NGC 206

[Rodd]

I was not familiar with NGC 206, a large OB star association in M31, until Barry Wilson imaged it.  I recalled having imaged M31 last year and wondered if the little 4' scope reduced to 318mm picked it up.  Naturally, this is an aggressive crop with NGC 206 just above the center.    Its hard to believe that individual members of this gigantic stellar association can be discerned from a distance of over 2 million light years using very modest aperture.  I think this target merits a revisit with a longer focal length....or not....I quite like teh extended view, but more data....lots more data!

FSQ 106 with .6x reducer and ASI 1600 mmcool

Red: 110 30 sec

Green: 100 30 sec

Blue: 120 30 sec

Lum: 120 30 sec; and 204 60 sec

Ha: 37 300 sec

Edit: Not sure which is better.  There is less noise and a bit more saturation in NGC 206 in teh second one, but it may have lost a certain sense that I can't really quantify.  Be interested to hear what folks think.

 

 

Edited November 27, 2019 by Rodd

[astro mick]

That's a cracking image Rodd,really nicely processed.Plus its something different.

Mick.

[Rodd]

Just now, astro mick said:

That's a cracking image Rodd,really nicely processed.Plus its something different.

Mick.

Thanks Mick--Thanks to Barry Wilson for pointing it out....a true master

Rodd

[wimvb]

Excellent catch, Rodd. Much better than my attempt from two years ago. It's really amazing what details we can capture in far away galaxies. There are also quite a few globular clusters in your view, if I'm correct.

If you like the colours in v1 better, but also the detail in v2, you can try this trick in PixInsight:

Extract L from v2. Then use channelcombination in L*a*b mode and insert v2_L in v1. Leave the a and b sections blank in channelcombination and drop the process on image v1 (pull the triangle into the image).

 

Cheers,

[Rodd]

6 hours ago, wimvb said:

Excellent catch, Rodd. Much better than my attempt from two years ago. It's really amazing what details we can capture in far away galaxies. There are also quite a few globular clusters in your view, if I'm correct.

If you like the colours in v1 better, but also the detail in v2, you can try this trick in PixInsight:

Extract L from v2. Then use channelcombination in L*a*b mode and insert v2_L in v1. Leave the a and b sections blank in channelcombination and drop the process on image v1 (pull the triangle into the image).

 

Cheers,

Thanks Wim....actually, I modified the image after I posted the above.  Your method happens to be a favorite of mine!  I do it quite frequently.  Here is the final version that I like better.  One of the things I had to do is tone down the Ha regions while keeping the saturation of NGC 206.

 

[glowingturnip]

I like that - you've given me an idea, my focal length is much too big for all of it, but maybe I can do something like this  🙂

[Rodd]

1 hour ago, glowingturnip said:

I like that - you've given me an idea, my focal length is much too big for all of it, but maybe I can do something like this  🙂

Yes--this is tailor made for long focal lengths.  

Rodd