NGC 1499, California Nebula in Ha. Up, close and personal.

[Whippy]

I mentioned that my earlier Jellyfish nebula image post, that it was a sort of afterthought. This was the main event . A 3 pane mosiac of the California nebula. I've been having issues with my imaging setup and so Sunday I noticed it was clear so I figured that imaging with my ZS66 with short(ish) exposures takes a lot less accuracy (for want of a better word) than something with a longer focal length. The forcast also mentioned Monday was clear so.... Managed to get the third and last pane last night and it's been an absolute swine to process! Have to say though I LOVE this image :love4: I've just been gawping at the scale and if you had told me that I'd be able to pull something like this a year ago, I'd have laughed my head off.

Anyway, enough of my tired gibberish. NGC 1499, the California Nebula. Left hand side taken on 26/10, 2hrs 5 mins (25x5 mins), middle part taken on the 27th, 2hrs 30 mins (30x5 mins) and the right hand side taken last night (31/10), another 2hrs 30 mins (30x5 mins). All taken with an Atik 16hr with an Astronomik 13nm filter in the nosepiece through a WO ZS66. Guided by a WO ZS110, QHY5 and PHD, all atop an EQ6 pro. Stacked in DSS and processed and mosaic'd in photoshop.

Here's the B&W original.

(click to enlarge)

And for those who like a touch of redness, here's some false colour made by noel's actions.

(click to enlarge)

There's been a fair bit of cropping been done here due to differences in camera alignment. I may well post the original mosiac later on.

Tony..

[steppenwolf]

Really nice image, Tony, well worth the time it took you!

[LostNSpace]

What a lovely mosaic of NGC1499 Tony

Mark

[Psychobilly]

Excellent Mosaic Tony superb deatil in there

Billy...

[Taff]

Hi Tony' great capture of the neb fab colour.Taff

[markcol]

That's some fantastic detail Tony!

Mark

[Whippy]

Thanks all . Here's the original uncropped version:

(click to enlarge)

Tony..

[MartinB]

Quality image with superb resolution of the ha detail

[Beyond_Vision]

I dont know how I missed this one it a fantastic capture and process Tony. Fantastic amount of detail with great focus and tracking.

Regards

Kevin

[beamish]

They're fabtastic Tony, particularly like the uncropped B&W

Karlo

[RobH]

Superb Tony, the B&W gets my vote.

Cheers

Rob

[Tim]

Great Tone, really nice.

Seen this way up it reminds me of one of those squidgy little bellies and belly buttons that you so often see hanging over a pair of jeans these days. Which is another plus point

TJ

[johnh]

That is a cracking image, great size/detail. Superb.

[narrowbandpaul]

stunning well done tony

[Doc]

Tony this is indeed a fantastic image, especially the B&W one.

To give a noobie like me some idea how long did it take you to achieve this image after photographing it has been taken out of the equation. Ie the software part of it.

Cheers.

[anthony]

A real treat. Very fine image. well done

Anthony

[FLO]

Reeeally nice Tony, the uncropped mono for me too

[saturn5]

Amazing detail,i like the mono too.

[Aza]

Awesome job!! Looks beautiful the way you have framed it.

[MikeD]

Missed this on and a great shot it is two.

I like the uncroped image too it's good to see it as a mosaic.

it would make a great print.

Mike.

[Aza]

The more I look at this, the more I love it!

Picture of the week I reckon

[SteelRat]

Lovely stuff Tony 8)