Final version of NGC 7635 - Bubble Nebula

[Whippy]

Flushed after the original shot earlier in the week, I decided to grab some more data and flesh out some of the fainter bits. I've decided not to do any RGB on it as I like the Ha 'look' about it and if you want it in colour, just grab yourself a red felt tip pen and colour your screen (I don't hold responsibility if anyone ruins their screen!). Not sure if I've over processed this as I'm using a new(ish) computer and the screen looks completely different to my old one.

The grand total is 2hrs 6 mins exposure time (21 x 6 mins), taken with an Atik 16hr with an Astronomik 13mn Ha filter on a WO ZS110, guided with a ZS66, qHY5 and PHD all on top of an EQ6 pro.

(click to enlarge)

Tony..

[anthony]

Very nice shot indeed. Plenty of faint stuff captured and on display. Furthermore you do not have a lot of noise showing.

When viewing the bigger version it does not look as natural as this target normally does. I am not sure what the cause is. Beyond levels and curves what processing steps did you carry out? It might be well be "screen" related though mine or yours? Who knows!

No doubt though - a very good shot

Anthony

[Whippy]

Cheers Ant, after levels and curves I used the 'enhance DSO and reduce stars' and 'space noise reduction' actions on Noel's tools. I know what you're saying, it looks 'plasticky' to me when you enlarge it.

Tony..

[Jamie]

Cracking image Tony!!!!!

You really are coming on leaps and bounds as where your imaging skills are concerned.

[RobH]

Hello Tony,

Nice framing and capture but, and I hope you don't mind me saying, Aa lot of interesting detail has been lost in the star shrinking and noise reduction process.

When you use Noels actions to reduce stars, it produces this strange 'plasticky' effect on nebulae. A way around this is to duplicate your original layer, then run the action. Then, using the eraser tool, rub through to show the original, un-actioned nebula.

Another way to reduce stars, is to select the stars using the 'colour range' command.

Zoom in on some stars so you can see the selection easily, then go....

SELECT/MODIFY/EXPAND

expand your selection so that you have some dark space around the star selected.

Then,

FILTER/OTHER/MINIMUM

select a 1 pixel radius.

This will shrink your stars but probably too much.

Go to EDIT/FADE MINIMUM

drop the amount to 50%

This will make your stars smaller without any adverse side effects.

I will do this to individual stars if required, sometimes repeating the process a couple of times, always fading to 50%.

For space noise reduction, use the colour range command to select the background space, then apply a blur...gaussian works fine but experimant with the others too, sometimes different ones are more effective.

Cheers

Rob

[Whippy]

Rob, I'm always more than happy to take on a few pointers, especially on my processing which is definately my weak point!

So here's a re-process. Just levels and curves with a touch of blur on the background and a smidge of sharpening on the nebula .

(click to enlarge)

Tony..

[ngc2403]

first image is good but i like the second much better.

p.s. if it was a trade off between being good at image processing or having a good set-up?

hmm no contest i would pick a good set-up everyday

well done

ally

[Whippy]

first image is good but i like the second much better.

p.s. if it was a trade off between being good at image processing or having a good set-up?

hmm no contest i would pick a good set-up everyday

well done

ally

Cheers ally, I used to make music and I was exactly the same then. Not bad at actually making the tunes but rubbish/lazy at the production side of things so it was good music that sounded like it was recorded in a dustbin. Some things never change...

Tony..

[Paxo]

Nice rework Tony, lots more detail in there now. I agree, the processing side of things is a very steep learning curve, and everyone seems to have their own way of doing things. At least variety is the spice of life as they say. One good thing though, you can always rework the raw data a different way on cloudy nights, there's plenty of them.........

Steve..

[anthony]

Superb on the rework.

Good stuff

Anthony

[MikeD]

Great result the second edit gets my vote, nice and natural looking.

Mike.

[Whippy]

I've just uploaded the FIT's to UK Astronomers if anyone wants to have a play with them .

http://ukastronomers.com/#whiplash/action/files/show/40/ajax/true .

Enjoy!

Tony..

[RobH]

Very nice rework Tony....much better sir :salute:

Cheers

Rob

[barkis]

I'm late onto this modded image Tony, and it has bodied up a bit. There is some dense stuff in there, and quite toned too. You are getting on well with the Atik, and playing a good tune on it.

It's no secret I like the mono stuff, not that I dislike colour, It' great when done well.

Ron.

[cygnusx1]

lovely stuff Tony, the second image def gets my vote.

one of my fav objects, getting that bubble looking reflective isn't easy!

[centroid]

Now that's a nice result Tony!!

Bet you're chuffed with that, and quite rightly so.

Dave

[Whippy]

Thanks all , I think the moral of the story here is not to rely too much on actions and trust my eyes a bit more! Have to say though that this narrowband lark is brilliant, Moon Schmoon! Need to look at some more filters now for some false colour fun.....

Tony..