SGL 2024 Challenge 1 - Narrowband

[MartinB]

This is a pure narrowband challenge.  No broadband LRGB component and no monochrome images.  Any combination of narrowband signal is permitted.  Duo and even triband filters are now popular for use with one shot colour cameras and images using these are welcome.  Permissable bands are Ha, OIII, SII and hydrogen beta.

If you have any questions please message me rather than posting in the thread.  

 

Start date 1st January 2024

End date 31st March 2024

No entries will be accepted after this date.

 

As previously the winner and runners up will receive an SGL challenge mug showing their image along with a virtual medal-of-honour for their SGL signature.

Please post entries directly into this thread

To keep the thread manageable for the judges please do not post comments about entries, emoji reactions are welcome of course.

--

RULES

All data must be captured and processed by you (no collaborative entries). 
Data must be captured during the challenge start & end dates. 
Multiple entries are allowed but please make a fresh post within the thread.
Multiple submissions of the same image, processed differently, will not be accepted.

[MartinB]

Sorry, I didn't make it clear in the intro, this is a deep sky object challenge.

[MonsterMagnet]

It's not going to pull up any trees but I think this image taken last night (the first clear day in quite some time!) shows how using narrowband filters such as the L-Extreme have really made imaging with an OSC camera accessible to those of us who live in heavily light polluted skies (London, Bortle 9 according to Clear Outside).

91x120 second exposures.

William Optics Z73 III, Skywatcher AZ GTi, WO Flattener ZS73, ZWO ASI224MC, SVBony 50mm Guidescope, ZWO ASI553MC Pro, Asiair Mini, Optolong L'Extreme, ZWO Electronic Focuser.

Processed using Siril, PixInsight, XTs.

MM

 

 

[Vroobel]

Hi,

Miracles of Auriga - 2024.01.05-01.09

As it's stated that only narrowband is allowed, I place here a starless image. If one would like to see the SHO with RGB stars and star clusters, please visit my AstroBin.

It's my first image created using a mono camera and narrowband filters. I bought the camera, filters and 7x2" EFW in December 2023. I had to learn NINA by observing the setup at home. Finally, three cloudless nights in January 2024 gave me the chance to check what I learned and you can see it below.

Askar FMA230, Optolong 2" SHO, ASI 2600MM-Pro @ Celestron CGX;
18h of total integration time: 71x300s SII, 74x300s Ha, 71x300s OIII; Gain 101, Offset 50, -10°C;
NINA, PixInsight, Affinity Photo;
Liverpool, Bortle 9.

AstroBin starless     : https://www.astrobin.com/wvhx21/C/#r0
AstroBin combined : https://www.astrobin.com/wvhx21/C/

 

 

Edited March 14 by Vroobel

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

My first excursion into HOO palette for the Elephant's Trunk Nebula of the last two days is a timely one. I might replace this if I get more/better data. This was taken with my Samyang 135mm F/2 lens at full aperture, with a ZWO Mini-EFW and a Baader F/2 filter set with a ZWO ASI183MM-Pro camera, tracking only using an iOptron HEM15 mount. I used 87 120s subs of H-alpha, and 60 120s subs O-III, stacked in APP with darks, flats and dark-flats.

[Minhlead]

My latest Narrowband image of the Dolphin Head Nebula. Acquisition details can be found below. There are some RGB data involved (only for the star colour, not sure if it is allowed or not but I post it anyway).

Imaging Telescopes: Sharpstar AL-107PH

Imaging Cameras: ZWO ASI2600MM Pro

Mounts: JTW Astronomy Trident GTR

Astrodon Gen2 E-series Tru-Balance Red 36mm: 40×30″(20′)
Astrodon Gen2 I-Series Tru-Balance Blue 36mm: 40×30″(20′)
Astrodon Gen2 I-Series Tru-Balance Green 36mm: 40×30″(20′)
Astrodon H-alpha 3nm 36 mm: 100×600″(16h 40′)
Astrodon OIII 3nm 36 mm: 72×600″(12h)

Edited January 12 by Minhlead

[900SL]

I considered moving from Finland when I realised I couldn't image the Dolphin Head

Work in progress here, finally had a decent clear night and not sure if I'll get another this month, first try at MONO with the new 533MM Pro.

HOO effort in Siril (I don't have the Sii filter yet), needs more Oiii adding. 14 x 5m Ha, 16 x 5m Oiii, basic Siril process, no calibration frames yet. TS CF 90 f6 with 0.8 WO Flat reducer. FOV could be wider, I might try the GT71 on these larger nebulae 

 

Edited January 12 by 900SL

[Stefan73]

Here's nearly 12 and a half hours, over 10th,15th and 17th January, of the Flaming Star Nebula (IC 405) through a Stellalyra 10" f/4 newt with a IDAS NBZ nebula booster filter.  Gory details on astrobin.  I screwed up the FOV on one of the sessions so the intersection of all the subs ended up a bit longer and thinner than I'd have liked...  thanks for looking.

[DaveS]

It's not going to win any prizes but heigh-ho

5 hours 20 mins H-Alpha on the Crab with the ASI 533MM on the ODK 12 for a totally bonkers 0.38"/Px. Collected 6 hours (36 10 min subs) but only 32 made it through QC into the stack

Stacked in AstroArt 8, Blur Xterminator 2, ArcsinH stretch and Noise Exterminator in PixInsight (I may have been too severe with Noise X) then back to AstroArt for a slight Histogram Stretch.

I won't be getting any othe NB data as I currently have my HaLRGB wheel on the OTA and have no intention of swapping anything until summer, this was just a moon-polluted stop-gap until I can image galaxies again.

[AbsolutelyN]

This is a widefield view of Monoceros focused on the Christmas Tree and Rosette Nebula area. Just over 16 hours integration time with a ZWO 2600MC, NBZ filter and Sigma 105mm Art lens. Taken 16th & 17th Jan 2024. 

[GraemeH]

Like some others have already done, I'm posting this image as a starless version to meet the requirements of the competition.  I do have RGB data for the stars, but including this would disqualify the image.

Image Details:
Imaging Camera: QHY294M Pro
Scope: Evostar 72ED
Flattener: OVL non-reducing flattener
Mount: HEQ5 Pro
Guiding: ASI178MC through 9x50 finderscope using PHD2
Filters: Antila EDGE 4.5nm SHO using QHY 7 position filter wheel
Subs: 30 x 300" Ha, 21 x 300" OIII, 20 x 300" SII
Capture software: APT
Stacking software: APP
Processing software: Adobe Photoshop and Starnet++ v2

 

Edited January 23 by GraemeH
Imaged replaced with a different version

[Simon Pepper]

Here is my take on the Rosette imaged across two nights 15th & 18th Jan from East Sussex in bortle 4.5/5. Image was captured using Redcat 51 and ZWO 1600mm pro with Antlia 3nm Ha, Sii and Oiii filters

Ha 35x300

Sii 44x300

Oiii 39x300

Image stacked and dizzled 2x and processed in PI using the NarrowbandNormalization script and RC suite of products. I added some saturation and some star reduction and a final crop in.

Thanks  

[Laurin Dave]

Here's mine.... SH2-261 Lower's Nebula halfway up Orion's raised right arm presented using the Foraxx palette script from Pixinsight.   12 hours of Ha through Esprit150QHY600m, 9hours Oiii and 6 hours Sii through Esprit100ASI294mm all mounted on the trusty Mesu. Processed in Pixinsight and Photoshop with full use made of Russ Croman's tools.   Ha, Oiii ands Sii integration files registered, corrected using BXT in correct mode, stars removed using SXT, noise reduced using NXT, Stretched with Histogram and GHS, Oiii and Sii further blurred in Photoshop, Ha, Oiii and Sii combined using Pixinsight Foraxx script,  Stretched Ha applied as Luminance,  a touch of LHE and MMT sharpening, Then into Photoshop for final noise reduction, colour enhancement using LABcol and Selective colour and addition of Ha stars in Screen mode.

Dave

[Mount Longlevens]

The Spaghetti Nebula, a tough faint target captured from my bortle 6 location here in Gloucester Uk. With the 2 clear nights this week I managed to cool my camera down to minus 20'C and captured 20 hours of data made up from 10 minute subs.

This target is so faint that a single exposure from my location reveals no detail. Only careful stretching and the 20 hours (more eventually) got me this image.

Kit Used

Redcat71 

AM5

ZwoAsi6200mc camera

Wo 50mm guidescope with Asi174mm Camera

Optilong L-Ultimate dual band filter

Processed in PixInsight.

Edited January 21 by Mount Longlevens
Spelling mistake

[IDM]

My first attempt at the Rosette neubula with my new QHY268MM camera and using Astronomik narrow band filters. Image consists of:

19x 180S Ha

50x 180S O

50 x 180S S

The images were captured on the 14th and 15th of January.

Processing was me watching some videos on Youtube and 'just having a go' (much to learn) but its a a start!!

[Bikingbill]

The Soul Nebula taken over 2 nights in January. A 2 panel mosaic with 6 hours worth of 5 minute subs for each panel. Leicestershire bortle 5

90mm Stellamira triplet

ZWO ASI 533mc

Optolong L-extreme filter

[Laurin Dave]

Here's another.... NGC2174-261 The Monkey Head Nebula at the top of Orion's raised right arm presented using the Foraxx palette script from Pixinsight.   7.5 hours of Ha through Esprit150QHY600m, 4.5hours Oiii and 3.5 hours Sii through Esprit100ASI294mm captured last week under a nearly full moon. Processed in Pixinsight and Photoshop with full use made of Russ Croman's tools.   Ha, Oiii ands Sii integration files registered, corrected using BXT in correct mode, stars removed using SXT, noise reduced using NXT, Stretched with Histogram and GHS,  Ha, Oiii and Sii combined using Pixinsight Foraxx script,  Stretched Ha applied as Luminance,  a touch of LHE and MMT sharpening, Then into Photoshop for final noise reduction, colour enhancement using LABcol and Selective colour and addition of Ha stars in Screen mode.

Dave

[PeterC65]

I do EAA not AP, but I'm rather pleased with this enhanced live stack snapshot of the California Nebula, NGC1499, taken on 17th January using an Askar FMA135, Uranus-C camera (IMX585), and Optolong L-eNhance filter. Just 58 frames of 15s each (that's a lot for me), with the snapshot processed very simply using Affinity Photo and Noise Exterminator. It's probably not up to AP standards but I like it!

 

[Kinch]

IC 2177 is a region of nebulosity that lies along the border between the constellations Monoceros and Canis Major. It is a roughly circular H II region centered on the Be star HD 53367. This nebula was discovered by Welsh amateur astronomer Isaac Roberts and was described by him as "pretty bright, extremely large, irregularly round, very diffuse."
The name Seagull Nebula is sometimes applied by amateur astronomers to this emission region, although it more properly includes the neighbouring regions of star clusters, dust clouds and reflection nebulae. This latter region includes the open clusters NGC 2335 and NGC 2343.
NGC 2327 is located in IC 2177. It is also known as the Seagull's Head, due to its larger presence in the Seagull nebula.

Imaging telescope: Takahashi FSQ130ED
Imaging camera: ASI 2600mm
Mount: JTW Trident P75
Dates:   21st. Jan - 22nd. Jan 2024

Frames: 
Astrodon SII         20 x 600' 
Astrodon Ha        29 x 600' 
Astrodon OIII       10 x 600' 

Total integration  = 9 Hours  50 Minutes

[Varavall]

Here is my interpretation of the Rosette Nebula in my preferred bold and bright colours.

10 x Ha, 15 x Sii, 15 x Oiii all at 600s on the nights of 13th and 25th January

Kit: SW 120ED with Mira 0.63x flattener/reducer, ZWO ASI1600MM-cool, astrodon 5nm filters, SW HEQ5 belt modded with upgraded bearings, NINA and PHD2

Processed in ASTAP, GIMP and Siril

[MonsterMagnet]

Once again, it doesn't really compete with mono images but using a filter like the L-Extreme has really opened up imaging with a OSC in places like central London.  Eventually most will migrate to a mono (as will I at some point) but the results one can get before that stage are very decent nowadays.

88x300 second exposures (~7 hours captured on the 26th January and 1st February).

William Optics Z73 III, Skywatcher AZ GTi, WO Flattener ZS73, ZWO ASI224MC, SVBony 50mm Guidescope, ZWO ASI553MC Pro, Asiair Mini, Optolong L'Extreme, ZWO Electronic Focuser.

Processed using PixInsight, Graxpert, XTs.

MM

Edited February 3 by MonsterMagnet

[Varavall]

Here is another effort of the Rosette Nebula using a shorter focal length setup to reveal more of the surrounding nebulosity.

Kit: Nikon 300mm AI lens at f4.5, ZWO Nikon-filter wheel adapter, ASI1600MM-Cool, ZW EAF, Astrodon 5nm Ha, Sii and Oiii filters, HEQ5 Pro modded mount

Ha 6x900s, Sii 7x600s, Oiii 7x900s

Processed in ASTAP, Siril and GIMP

Taken 5th February

Edited February 6 by Varavall
Additional material

[Varavall]

Here is a go at the Heart Nebula.

Kit: Nikon 300mm AI lens at f4.5, ZWO Nikon-filter wheel adapter, ASI1600MM-Cool, ZW EAF, Astrodon 5nm Ha, Sii and Oiii filters, HEQ5 Pro modded mount

Ha 18x600s, Sii 8x600s, Oiii 30x900s

Processed in ASTAP, Siril and GIMP

Taken 3rd and 5th February

[B4silio]

IC 443 – The Jellyfish Nebula

32h of SHO data, had to drop about 10h of it due to bad focus and me forgetting to turn on the anti-dew band T_T.

• 6h of 300' Ha images (Antlia Pro 3nm)
• 10h of 300' O3 images (Antlia Pro 3nm)
• 6h of 300' S2 images (Antlia Pro 3nm)

Scope: Esprit 100ed + Flattener
Camera : ZWO ASI2600MM-Pro
Mount: HEQ 6 Pro
Dates : 27.01 - 05.02

Stacking in APP, Deconvolution and Stretching in PI, Color-mixing and post-processing in PS.
Stars are rendered in HOO, background is SHO

[Whistlin Bob]

Lots of lovely pictures on here. Here's my effort- this is the Monkey Head taken on 18th January. It was one of those rare long clear winter nights when you can set the scope running and let it go for the night. I got 3 hours on each channel, of which I retained roughly 2 as being the best quality (I think it got hazy later on whilst I was catching some zzzz's).

I did grab 30 minutes RGB for stars, but I've not used that here- instead I did a star removal on the NB channels and combined them HSO. There was a bit of magenta in there so I inverted the image and ran some SCNR over it.

The nebula image I then combined using Foraxx utility, and applied the Dark Structure Enhance script to try and pull out some of the dark lanes and structure around the chin.

Originally used the Foraxx utility, but then decided I just wasn't so keen on it, so have used SHO instead. I used to be indecisive, but I'm not so sure now.

Image was shot with a 150 Quattro, Baader UNB filters and an asi1600mm.

 

 

Edited March 26 by Whistlin Bob
Tweaked it! Never quite happy...