The Flaming Star Nebula IC 405

[MartinB]

Been gathering data on this for a little while now.  I find that blue flame quite a challenge to process, I didn't want it to look too "stuck on" even though that is probably how it "should" look.  I'm not keen on the blue halo and but decided to leave it be.

Scope: Tak FSQ 106

Camera: QSI532wsg

Filters: Baader 7nm Ha and RGB

Exposures: Ha 30 x 30mins, R+G 20 x 250 secs  B 56x250 secs

Captured combined and calibrated in Maxim, processed with a combination of PI and PS

 

[simmo39]

Lovely image, this is on my todo list.

[teoria_del_big_bang]

A lot of work gone into that image but really is worth it. A wonderful image 🙂 

Steve

[cfpendock]

Very nicely done, Martin.  I think you've got the blue absolutely right, and I like the star colour.  Personally, I think I would dial the red back a bit, but really this is an excellent image.

Chris

[MartinB]

Thanks everyone.

22 minutes ago, cfpendock said:

Very nicely done, Martin.  I think you've got the blue absolutely right, and I like the star colour.  Personally, I think I would dial the red back a bit, but really this is an excellent image.

Chris

Yes, I've had a look now on my laptop and phone and the red is pretty heavy duty.  My 4k processing monitor is Spyder calibrated and looks ok on that.  I think in future I need to cross check with my lap top and phone!  I'll post something a bit gentler.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

That is absolutely lovely

[MartinB]

This is with the red toned down a smidge.  Thanks for the heads up Chris

[Allinthehead]

Very attractive looking image. Love the blue nebulosity, really stands out. I actually prefer the first version although it looks like magenta is a bit strong in the red channel.

[JamesF]

Very nice, Martin.  Well done.

James

[ollypenrice]

Beautifully done. The blue reflection nebula is very tricky to bring out but there you have it. The extra subs did their job.

For me the main nebulosity was not so much over-colourful as rather magenta, which made it seem insistent. This could have been a by-product of the extra blue, I suppose.

Olly

[astro mick]

Nice one Martin.

Mick.

[carastro]

Beautiful rendition.  I prefer the original colour.

Carole 

[MartinB]

17 hours ago, Allinthehead said:

Very attractive looking image. Love the blue nebulosity, really stands out. I actually prefer the first version although it looks like magenta is a bit strong in the red channel.

 

4 hours ago, ollypenrice said:

Beautifully done. The blue reflection nebula is very tricky to bring out but there you have it. The extra subs did their job.

For me the main nebulosity was not so much over-colourful as rather magenta, which made it seem insistent. This could have been a by-product of the extra blue, I suppose.

Olly

Oh now you've got me going cross eyed peering at my monitor and different colour renditions.  I have a phobia regarding salmon pink!  I have often peered at a sun illuminated white sheet of paper through an Ha filter and have convinced myself that plain red isn't right.  So I add a smidge of blue to the Ha channel.  I then tweak and re tweak until I get a colour I think is right.  And then I go away and come back after a couple of hours and change it.  Then I pull up various versions and ask Jacqui!.  So this feedback is very interesting and useful.  Anyway, I've done a further tweak.  I don't like it as much mind you but it may be a truer colour rendition.  What do you think?

And I've added the Ha ono as well.

[Laurin Dave]

Very nice Martin..  I also prefer the first one.  I've been doing this myself over the recent clear nights. Looking at my integrations the Blue nebulosity is quite extensive  (far more so than the Green which is more or less limited to the reflection nebula) so maybe that's the cause of the magenta... whatever its a lovely image.

Dave

[ollypenrice]

It's a sound idea to see what colour is passed by an Ha filter and, indeed, I've done that myself, but not by illuminating a white sheet with it. Good idea. My conclusion was that the Ha colour was rather more magenta than it usually appears in images. Another way to check is simply to look at the RGB, evenly weighted. Again that is usually more magenta than it will appear with Ha used to lighten the red channel alone.

I also agree on salmon pink, usually the result of Ha going into luminance.

As for endless tinkering, J.K. Galbraith said, 'It's usually around the seventeenth redraft that I introduce that element of spontaneity for which my writing has been praised...'

😁lly

[MartinB]

2 hours ago, Laurin Dave said:

Very nice Martin..  I also prefer the first one.  I've been doing this myself over the recent clear nights. Looking at my integrations the Blue nebulosity is quite extensive  (far more so than the Green which is more or less limited to the reflection nebula) so maybe that's the cause of the magenta... whatever its a lovely image.

Dave

Thanks Dave, that's an interesting thought.

1 hour ago, ollypenrice said:

It's a sound idea to see what colour is passed by an Ha filter and, indeed, I've done that myself, but not by illuminating a white sheet with it. Good idea. My conclusion was that the Ha colour was rather more magenta than it usually appears in images. Another way to check is simply to look at the RGB, evenly weighted. Again that is usually more magenta than it will appear with Ha used to lighten the red channel alone.

I also agree on salmon pink, usually the result of Ha going into luminance.

As for endless tinkering, J.K. Galbraith said, 'It's usually around the seventeenth redraft that I introduce that element of spontaneity for which my writing has been praised...'

😁lly

Love that quote Olly!

[ollypenrice]

2 hours ago, MartinB said:

 

Love that quote Olly!

It was a very useful one for an English teacher faced with students asking, 'But do you think the author really thought about all this stuff...?'

Olly

[sloz1664]

Fabulous image Martin, I love the amount of blue detail you have managed to eked out, and yes, Iprefer the first image. But that's the Pixinsight processor in me. I tend to add the Ha with the red via pixelmath to produce a overly vivid red image, the use the Ha as the lum which, in turn, tones it down to an acceptable level.

Steve

[MartinB]

Thanks Steve, interesting info re PI

[x6gas]

I prefer the second version FWIW, Martin.

Super work, though, and I'm pleased you posted the Ha as well which looks stunning.

[MartinB]

Thanks  xgas, the 15 hours certainly seemed to have done the ha some good!

[Adam J]

Nice image, out of interest is there much in the way of OIII in this target, I know there is signal in the tadpole nebula close by.

[MartinB]

10 hours ago, Adam J said:

Nice image, out of interest is there much in the way of OIII in this target, I know there is signal in the tadpole nebula close by.

Thanks Adam.  There may be a very small amount of OIII in there but nothing like as much as the Tadpoles.  I suspect that if you pull out any OIII that is there it will be very difficult to show the blue flame clearly.

[Laurin Dave]

23 minutes ago, MartinB said:

Thanks Adam.  There may be a very small amount of OIII in there but nothing like as much as the Tadpoles.  I suspect that if you pull out any OIII that is there it will be very difficult to show the blue flame clearly.

I was also interested to know and so took two 5min Oiii subs on it just to see, then stopped!   almost nothing,  just a few very faint bits within the reflection nebula around and to the right of the "Star"..  as attached..  look from a distance or you'll miss it.

Dave