B33 Horsehead and Flame Nebula RHaGB

[x6gas]

I finally have a colour image of the Horsehead Nebula.  This has been a long time in the making.  Like many people, it was the Horsehead that got me hooked on astro imaging.  My inability to get much signal using a DSLR was instrumental in me moving to CCD imaging and it was one of (if not the) first target I attempted with a mono-CCD in early 2012.  It was also the point at which I moved to off-axis guiding and I collected quite a bit of Ha data before I realized that I had the OAG to close to the imaging chip and it was causing vignetting across the bottom half of the frame.

Before I could collect decent RGB data, the weather turned, winter gave way to spring and Orion disappeared for another year.  Last year the weather was so bad that I got no imaging time at all on the Orion targets but last night - getting on for two years after I started - I managed to get some RGB to complete a colour image.

Ha - 30 x 600s (January 2012)

Scope: TS90APO

Mount: Celestron CG-5 GT

Camera: Atik 383L+

Guiding: Atik OAG, IMG0H, PHD

R - 23 x 100s; G 24 x 125s; B 24 x 150s (November 2013)

Scope: Takahashi FSQ85EDX

Mount: Celestron CGEM DX

Camera: Atik 390ex

Guiding: Atik OAG, IMG0H, PHD

Processing was with AstroArt 5, Registar, and Photoshop CS5.

As usual, the main trouble was controlling Alnitak and my treatment of it has still left two halos around it (the really obvious one, and then a much larger one than I think I can see).  Still feels to good to finally get a colour image!

Comments and suggestions very welcome.

Thanks for looking, Ian

[Ewan]

Very nice Ian & wasn't last night clear , was an all nighter for me too getting various data including M33 & NGC7635 (still ).

Lovely shot Ian & nice framing, i have to admit you can be really picky on the framing as there are a few orientations that look better than some, very nice detail in the Flame & not over red on the saturation, i like it.

I too did this last night but i think i got my manual filter wheel direction errrrr a little muddled & shot S2 not Ha, what a dummy i know but i guess it will all add to the final image i am after.

Your right though, before you know it Orion will be gone again in a flash.

[x6gas]

Oh dear - that didn't seem to survive being posted on SGL too well - something unpleasant happening to the background sky and the image lost a little contrast.

Posting this in the hope it's better...

[x6gas]

Very nice Ian & wasn't last night clear

Thanks Ewan.

Yes it was nice and clear here too, but massively humid which I think was causing the halos around bright stars.  Good to capture some data, though.  I spent half the night on the Squid Nebula in SH2-129 but man is that thing faint!  Even with 30 minute subs at f/5.3 I was getting next to nothing - obviously need a darker site - go I gave up after a few hours and moved on to the Horsehead.

[andyo]

Nice shot

[StuartJPP]

A good HH shot, like the depth of the red.

[steppenwolf]

Very nice indeed, Ian - some nice detail and not overcooked. Not convinced about the high level moisture causing the halos as these look more like reflections to me but I could be completely wrong. What make of filter did you use for the RGB and what make and bandwidth for the Ha images?

[morimarty]

Thats really nice HH image Ian. the second image definitely as more contrast!

[lensman57]

Oh dear - that didn't seem to survive being posted on SGL too well - something unpleasant happening to the background sky and the image lost a little contrast.

Posting this in the hope it's better...

B33 RHaGB LCE 2 8 bit cont.png

That is really lovely, just a small suggestion,  try and run an HLVG filter on medium setting on it, there is still a little green tinge left.

Regards,

A.G

[Martin-Devon]

Ian, it's been well worth the wait to add the colour data - it has really enhanced the Ha-layer you had previously, there's lovely colours in here now & the processing has been well handled.

Martin

[x6gas]

Very nice indeed, Ian - some nice detail and not overcooked. Not convinced about the high level moisture causing the halos as these look more like reflections to me but I could be completely wrong. What make of filter did you use for the RGB and what make and bandwidth for the Ha images?

Thanks Steve.

Ah - well could well be reflections and I would welcome any help on a diagnosis - I was assuming moisture was the culprit as it really was very damp in the air and I've not really had these issues before.  That said, not often that I'm imaging something as bright as Alnitak...

The filters are all 2" Baaders, the Ha is the 7nm version.  As I said the Ha was taken yonks ago using the same filters but different scope and camera, but here's how Alnitak looks for each of the RGB stacks:

I'd be interested to know what is causing this, even if it turns out that there is not much I can do about it!

[x6gas]

Nice shot

Thanks Andy!

A good HH shot, like the depth of the red.

Thanks Stuart!

Thats really nice HH image Ian. the second image definitely as more contrast!

Yes - I don't know why but it looks quite different when I view the file in PS (and to some extent here: http://www.ir-astro.com/nebulae.html)...

That is really lovely, just a small suggestion,  try and run an HLVG filter on medium setting on it, there is still a little green tinge left.

Regards,

A.G

Thanks Lensman.  This has an application of weak HLVG, but more than that made the background brown and I couldn't seem to deal with it.  It also degraded the definition of some parts of the nebulae.  I can't say I'm happy with the background, though.  I think I made need to apply my (highly compromised) Ha more carefully...

Ian, it's been well worth the wait to add the colour data - it has really enhanced the Ha-layer you had previously, there's lovely colours in here now & the processing has been well handled.

Martin

Thanks Martin - much appreciated.

[Jannis]

Very nice picture!