Witchhead And Rigel

[Tom OD]

Hi All,

Here is a 2 pane 28hr pic of the Witchhead and Rigel. Taken with an FSQ106N and 11Meg Atik.

This started off as a single pane picture, but due to flaring from Rigel, I had to make a second pane just to cover up the defects.

This is 13hrs Lum and 15hrs RGB across the 2 panes. I have a 200min Ha frame for the Rigel side. I might do the other side and add it in at a later date.

There are lots of tiny galaxies in there which are a nice addition.

Overall I don't know if I've finished messing with it yet. I have some shorter subs for Rigel to tone it down a bit. Still some satellite trails in there too, but AstroArt5 has better stacking programs now which help.

I just gave this a big sat boost in Photoshop as it still looks a little better than an sRGB conversion. It does look better colourwise in PS as an Adobe RGB pic.

Tom.

[BernieD]

Tom,

I like the huge cold blue Rigel on your pic, the witch is starring at it and seems afraid as if she saw a ghost or something. The composition and result are very nice. Great job.

[Zul]

Lovely image!

[tollytastic1]

Love the colour - a great image!

[Cath]

"It's full of stars!"

Lovely picture Tom, wonderful detail.

What scope did you use?

[Tim]

Fabulous Tom! I guess without Rigel being there we'd hardly see the Witch head, but it doesn't half make it tricky to process!

This is as fine a rendition as I have seen. Very nicely done

Tim

[Martin-Devon]

Hi Tom, this is a fantastic image and the many hours you've invested collecting the data certainly show. The Witches head comes out beautufully and I really like the framing with Rigel in the corner - excellent job!

[ollypenrice]

I love the Witch; nice and translucent. I think mine's too blue. Must revisit.

It's good to see Rigel there but I feel it's so big that it dominates the Witch and I'd really try to pull it down if you can. Short subs in RGB only might do it.

You got rid of the flares? I'm impressed! How did you do that?

Olly

[msinclairinork]

Great captures! I'm just impressed you've managed to get 28hrs total! I think the most time I've spent so far on an object is 3hrs lol

Keep up the good work!

Michael

[johnrt]

Fantastic. Not an image I'll be able to attempt (unless I knock my house down)

[Uranium235]

Excellent work Tom, I would have been tempted to chop Rigel out completely - but youve pulled it off nicely - well worth the time and effort

[steppenwolf]

This reminds me of the issues with imaging the Horsehead Nebula with Alnitak making its presence known! Lovely detailed image, Tom, you couldn't miss how that nebula got its name.

[Nosivad]

Great image, Tom. Hope it's not as cold there as it is here, in south west France, -12C forecast for tonight.

[RobH]

That's as deep an image of this as I've ever seen Tom. Certainly worth trying to pull back on Rigel a bit I think, but I'm sure that after such a long time on target you're a bit bored of pointing at the same spot!!

Cheers

Rob

[Scosmico]

Inspiring.

Hi All,

Here is a 2 pane 28hr pic of the Witchhead and Rigel. Taken with an FSQ106N and 11Meg Atik.

This started off as a single pane picture, but due to flaring from Rigel, I had to make a second pane just to cover up the defects.

This is 13hrs Lum and 15hrs RGB across the 2 panes. I have a 200min Ha frame for the Rigel side. I might do the other side and add it in at a later date.

There are lots of tiny galaxies in there which are a nice addition.

Overall I don't know if I've finished messing with it yet. I have some shorter subs for Rigel to tone it down a bit. Still some satellite trails in there too, but AstroArt5 has better stacking programs now which help.

I just gave this a big sat boost in Photoshop as it still looks a little better than an sRGB conversion. It does look better colourwise in PS as an Adobe RGB pic.

Tom.

[Tom OD]

Thanks All for the kind comments.

I will try and tame Rigel a bit, it does dominate the right half.

I'm attaching an RGB pic of just the witchhead. You'll clearly see the flaring from Rigel. This is what led me to make it a 2 pane mosaic. I had some Lum data from Ollys with his Tak, which had no flaring, but it wasn't enough data to mask the flaring, and we didn't have any RGB for it. The resultant pic came out square as I needed such a large overlap to cover up the blemish.

This is one of those objects where the colour appears wrong when you're proccessing it, as its so different to any other object I've imaged. The nebula has a violet hue to it. The browns in the background are verging on orange / yellow.

And finally I have inverted it only because its my favourite named object in the sky. It does look like a Witch, which is tautology I guess, but it is gapping at Rigel in surprise and horror.

Rain here today, and a fullmoon, so off to work on the Rigel reduction.

Cath, my profile pic is HAL but it doesn't show up. "My God, its full of stars" Heh heh love those movies.

Its a Tak FSQ106N, a 4 inch refractor.

Tom.

[morimarty]

What a superb image tom, it certainly as an eerie feeling to it. time well spent i'd say.

ATB martyn

[SkyJamie]

Fantastic image Tom

Jamie

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Amazing image. The ghostly white of the nebula is really special

[paul schofield]

Wow top image, artistry is a wonderful thing. I would frame that and put it on the wall.

[Looking Up]

Very nicely captured and framed with superb processing to get rid of the flare from Rigel. Top marks!!

[whooshbang]

Absolute Cracker! Rigel in shot is treat, even the witch thinks so!

[psemil]

Aha... this is a a beautiful nebula...

[Quatermass]

Every time I see a great image like this I just know this hobby is going to make me broke and pennyless this year but so so worth it brilliant.

[foundaplanet]

Fantastic image.. Like it very much as it is.

Reminds me of how my granny used to look when she took her teeth out..