NGC 6823 revisit.....again

[Rodd]

This target should be called "Balance".  This image has pushed my meager processing talent to the edge...and then some.  I find this target an extremely difficult one to get the way I want it.  One of the biggest issues is the number of small stars.  If they are suppressed too much, they dim out and leave visible, grayish regions that interconnect and resemble noise--the infamous faceted look.  But if they are not dealt with, one gets a pin cushion speckled appearance--way too many stars that detract from the target...  the balance I found difficult.  The other balance is background--to black and I looks unnatural and flat, not dropped enough and the nebula looks washed out.  The FOV is virtually filled with structure and emissions, faint though they are.  the balance is to bring out the structures while preserving the darkness of true background.  Finally, the palette is a tough balance, as the nebula is dim in most places, and bright in the center.  Too much color leaves a bi-modal cartoon, while not enough has a brownish, dull appearance.  Pushing the color past what is actually present in the data is tempting--but a big mistake.  All of these issues plagued me each time I tried to improve the image--most efforts resulting in failure.  After much comparison and toil--I have finally managed to achieve an image I believe to be the best I have done....and I am satisfied with it (for the most part).  The central cluster was much sharper and more well defined, but through processing I forgot to protect it and it has degraded a bit.  I may try replacing it with a previous version--just the central cluster.  In addition, the central region could be sharper.  But all in all--the teeter totter is flatter than it has ever been.

FSQ 106 with .6x reducer: 142 5min  Ha, 90 5min OIII, and 825min SII.

 

 

[carastro]

That looks great.  I didn't find this target easy either, but mainly because the Ha just overwhelmed the Oiii and I could not get the Oiii to even show up as a 2nd colour.  I was in a dark site and took a reasonable amount too.   You haven;t had this problem, so you have done much better than me. 

Carole 

[Rodd]

12 minutes ago, carastro said:

That looks great.  I didn't find this target easy either, but mainly because the Ha just overwhelmed the Oiii and I could not get the Oiii to even show up as a 2nd colour.  I was in a dark site and took a reasonable amount too.   You haven't had this problem, so you have done much better than me. 

Carole 

Thanks, Carole.  That's unfortunate.  Here is my OIII--90 5min subs just cropped and DBEd for gradient removal and auto stretched.  There is more signal than I was expecting I guess.  You didn't get any...even in the center?

 

[carastro]

My Oiii even after two nights (admittedly I was also taking Ha on both nights) was absolutely awful, noisy and only found some nebulosity with severe stretching.   

Oiii 17 x 600 binned + 5 x 300 = 3 hours 15 mins  

It was as if I had been imaging in a LP location.  I am too embarrassed to post my Oiii result up.  

I will however give it another try at some point.  So despite having Oiii, this is all I managed to process was a single colour, this is in HOO.

http://www.astrobin.com/full/370867/0/?nc=user

Carole 

[Rodd]

2 minutes ago, carastro said:

so despite having Oiii, this is all I managed to process was a single colour, this is in HOO.

That's not bad!  The other thing that's hard about this target that I didn't mention is bicolored images.  No SII?

Rodd

[Rodd]

Be interesting to hit the little blue nebula lower center with a longer focal length

[MartinFransson]

That is a beautiful image, excellent processing! 

[Rodd]

3 hours ago, MartinFransson said:

That is a beautiful image, excellent processing! 

Thanks Martin.  

Rodd