bill w
Postmaster
Reged: 03/26/05
Loc: southern california
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was going to post this yesterday, but i've never seen so many new posts, so i thought i'd give it a day. here's a technicolor monkey:
SHO (click for linked text for full size)
SHO uncorrected stars
starless
simulated RGB (with narrowband liberties) individual ddp then Ha+SII OIIIxHa+OIII OIII(80)+Ha(20):
Ha
monkey head orientation
SII-OIII-Ha comparison: <blink>blinking monkey</blink>
FS102@f/6, astrodon 5nm Ha,OIII 3nm SII filters, SX H9
Ha 32x20 min, OIII 33x20 min, SII 43x20 min
Jan 5,9,23-25, Feb 2,3,7,8,10,12,13 2010
los alamitos, ca
calibrated, combined, color balanced (113 13 70), ddp, curve, local adaptive filter (boosts contrast in low contrast areas) in maxim. then to PS for Noel's DSN reduction, high pass filter, light layering of Ha as luminance with saturation adjustment all applied with a layer mask. star color adjusted using a simulated RGB version and JP's star removal action, a few hot pixels stomped, Ha applied in darken mode with inverted layer mask to remove OIII and SII gradients.
debated the orientation of this one. i preferred the pillars at the bottom, appearing to rise up (north to right i think). rather than north up or the "monkey" orientation.
the large circular SII (orange) region in the center keeps drawing my attention. i'm used to seeing preferential SII highlights (compared to Ha) in pillars, but not in more diffuse structures like this. it almost seems like a seperate nebula that's superimposed (is this how arp started?). or perhaps we're looking into a pillar end-on
ps forgot to mention this is my first image completely acquired with CCD commander. one night i set the scope up, set the timer, went out to dinner, returned home to find the scope up and running. the meridian flip is still a bit dicey, but it was nice to get a reliable refocus every hour.
Edited by bill w (03/09/10 01:38 AM)
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Rick J
Post Laureate
Reged: 03/01/08
Loc: Mantrap Lake, MN
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You really put the time into this beauty!
Besides this being a great series two things hit me. One you had more clear nights for this object than I've had since September -- That's not fair, I'm taking my scope and going home. Never mind, I'm already home that's the problem (fog, drizzle, ice pellets etc tonight). The other is that you only need to refocus every hour. I have to after every 10 minute frame. Not sure if its the scope or the rate my temperature drops. I can usually get by refocusing every hour if I used the correct temperature curve for the RoboFocuser's temperature compensation. Since the focus seems to lag the temp drop more when dropping fast I have to guess how fast it will drop and pick the curve for that. Get it wrong and the image suffers. Sure wish they made carbon fiber tubes for this scope!
With the monkey on his face I hardly recognized it. I seem to see different features with every 90 degrees of rotation. Odd how the brain does that. Considering there's no such thing as up out there I suppose any orientation, other than a mirrored one, is "correct". Mirrored ones really scrape a nerve for some reason.
Rick
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elbee
sage
Reged: 05/02/09
Loc: Arizona
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extraordinary, bill. stunning.
timing is everything. what is becoming more obvious to me is these truly exceptional images take great patience. thanks for sharing.
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mnaf
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 01/03/06
Loc: Bay Area, CA
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Wow, Bill.
That's stunning - another tremendous 3-D effect image.
I'm sensing that you're really enjoying that SII filter.
I'm also glad you got it - your images are worth waiting for.
Seriously.....~40 hrs??
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bill w
Postmaster
Reged: 03/26/05
Loc: southern california
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thanks for the kind comments
it's only a day and a half mike
despite that, my SII is still noisy and OIII has gradients
will consider less Ha exposure and a narrower OIII filter
if it's any consolation the month and a half it took to collect this image was followed by several weeks of torrential rain including floods and tornadoes during a new moon...
rick, don't forget, you get more signal in an hour than i get in 24 which is why you're still processing data from july 
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Malcolm Park
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 04/27/08
Loc: London, UK
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Beautiful image, and really great processing.
Malcolm
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J.P.M
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 11/14/06
Loc: 65"01'N25"47'E
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Stunning work!
One of the very best images from this target I have ever seen. Congratulations.
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Chris.Baron
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 12/17/06
Loc: Oakville Ontario Canada
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Bill, I am floored at how good this looks. I too am quite jealous of your weather and would quite happily take the odd torrential downpour for what looks like nearly a solid month of clarity
Not only have you put in enough time on ths one to make most imagers cringe in fear, you've clearly become a processing monster.
Extremely well done sir.
Cheers,
Chris
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David Pavlich
Transmographied
Reged: 05/18/05
Loc: Mandeville, LA USA
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Really terrific image, Bill!!
David
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Bill W.
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 10/09/05
Loc: Western PA, USA
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Great looking image bill!
-Bill
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budguinn
Post Laureate
Reged: 11/24/04
Loc: Gold Beach, Or
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beautiful, and I like all of the versions.
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Ted W
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 06/30/05
Loc: 42.13N 71.90W
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Outstanding Bill!
And as usual, a great description of process, which I always find very helpful - thanks!
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bill w
Postmaster
Reged: 03/26/05
Loc: southern california
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thanks for the comments
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yock1960
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 06/22/08
Loc: Ohio, USA
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Good one Bill! Reminds me a little of the Lagoon. I'll put this one one the 'todo' list, at least it gets nice and high, unlike the Lagoon!
Steve
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Mark Sibole
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 11/30/07
Loc: Fife Lake Mi.
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Thought I replied to this already.
Nicely done.
I may re visit this someday.
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Ginge
super member
Reged: 03/27/08
Loc: Oslo/Norway
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Fantastic Bill! Do you use the star removal action as it is or have you modified it?
Ginge
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HrAstro
professor emeritus
Reged: 12/24/06
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fantastic!
how to create starless version?
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Ginge
super member
Reged: 03/27/08
Loc: Oslo/Norway
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HrAstro: J-P has made a pdf explaning that and his Tone-mapping technique on his web-site here.
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SGT500
Post Laureate
Reged: 10/03/06
Loc: Sarasota, Florida
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Bill
Awesome shot! I think i like the Simulated color version. the reds and blues are stunning.
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HrAstro
professor emeritus
Reged: 12/24/06
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Quote:
J-P has made a pdf explaning that and his Tone-mapping technique on his web-site here.
thanks
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