NGC 2237

[froggy]

This is the longest exposure I have ever done. 16 hours of data was collected since the beginning of January and last night we had what I think must have been the clearest night for a long while.

Using the QHY8 I did 4.5 hours of HA with the Baader 7mn filter. And I spend probably 5 hours processing the image and I still not sure of the best way to use the data captured with this camera.

100mm apo with QHY8, 80mm guidescope with QHY5 mounted on a EQ6.

64 sub of 15 minutes each.

I had to downsize the image as it was too big too post.

I am not totally sure with the colour so any tips would be very useful.

Thank you for looking.

Vince

[steppenwolf]

Some lovely detail in there, Vince with some great detail in that huge image!

[centroid]

That is some exposure time Vince, but it has captured a whole lot of data.

Its difficult to really appreciate the image, as its just too large on my 19" screen. A smaller image, where we can see the whole object in one go, as opposed just part of it at a time, would make it appear a whole lot better to viewers on the forum.

Dave

[SteveL]

Blimey Vince, where did you find 16 hours of clear skies this year?

Lots of data in there, just a tad over processed and the noise is starting to come out in the full res version. Mixing RGB and Ha is a black art, and something that takes me several attempts to get right on the same set of data (which is frustrating!)

[jcm]

Great image Vince.

But as Steve says getting the image to look OK when you merge Ha/0III/RGB etc takes a lot of trial and error. ( as I have found out in the last few weeks !) Noise is also very apparent on my monitor. MartinB has done a colour primer - might be worth a look.

http://stargazerslounge.com/index.php/topic,21557.0.html

John

[MartinB]

16 hours in 2008 :D I haven't had a sniff of a chance to image since mid December!!

The dust detail in that image is terrific. As Steve says, it is a little over stretched.

You can use the Ha as the luminance and add the colour using "colour" as the blend mode. This is effectively HaRGB. You can add the Ha as a red channel. To add a red Ha to enhance the red detail in your colour image you should make the blue and green channels of the Ha black then paste the pure red Ha onto the normal colour image and select "lighten" as the blend mode. You can then make adjustments to the brightness of the 2 layers until you have the effect you are after.

[froggy]

Many thanks for your kind comments and the advise. I will have another go at processing it.

Vince

[Naz]

16 hours in 2008 :D I haven't had a sniff of a chance to image since mid December!!

Blimey Vince, where did you find 16 hours of clear skies this year?

)

The answer is France, had quite a few clear nights here the last few weeks, unfortunately I have been unable to take full advantage, due to visitors etc

That is a great image Vince, look forward to more from you.

naz

[froggy]

Yes so far this year I had 10 nights with some clear sky but unfortunately there has been a lot of high altitude mist.

I mustn't complain it could be worst.

If anybody fancy observing in France I have some 10 acres of land and you are most welcome. Be warned the skies are good but there is nothing to do apart from astronomy, eating and drinking.

From your posting Naz, are you living in France?

Vince