M45, the Pleiades, with surrounding dust and HII area

[Fegato]

I've seen one or two images that pulled out some faint HII areas around M45, so I thought I'd have a go. This three panel mosaic was planned back in November, but well, you know what the weather's been like....  Before Christmas I gave up on any chance of getting the Ha with my equipment, and booked some time in Spain with Roboscopes on their Tak 130 Epsilon, which has a similar FOV and alignment to my set up. This seemed to encourage poor weather in Extremedura, and in the end I had to call a halt on the Ha gathering on my final panel a few days ago as M45 was fast disappearing below the Horizon in astro-darkness. So excuses first - I'd have liked more data in both RGB and Ha, but, well, beggars can't be choosers.

The HII areas are so faint that bringing them out was very tricky, and I hope that what I've got bears some relationship to reality. Anyway, having spent all that time and money, I had to get something in there! This is the first time I've combined data from two separate setups - at least that went smoothly. 

As for M45, I played around with HDR and masking to try and contain its blousiness...  but in the end, I think the blousier version is the one I prefer. The best of my HDR versions certainly accentuates some of the detail in there, but just looks a bit flat to my eye. But then again, I keep changing my mind as they are so different.  I'll attach them both anyway - always interested in any feedback!  Apart from that, the wide field of view was aiming to pick up all the surrounding dusty areas as well as the Ha. I've tried to bring these out, but also tried to keep the end result reasonably subtle.

It took nearly 5 months, but I sort of got there in the end!

RASA 11 v2 on CEM120, ZWO ASI2400MC Pro, 326 x 30s across 3 panels

Tak 130 Epsilon on Paramount MX+, ZWO ASI2600MC Pro, Baader Ha 7nm filter, 189 x 240s across 3 panels (but only 80 providing anything useful!)

Edited April 8 by Fegato
add equipment / acquisition details

[Fegato]

OK, so I just averaged the two images together (half and half as we say in Wales)...  and like this one better!

[WolfieGlos]

6 hours ago, Fegato said:

OK, so I just averaged the two images together (half and half as we say in Wales)...  and like this one better!

Half n half is the best of both worlds, whether that’s a curry or your image. Even if the weather doesn’t let you image now in a minute, the end result is cracking 👍

[Albir phil]

Great images 👍

[AstroGS]

17 hours ago, Fegato said:

OK, so I just averaged the two images together (half and half as we say in Wales)...  and like this one better!

Very nice and balanced - the dust is very well blended in the scenery, without forcing it or over-stretching it. Well done!

[ollypenrice]

An absolute cracker of an image! The blend was certainly the right way to go - which I would say because I do that all the time. 

Hat's off for the Ha. The received wisdom is that there isn't any and the received wisdom is clearly wrong. You have the deep satisfaction of having brought something new to a familiar target.

As for the rest, stars, background, dust, nebulosity - flawless. Take a bow!

Olly

[Fegato]

1 hour ago, ollypenrice said:

An absolute cracker of an image! The blend was certainly the right way to go - which I would say because I do that all the time. 

Hat's off for the Ha. The received wisdom is that there isn't any and the received wisdom is clearly wrong. You have the deep satisfaction of having brought something new to a familiar target.

As for the rest, stars, background, dust, nebulosity - flawless. Take a bow!

Olly

thanks Olly, that's very kind - it was certainly one that took a lot of time and a certain amount of care! As for the Ha - well, I largely got the idea from this image, which has tons of integration and has found a bit more than I did, but to my mind is perhaps just a bit over-done in the processing / stretching

https://www.aapod2.com/blog/m45-pleiades-in-hoorgb

[ollypenrice]

1 hour ago, Fegato said:

thanks Olly, that's very kind - it was certainly one that took a lot of time and a certain amount of care! As for the Ha - well, I largely got the idea from this image, which has tons of integration and has found a bit more than I did, but to my mind is perhaps just a bit over-done in the processing / stretching

https://www.aapod2.com/blog/m45-pleiades-in-hoorgb

The image in the link is mighty impressive.

There are reds very close to, and within, the cluster which I think are ERE, Extended Red Emission, rather than Ha. UV illumination of dust produces luminescence in the 500nm to 1000nm range so it will pass through an Ha filter at around 656nm, though I guess in very small quantities. A broadband red filter will pass it far better. However, the reds on the left hand side of your image, between the pincer-like extensions from the cluster, look like Ha pure and simple.

Olly