IC 5146 - 2.0

[Rodd]

Lets try this again.  This was without doubt one of the most challenging images I have worked on that is sucessful (at least in my eyes).  One of my goals was to lift the reflection nebula without overbrightening the core, which I feel most deep images of this target do.  It is similar to the Hamburger Galaxy - folks collect enough signal to make the tail visible, but in so doing, make the galaxy a giant fuzzball of light.  The argument is that the dynamic range between the two parts of the image is huge, and if the natural dynamic range is maintained, then the galaxy (or in this case the core flower) must be very bright if the tail (or in this case the cocoon) is bright. However, in my opinion, it makes for a lousy image.  I do wonder how folks get a light brown color for the dust around the cocoon when mine is obviosly blue.  I did not tweak the color at all, so this is what I picked up.. There isn 't a spec of brown dust in the frame. Perhaps the difficulty I found lay in the fact that the data was on the light side, and maybe bunk--I have come to realize I am driving on square tires in that respect.  But I hit this one with every trick in my bag.  I really should collect another 5 hours of lum, which I had intended to do, then  it got cloudy and soon begain to rain.  A week later, its still raining.  So--this is it.  Even if I collected 10 more hours of lum, it might not necessarilly mean a better image.  I have learned that for me, un less the data is very good and/or there is allot of it, its all in the processing.  I would have to start from srcatch to do it right, and getting the new image to look precisely like the former-then improving it, is tough to do..  9/10 I like the original better.

TOA 130 with ASI 1600.  About 19.5 hours of LRGB (4.5 hours of Lum).

[Pompey Monkey]

I'm not very familiar with images of the cocoon, so I am unable to compare with those.

That said, to my eyes you have a good amount of both blue and brown in the halo. It's subtle, but the contrast is certainly there when I look.

Maybe yours is a better representation for being rather less bombastic than the crowd?

[Rodd]

16 hours ago, Pompey Monkey said:

I'm not very familiar with images of the cocoon, so I am unable to compare with those.

That said, to my eyes you have a good amount of both blue and brown in the halo. It's subtle, but the contrast is certainly there when I look.

Maybe yours is a better representation for being rather less bombastic than the crowd?

Ha!  Well put.  There is some of that.  

[Albir phil]

On 05/07/2024 at 15:37, Rodd said:

Lets try this again.  This was without doubt one of the most challenging images I have worked on that is sucessful (at least in my eyes).  One of my goals was to lift the reflection nebula without overbrightening the core, which I feel most deep images of this target do.  It is similar to the Hamburger Galaxy - folks collect enough signal to make the tail visible, but in so doing, make the galaxy a giant fuzzball of light.  The argument is that the dynamic range between the two parts of the image is huge, and if the natural dynamic range is maintained, then the galaxy (or in this case the core flower) must be very bright if the tail (or in this case the cocoon) is bright. However, in my opinion, it makes for a lousy image.  I do wonder how folks get a light brown color for the dust around the cocoon when mine is obviosly blue.  I did not tweak the color at all, so this is what I picked up.. There isn 't a spec of brown dust in the frame. Perhaps the difficulty I found lay in the fact that the data was on the light side, and maybe bunk--I have come to realize I am driving on square tires in that respect.  But I hit this one with every trick in my bag.  I really should collect another 5 hours of lum, which I had intended to do, then  it got cloudy and soon begain to rain.  A week later, its still raining.  So--this is it.  Even if I collected 10 more hours of lum, it might not necessarilly mean a better image.  I have learned that for me, un less the data is very good and/or there is allot of it, its all in the processing.  I would have to start from srcatch to do it right, and getting the new image to look precisely like the former-then improving it, is tough to do..  9/10 I like the original better.

TOA 130 with ASI 1600.  About 19.5 hours of LRGB (4.5 hours of Lum).

Very nice image,I like the nebulosity around it.Images of this object always remind me of pink cotton wool balls 🤗

[ollypenrice]

It's a good image.

The dust surrounding the cocoon does extend into that long, long loop of dust sweeping through the starfield so I wouldn't discard the notion that it might be brown. My own widefield suggests that it's a lot less brown away from the Cocoon, though.

https://www.astrobin.com/full/ebxn53/B/

Olly

[Rodd]

On 06/07/2024 at 13:52, Albir phil said:

Very nice image,I like the nebulosity around it.Images of this object always remind me of pink cotton wool balls 🤗

Thanks Phil.  Yes, I can relate to the cotton ballishness.

[Rodd]

On 07/07/2024 at 04:43, ollypenrice said:

It's a good image.

The dust surrounding the cocoon does extend into that long, long loop of dust sweeping through the starfield so I wouldn't discard the notion that it might be brown. My own widefield suggests that it's a lot less brown away from the Cocoon, though.

https://www.astrobin.com/full/ebxn53/B/

Olly

Thanks Olly.  A strange target.  The dust between the core and the dark tail is green/brown, which I have not picked up.   guess I need more data.  Then again, if the signal is below the sky fog level of my location, all the data in the world won't do much.  It's a hard thing to try due to the number of clear nights I get.  I'll start gang busters on an image with the intention of collection 50 hours so I can get a result like yours.  Then reality sets in around 20 hours, or sometime 15 (even 12), that I would have to wait through two more Moon cycles to finish the darn thing.  Its then I decide to make do with what I have as interest in the target wanes and more interesting (sans "New") targets arrive.  The fact that I felt the same way about the target I am shooting when I started is not lost on me.  

[Hughsie]

Definitely more dust to one side, almost like the Cocoon rolled through the sky. Here’s my attempt;

 

https://www.astrobin.com/t7l9a4/C/?nc=collection&nce=2346

 

[Rodd]

11 minutes ago, Hughsie said:

Definitely more dust to one side, almost like the Cocoon rolled through the sky. Here’s my attempt;

 

https://www.astrobin.com/t7l9a4/C/?nc=collection&nce=2346

 

That is completely different from mine...a perfect example for my initial post.  The reflection nebula around the core in my image is blue, in yours it is brown.  My data was balanced (about 4.5 hours in each of RGB).  I don't understand.

Edited July 8 by Rodd