M1

[Rodd]

I have finally arrived at a result that I think I like (it will take some mon ths to verify this).  The background level is right where theory dictates (in PI between 0.05 and 0.08), the palette is full spectrum as apposed to my previous attempts, which tended toward red (or pink) throughout, and most pleasing of all, I have managed to avoid sharpening artifacts.  It only took me a couple of years.  No doubt there is still room for improvement, but we're getting there.   One area I would like to improve is color saturation.  I probably need more data for that.  If I bump saturation up, it takes on an artificial look.  Also, the background, while not bad for my sky, looks a bit sickly.  At least it is not over dark.

C11Edge with .7x reducer and ASI 1600: RGB.  10.3 hours RGB, with a synthetic luminance made from all RGB subs.  This is also an HDR composition, with each channel consisting of 60 sec and 10 sec subs, which helped retain star color.

 

A bit darker background 0.04-0.06

[vlaiv]

I like the second one just a bit more.

[Rodd]

7 hours ago, vlaiv said:

I like the second one just a bit more.

Yeah me too.  I guess the background isn’t too dark.  

[vlaiv]

14 minutes ago, Rodd said:

Yeah me too.  I guess the background isn’t too dark.  

There is a bit more "pop" to the nebula as well. Central part is just a tad brighter. I like that.

[Ags]

I like the second one a bit more, but they are both fabulous. I don’t think you need more saturation, the colors are rich and natural looking.

[Paul M]

That's a stunning image of my favorite DSO. I'm no expert but I've got a feeling you've even captured an optical element of the pulsar's shock front. I don't think I've seen it in any other armature images.

https://spaceplasma.tumblr.com/post/64675752636/the-crab-pulsar-look-carefully-at-this-animated

You have picked out the pulsar and other field stars very clearly so it's easy to orientate the gif in the above link with your image. The feature I'm looking at is the persistent band at the 2 o'clock position in the gif.

[glafnazur]

That's very nicely done, the second one for me too 👍

[Rodd]

4 hours ago, Ags said:

I like the second one a bit more, but they are both fabulous. I don’t think you need more saturation, the colors are rich and natural looking.

Yeah, any more and the red gets neonish. I would like more blue, though

[Rodd]

3 hours ago, Paul M said:

That's a stunning image of my favorite DSO. I'm no expert but I've got a feeling you've even captured an optical element of the pulsar's shock front. I don't think I've seen it in any other armature images.

https://spaceplasma.tumblr.com/post/64675752636/the-crab-pulsar-look-carefully-at-this-animated

You have picked out the pulsar and other field stars very clearly so it's easy to orientate the gif in the above link with your image. The feature I'm looking at is the persistent band at the 2 o'clock position in the gif.

Thanks Paul. That animation is pretty cool. I think your right about the shock fronts. One of my favorite DSOs too

[Rodd]

3 hours ago, glafnazur said:

That's very nicely done, the second one for me too 👍

Thanks G.

[simmo39]

Quote

 

Both V nice but the second one has the edge.

[Rodd]

2 hours ago, simmo39 said:

Both V nice but the second one has the edge.

Thanks simmo.  

[ollypenrice]

Lovely filamentory detail and I agree entirely with your own analysis.

Olly

[Rodd]

4 minutes ago, ollypenrice said:

Lovely filamentory detail and I agree entirely with your own analysis.

Olly

Thanks Olly