IC 1396 in Ha-OII-H beta...the Hefalumps' Trunk!

[RobH]

Hello all,

I've just given up on any imaging for the night....beautiful clear sky but there's an average windspeed of 31 knots, gusting 37...gale force 8, meaning anything I've tried ends up looking very Jackson Pollack!

So, time to post this...

IC 1396 , commonly known as the 'elephants trunk'.

Amanda took one look at the subs and said...'you've found God!'

In this orientation, it does rather look like a gigantic old man, beard and all!!

In our house it's now known as the 'God nebula'

This has taken a while in the processing stage, as I was a bit lax at aligning the scope for my different subs.

This meant that the Hb and OIII images were quite heavily cropped.

I liked the overall framing of the region in the Ha image though, so have rebuilt the cropped areas as I didn't want to cut the whole image down...you can still see the join, but only just!

The areas I had to fix were the bottom, which was extremely noisy, and the right hand side.

Scope was the WO ZS80FD with a celestron 0.63x reducer

Camera, Atik 16HR

Guidescope, LX200

Guide software, PHD

Guide cam, DSI pro.

Imaging software, Maxim DL

Processed in PS CS2

Astronomik NB filters.

16 x Ha @ 360 seconds (15 subs were unusable due to guiding issues)

10 each of OIII and H-beta @ 240 seconds binned 2x2

Ha was used as both luminance and red.

OIII was green and H beta, blue.

Imaged on the 23rd August.

Cheers

Rob

(click to enlarge)

[CELESCOPE]

Fantastic image that Rob , super detail and the colour spot on , just wish i had more time for my one , i do want this one really bad , maybe better luck in a few days for me , but yours will keep me going for a while ,

great work Rog

Rog

[steppenwolf]

Lovely image, Rob - a great subject too although I have never fathomed out how it gets it's name!

[Beyond_Vision]

That is picture book quality stuff. I would love that one poster size on my wall. As for the join 'what join' I say. Masterfully processed Rob.

Regards

Kevin

[glennbech]

Incredible :-) Great image. Im sorry for your loss of frames. I know that hurts!

[barkis]

You have turned out a beauty here Rob. The detail in this thing is splendid, and the stars look perfect. A lot of effort in this one, it shows.

Ron.

[narrowbandpaul]

very nice image rob,

its a lovely part of the world.

very natural looking...an effect you were trying to achieve.

Congrats

Paul

[markcol]

Lovely shot, Rob!

Mark

[RobH]

Thanks folks

What I particularly like about the Ha-OII-Hb pallette is the subtle reds produced. It gives quite a natural feel but with interesting colour depth.

Cheers

Rob

[Keagle]

Very lurvely Rob. The shades of red are indeed something Imaged on the day of my Birthday too!

Kurt

[Paxo]

Excellent image Rob, the best I've seen for this subject. Hefalumps' - are you a closet winnie the pooh fan?

Steve..

[RobH]

Hefalumps' - are you a closet winnie the pooh fan?

Steve..

More a Tigger and Eyore fan actually....depending on my mood !!!

Of course, it's big enough to be an Oliphaunt!

Cheers

Rob

[Starflyer]

Great image Rob, the variation in the reds definitely adds a lot of depth to the image.

Ian

[Tim]

Wow. Just WOW! You are starting to embarass the Hubble team I shouldn't wonder.

TJ

[Whippy]

Stunning Rob, simply stunning .

Tony..

[FLO]

Beautiful Rob, lovely colour, the stars too

[centroid]

Now that is nice Rob!!.

Everything there is 'just right', producing a super image.

Dave

[RobH]

Thanks for the kind words folks, it's a very photogenic region

Cheers

Rob