IC1396 + Sh2-129 Collaborative Mosaic

[Adreneline]

This image is the result of a collaborative project over the last 16 weeks with Lee ( @geeklee ).

The annotation reveals a number of dso targets including galaxies, planetary nebula, and reflection nebula.

We combined images from our respective sets of equipment ((Samyang 135mm + ASI183MM and RedCat 51 + ASI1600MM) plus (Samyang 135mm + ASI183MM and RedCat 51 + Atik460ex)).

In total we collected:

• 1890 mins of Ha,
• 1600 mins of OIII
• 600 mins of SII

covering the six panes of the mosaic - that’s a total of 69 hours or 2.875 days imaging time.

The mosaic was pre-processed and assembled in AstroPixelProcessor and processed in PixInsight.

The benefit of the collaboration goes far beyond just collecting the data. We have shared our experiences, positive and negative, on data collection, data evaluation, data processing and image critique. It is fair to say we have both benefitted from the experience far more than we anticipated at the outset.

As always C&C are welcome.

Adrian & Lee

Edited November 14, 2021 by Adreneline
Image update

[scotty38]

Cracking image and I didn't think we'd had that much clear sky so well done there too!

[Kon]

Stunning image! The many hours have paid out with exquisite amount of details. Nice subtle colours as well.

[tomato]

Superb image, great colour palette, love the way the Squid is not overwhelmed by the Ha signal.  As you point out, there is a lot going for collaborative imaging, especially in the UK.👍

[Adreneline]

3 hours ago, scotty38 said:

Cracking image and I didn't think we'd had that much clear sky so well done there too!

1 hour ago, Kon said:

Stunning image! The many hours have paid out with exquisite amount of details. Nice subtle colours as well.

45 minutes ago, tomato said:

Superb image, great colour palette, love the way the Squid is not overwhelmed by the Ha signal.  As you point out, there is a lot going for collaborative imaging, especially in the UK.👍

Thank you for all the kind comments folks. To be honest 69 hours spread out over 16 week in two locations is not that much per night but that said it proved to be really frustrating getting to the point where we had enough to have a go at a complete image. As for the Squid! - trust me it wasn't the Ha that was the problem - it's the noise!

Adrian

[mackiedlm]

That's a super image. Nice collaboration folks.

[Zummerzet_Leveller]

Nicely done chaps.  Looks lovely and the colour palette works really well.

[Adreneline]

5 minutes ago, Zummerzet_Leveller said:

Looks lovely and the colour palette works really well.

Thanks Jody.

I've been playing at up'ing the saturation a little - I was wondering if the original was too insipid.

Adrian

[glafnazur]

I thought the first image was great but I think you've topped it with this one. Excellent stuff 👍

[callisto]

1 minute ago, glafnazur said:

I thought the first image was great but I think you've topped it with this one. Excellent stuff 👍

Deffo...the Squid really "pops" out 

 

Mark

[Adreneline]

6 minutes ago, glafnazur said:

I thought the first image was great but I think you've topped it with this one. Excellent stuff 👍

3 minutes ago, callisto said:

Deffo...the Squid really "pops" out 

Thanks guys - I thought maybe I'd overdone it a bit.

Adrian

[Zummerzet_Leveller]

27 minutes ago, Adreneline said:

I was wondering if the original was too insipid.

I think both look great but the OIII looks great in the reprocess with the sharper blue.  One to print I would say.

[vineyard]

It's gorgeous - the second image sings more.  Dare I ask how long it took to process 69hrs of data? 😮

[Adreneline]

11 hours ago, vineyard said:

Dare I ask how long it took to process 69hrs of data? 😮

Haha! Well to be honest I lost count. When I finally cleared all the data files, integrated masters, mosaics and numerous PixelMath images and their variants off my hard drive to an external drive it amounted to 240 gigabytes of data. I'm pretty certain the processing took more than the 2.875 days to collect the data!

11 hours ago, vineyard said:

It's gorgeous - the second image sings more.

Thank you - I'm glad you like it/them. I think the second one is a little over-cooked but it was fun to see just how much colour could be extracted.

Adrian

[vineyard]

240GB!!  My laptop would keel over.  It's like that quote from Jaws "we're going to need a bigger boa[rd]"

There's a nice difference b/w the two - the first is more atmospheric (a bit like those slightly misty landscapes), the second is more action-y (like a space movie).

[Adreneline]

1 minute ago, vineyard said:

240GB!!  My laptop would keel over.  It's like that quote from Jaws "we're going to need a bigger boa[rd]"

There's a nice difference b/w the two - the first is more atmospheric (a bit like those slightly misty landscapes), the second is more action-y (like a space movie).

It would be cheaper to buy a bigger boat than a bigger hard drive for my MacBook Pro!

I tend to feel that space is not a gaudy place so I prefer the subtle tones approach to imaging, that said I know others prefer the more full-on approach with lots of colour - so I did both!  

[Richard_]

Phwoar, what a brilliant image! I really like the first image, but you knocked it out of the park with the second one. Look at that beautiful, deep blue in the elephants trunk nebula. 

This is definitely one to print, well done guys! 

[Stuf1978]

That's lovely, great work  

[jjosefsen]

This is an absolutely fantastic image.

The FOV is impressive and the processing is just to my liking, the colors, the background... 👌

There are some artifacts around some of the brighter stars, which could look like results of blendings images with a pronounced difference in star sizes (ha vvs oii perhaps?).

But this one for sure goes into the bookmark folder I have for images with the look and feel i like..

[Adreneline]

21 hours ago, Richard_ said:

Phwoar, what a brilliant image! I really like the first image, but you knocked it out of the park with the second one. Look at that beautiful, deep blue in the elephants trunk nebula. 

This is definitely one to print, well done guys! 

17 hours ago, Stuf1978 said:

That's lovely, great work

Thanks guys. Glad you like the image(s). It's been a rewarding experience collaborating with Lee ( @geeklee  ) but not sure I/we are going to rush into doing another 6-pane mosaic any time soon! It's really interesting to see that Richard prefered the second image where I have really pushed the saturation.

Thanks again for taking the time to comment.

Adrian

[Adreneline]

28 minutes ago, jjosefsen said:

This is an absolutely fantastic image.

The FOV is impressive and the processing is just to my liking, the colors, the background... 👌

Thank you! Lee ( @geeklee ) and I have put a lot of time into collecting the data and agonising over the processing.

29 minutes ago, jjosefsen said:

There are some artifacts around some of the brighter stars, which could look like results of blendings images with a pronounced difference in star sizes (ha vvs oii perhaps?).

You are absolutely right and maybe I should have done more to try to reduce those artefacts but in the end you reach a point where enough is enough and it is time to share your labours with others. I am pretty sure we will collect more data over the coming months/years(!) and then prune some of the existing data which maybe questionable in quality; with luck that might reduce some of the halos. Some of course may be just down to the equipment - 8.5nm vs 6nm OIII filters, we used both. It's never ending - there's always room for improvement!

32 minutes ago, jjosefsen said:

But this one for sure goes into the bookmark folder I have for images with the look and feel i like..

Thank you.

Adrian

[Allinthehead]

Hi Adrian and Lee, it's a great image, nice to collaborate too. 

I'm going to go against the grain regarding the second image. I found the first very pleasing to the eye but the saturation in the trunk area especially the blue went a little too far imo. I think the squid looks great in the second though. Take what I have to say with a grain of salt as my saturation taste changes by the image and it only really matters what you guys prefer.

[Adreneline]

1 minute ago, Allinthehead said:

Hi Adrian and Lee, it's a great image, nice to collaborate too. 

I'm going to go against the grain regarding the second image. I found the first very pleasing to the eye but the saturation in the trunk area especially the blue went a little too far imo. I think the squid looks great in the second though. Take what I have to say with a grain of salt as my saturation taste changes by the image and it only really matters what you guys prefer.

Thank you! Glad you like the image. The collaboration produced some real synergy.

I have to say I don't like the second image but I know a lot of imagers like a more saturated look to bring out the colours. On my MacBook Pro it looks way too overcooked! - but on my Lenovo laptop it looks about right and the first image looks really quite insipid.

But everyone to their own. That's the great thing about NB imaging. Who's to say what it should be like.

Thanks again for your kind comments.

Adrian

[nephilim]

Excellent work @Adreneline & @geeklee 
When you mentioned to me a while back that you were both doing a big collaboration together I was very much looking forward to seeing the end result. It certainly hasn't disappointed. Its an absolutely superb image & well worth the many hours of hard work you have both put into it, it couldn't have been the easiest of things to achieve & I wouldnt even know where to start with something like this so very well done to you both.

If I were to have a preferred process then it would be the first one as I like images that are subtle rather than really popping with colour & you've hit the nail on the head with that. Theres nothing wrong with the second version but everyone has their own preference.
On a quick side note, I need to get my monitors calibrated I think so my next purchase will be one of those X-Rite screen calibrators so at least I'm getting true colours or as close too.

Regards

Steve

[FranckiM06]

Wow, it is a great result and wonderful image.