Flaming Star & Tadpoles Nebula (8 hrs) in Bi-Colour with RGB Stars

[Xiga]

Hello fellow gazers...

I started shooting this one back on Feb 20, when i grabbed 11 x 1200s of Ha subs. 4 of the 11 were not of great quality, due to some light intermittent clouds, but i included them anyway in the stack (such is the trust i place in APP's 'Quality' algorithm). 

Then on March 3 i finally got another clear night, so while i waited for the sports facilities floodlights to switch off, i grabbed a short set of 20 x 90s RGB subs (just the D5300 with no filter) so i could use them for RGB stars. Then afterwards managed to grab 12 x 1200s of OIII subs. 

It's been a busy month (house move coming up) so i've only just got around to looking at it now. Processing this one has been a challenge. I wanted to push it hard, to show up some of the nebulosity that sits between the two nebulae, which meant the sky background became an utter pain to deal with. It was noisier than i would like, and still is, hence the need to use more noise reduction than i would normally. Having the stars in a separate layer is great, makes processing so much simpler. It has also improved my workflow i think, as i now tend to end up with an image that has 3 layers, Luminance, Colour, and Stars, rather than a single layer (which i sometimes would, due to laziness!). So now it's easier to go back and fix something later if i decide i don't like it. 

Full details:

11 x 1200s Ha (2" Baader mounted)

12 x 1200s OIII (2" Baader mounted)

20 x 90s RGB (for stars only)

Nikon D5300 (modded)

SW 80ED w FF/FR

HEQ5-Pro

Captured with SGP, pre-processed in APP, post-processed in PS. 

Ha assigned to Red, OIII to Blue, and Green was synthesized using one of Noel Carboni's actions in PS. 

I probably spent a good 10 hrs processing this one. Mostly due to trying to create a starless Ha image that was as clean as possible (which was a major PITA i must say!). Also, while the OIII signal was stronger than i was expecting for the tadpole nebula, it was unbelievably weak in the Flaming Star nebula. All i could get, after extreme stretching, was a small blob around the central section, so i gave up on the idea of using Annie's 'Hubble Palette Creation' Action and just went with a Bi-Colour approach. I might try the Hubble Palette just on the tadpoles at a later date, it should take to it much better. 

This one felt like a struggle, so i'd be grateful for any C&C, no matter how harsh. I think i have a tendency to go 'too far' in my processing, and i might well have done so here. Let me know what you think! 

Cheers! 

[wok]

I don't even know how people process these images so I'd leave those comments to the experts. I will just say I love the picture, it looks amazing.

[Demonperformer]

Nice result. I wouldn't worry too much about the lack of OIII in FS, Ciarán - if it isn't there, it isn't there, and this is what your image shows. I quite like the constrast this produces with the tadpoles. I am not a great fan of images that create an artificial colour (personal preference) so I think you made a good decision to stick with the bi-colour approach. Nice result for your 10-hours work.

[SyedT]

Looks lovely! I wouldn't worry at all about the weak OIII signal, that central area is the main focus of signal. The below is a total of 11.5 hours of Flaming Star in OIII with my ASI 1600MM-C and WO GT81 @ f4.72; only processing was LP removal in APP and cropping in PI. You can see even with that much exposure the signal is very weak.  

[Ronclarke]

Impressive result, I've only just got my Ha and OIII filters but now I see where the bar is set. Well done 

[lux eterna]

Simply beautiful - congratulations !

Ragnar

[KemalOz]

if you haven't stated it I would have though that you've used a mono cam. great image. Sometimes I'm also tempted to combine data from UHC and L-pro filters but I don't how to do it

[Xiga]

Thanks all! And thanks for posting your OIII frame SyedT, i feel a bit better now that i know there just isn't that much there. FWIW, here's what my OIII looked like after just a High DDP stretch (and before i cranked up the contrast on it!):

 

I went back and tweaked the colours a bit as I wasn't happy with the Tadpoles nebula. One of the last steps i took in processing was to tweak the colours by removing yet more Cyan out of Yellow using Selective Colour, and then running HLVG. Today, the end result looked a bit flat to my eye, with too much contrast between the colours, so i re-added some Green and i think it has added more depth now. I also decided to go with a more Red tone this time instead of Orange. I think i prefer it (for now anyways, lol).

Would love to get some other opinions though. Which version do you guys think is better? 

[KemalOz]

5 hours ago, Xiga said:

Thanks all! And thanks for posting your OIII frame SyedT, i feel a bit better now that i know there just isn't that much there. FWIW, here's what my OIII looked like after just a High DDP stretch (and before i cranked up the contrast on it!):

 

I went back and tweaked the colours a bit as I wasn't happy with the Tadpoles nebula. One of the last steps i took in processing was to tweak the colours by removing yet more Cyan out of Yellow using Selective Colour, and then running HLVG. Today, the end result looked a bit flat to my eye, with too much contrast between the colours, so i re-added some Green and i think it has added more depth now. I also decided to go with a more Red tone this time instead of Orange. I think i prefer it (for now anyways, lol).

Would love to get some other opinions though. Which version do you guys think is better? 

second version looks more detailed and vibrant

[SyedT]

20 hours ago, Xiga said:

Thanks all! And thanks for posting your OIII frame SyedT, i feel a bit better now that i know there just isn't that much there. FWIW, here's what my OIII looked like after just a High DDP stretch (and before i cranked up the contrast on it!):

 

I went back and tweaked the colours a bit as I wasn't happy with the Tadpoles nebula. One of the last steps i took in processing was to tweak the colours by removing yet more Cyan out of Yellow using Selective Colour, and then running HLVG. Today, the end result looked a bit flat to my eye, with too much contrast between the colours, so i re-added some Green and i think it has added more depth now. I also decided to go with a more Red tone this time instead of Orange. I think i prefer it (for now anyways, lol).

Would love to get some other opinions though. Which version do you guys think is better? 

Not a problem. I put a lot of OIII time into it as I wanted to see how much signal I would get, and it really is quite faint. You've managed to get some nice filamentary OIII detail which I'd be very happy with.

I prefer the second version, but I bet you'll look at this a week later and tweak it even more! That's probably the best and worst thing about astrophotography.

[Xiga]

1 hour ago, SyedT said:

Not a problem. I put a lot of OIII time into it as I wanted to see how much signal I would get, and it really is quite faint. You've managed to get some nice filamentary OIII detail which I'd be very happy with.

I prefer the second version, but I bet you'll look at this a week later and tweak it even more! That's probably the best and worst thing about astrophotography.

Lol, this is too true. It's so hard to resist the urge to tweak. Finished, becomes just a quick 5 min update, which quickly becomes another hour (or more)...