Western Veil (NGC 6960) Ha-LRGB

[nucdoc]

When I was in high school (a long time ago), dreaming of astrophotography a picture of the veil nebula was one of the first pictures that got me dreaming of being able to take pictures of DSO's, only M31 held more allure for me.

This image was taken during a 4 day spell of clear skies, first time for me imaging this DSO.   I was not sure how hard to push the Ha, I have seen this with more red, but I must admit I like the lighter tones.  I have OIII and SII data also collected, but have to figure out how to blend those.

All criticism is welcome

 

 

 

http://astrob.in/full/262731/0/

 

 

Imaging telescope or lens: TMB Optical 130mm SS

Imaging camera: Atik 383L+ mono

Mount: Meade LX850 Starlock

Focal reducer: Riccardi-Reducer 0,75x Riccardi 0.75 Focal Reducer

Software: PixInsight,  Main Sequence Software SequenceGeneratorPro 2.4

Filters: Astronomik LRGB IIc,  Astronomik Ha 6nm CCD

gear

Astronomik Ha 6nm CCD: 9x1200" -20C bin 1x1

Astronomik LRGB IIc: 32x600" -20C bin 1x1

Integration: 8.3 hours

Locations: Home, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

[graemlourens]

Hi

A very nice picture you have there, good job!

My first feeling was that the orientation is 'wrong' (there is no objective wrong - don't forget that ). As you have a wooping resolution, i would have rotated it 90 degrees left, and cropped to get a usual 3/4 or similar aspect ratio. I like this veil as it looks like a sunrise over an endless ocean. On the other hand, everybody has it that orientation so maybe you want on purpose to have something different, thats also perfectly fine.

Mostly you will see this target being done in Bi-Color Narrowband (OIII & HA, with a synthetic green channel that you can do in various ways). To date i have not seen a version with SII implemented (to make HSO colour style).

I am very interested though to see with what you come up when you combine LRGBHAOIIISII, that will be a beast to tame (and i would have absolutely no idea how to combine that!)

Kind regards, Graem

[Knighty2112]

Very nice image. Well done!  

[nucdoc]

Thanks Graem...

 

Yes, I know the format you are talking about, this is how I first saw the 'Veil' in my highschool astronomy text.  When I was doing some research I noticed that in most 'wide field of view' images the orientation of the Western veil is like I have above, and in Sky Safari, it is also oriented as I have above.  I do like the traditional orientation as well, not sure if it was initially displayed this way by accident, or artistic licence

 

Mark

 

[Adam J]

I had a similar issue with my image, problem is that by pushing the H-alpha / red channel you end up overwhelming the OIII / blue channel unless you do longer exposures with OIII. Or at least I did in my image so I ended up reducing red to about the level you have it after I blended the OIII.  

You are also looking a little pink. Its normally a sign of the incorrect blending mode being used in PS. You should separate out the Red Channel from the RGB image and blend it with the H-alpha image using blend mode lighten.  The normal blend mode leaves the image pink instead of red. 

Its a good image, but I do like it in the second orientation. Seems more balanced. 

I have never seen SII in the veil....not even sure if there is much of a signal. Will be interested to see what you get. 

[nucdoc]

Adam3, I have not really mastered PS, I started with PI and so far this is what I am best at, I went back and increased the Red signal in the HA channel, and below is about the most red I can get without the image starting to look worse.

 

I have only 3 hrs of OIII and SII, the OIII does not really seem to add much, and so far the SII images are nearly identical to the Ha, so close in fact I went back to confirm that I had put the SII filter in the correct location !

 

Mark

 

[Adam J]

16 hours ago, nucdoc said:

Adam3, I have not really mastered PS, I started with PI and so far this is what I am best at, I went back and increased the Red signal in the HA channel, and below is about the most red I can get without the image starting to look worse.

 

I have only 3 hrs of OIII and SII, the OIII does not really seem to add much, and so far the SII images are nearly identical to the Ha, so close in fact I went back to confirm that I had put the SII filter in the correct location !

 

Mark

 

Personally I would say that is a little over stretched its starting to look a little grainy. The pink is more to do with how you combine the channels, stretching the red wont help much. You have lots of detail its just getting the color balance.

[nucdoc]

Thanks Adam3, I see your point, needs to loose grainy background I agree

 

Mark