimes spoil the stars. Really good result.

Olly

[SlipperySquid]

Thanks chaps!

The comments are really humbling and I really do appreciate you all for taking the time out to view and comment!

This is a proper milestone for me as I would never have thought I would be taking more than just a couple of hours per target. I've just started on the Pacman nebula with 3hours per channel and I just want more and more It really is addictive.

I totally agree with you Neil, we really have come along way since meeting at SGL5. Things are coming together but I'm not finding it easy and find that I'm going back to my images again and again trying to improve or change slight details.

Clear skies!

Matt.

[fwm891]

Brill Matt. Stunning etc, etc...

[ashworthacca]

Awesome Matt, just awesome!

---

I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=53.544870,-1.487290

[prokyon]

The central region of this nebula is so fascinating. You captured it very well. I like the colours. You did a great job.

[MickD]

Very nice image Matt – The only way I could ever manage 23hrs on a target is if I stop work or fully automate my Obsy – getting up at 5:30 every morning for work means I can only realistically get 3 hrs of data per night & with the few clear nights we get in the UK, 23 hrs would take too long…or maybe I should stop being a lightweight and survive on less sleep

Let me know if you are going to make SSP so I can bring the appropriate number of wine boxes…..

Mick

[SlipperySquid]

Mick I was getting up at 4:30...well about 4:45.....well ok I was getting up at 5 and was late for work..But I used to make sure everything was running nicely and then go to bed about 12am then checked everything when I got up, put the cover on and toodled off to work. I'm burnt out

Should be going to SSP mate, just waiting for ticket change over.

By the way...yes you are a light weight.

Clear skies,

Matt.

[Dann]

I admire anyone who puts that kind of time into an image, great work Matt

[SlipperySquid]

Thanks Dan,

The hardest part is resisting the urge to start on another target! I know when I first started I wanted to image everything in my field of view But I was told time and time again that taking longer on an image would produce better results and make it easier to process.Processing is still hard though

Clear skies

Matt.

[MartinB]

Superb Matt and well done for sticking to one target. That sort of imaging time would normally take a whole season. Very nicely processed and you have the stars well sorted.

HST is quite a test of processing, the fact that it doesn't look garish is down to your efforts rather than the target itself. Big thumbs up.

[Beyond_Vision]

Well worth all the time and hardwork put into this an excellent image.

Regards

Kevin

[johnrt]

Lots and lots to look at there. Great work in controlling and blending the colours.

I like it!

[Fay]

Matt, that is really beautiful. Processed & captured very nicely

Fay