NGC 281 Pacman Nebula

[GordonH]

Hi all

Well I have managed to do two nights imaging in a row (that's got to be a first with our weather). I managed to start imaging at 1am after having to redo the polar alignment as I accidentally nudged one of the legs on the Tri-pier (that's enough of the excuses). For once the skies were clear with no sign of cloud but the seeing wasn't brilliant partly due to the moon nearby but also there appeared to be some very thin mist in the air as the stars didn't seem as sharp as usual.

I managed 16x10 unguided subframes finishing at 4am. The image was aligned and combined in Maxim DL and I did two aggressive iterations of curves mixed with levels in Photoshop, local contrast enhancement using Noel's tools and some extra processing using gradient xterminator and noise reduction was used to try and get rid of the effects of the mist which I think I managed to reduce to a minimum. I have had to reduce the quality to be able to post it so as always there are better quality images on my site http://www.imagingtheheavens.co.uk. I have also included a cropped closeup to better show the detail in the nebula itself

TMB 115, Starlight Xpress H36 with Ha filter on Paramount ME

Thanks for looking

Best wishes and clear skies

Gordon

[Paxo]

Excellent images Gordon. I did notice you online at sometime around 3.30 so I can vouch for you time-wise.

Steve..

[barkis]

Yeah!, good stuff Gordon, very nice results, I bet you slept well after that session

Your processing description read like a Cosmetic Surgeon at work. I mean that to be complimentary of course. Must check on the SX H36 camera, as I,ve not seen one of those.

Ron.

[CELESCOPE]

Excellent Gordon , the good ole Pacman , one of my Fav for sure

Cheers

Rog

[barkis]

Yeah!, good stuff Gordon, very nice results, I bet you slept well after that session

Your processing description read like a Cosmetic Surgeon at work. I mean that to be complimentary of course. Must check on the SX H36 camera, as I,ve not seen one of those.

Ron.

EDIT : I paid a visit to your website too Gordon. Congratulations, it is a real nice site, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I like the dogs too. They will take a bit of feeding.

You have a wonderful array of equipment at your disposal, lovely jubbly that C14. I like large lumps of glass.

Ron.

[GordonH]

Hi Ron

Thanks for the nice comments about the image and my sebsite, the site is changing frequently and I am constantly trying to think of things to add to encourage others to take up this fantastic sleep depriving hobby. The dogs are fantastic, very cheap to feed (about £20/week for the 3 of them + treats) compared to the enjoyment they bring us. The C14 is very likely to be sold next year in preference to a more manageable Astrosib RC 10" (a better imaging scope for my needs)

Best wishes

Gordon

:wave: