AP Processing Challenge No. 11 - The Helix Nebula

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AP Processing Challenge No. 11 - The Helix Nebula

#1

Post by Graeme1858 »


Welcome to AP Processing Challenge No. 11

Yobbo89 (Rob) has submitted his narrow band capture of NGC 7293, the Helix Nebula.

Wikipedia: The Helix Nebula (also known as NGC 7293 or Caldwell 63) is a planetary nebula located in the constellation Aquarius. Discovered by Karl Ludwig Harding, probably before 1824, this object is one of the closest to the Earth of all the bright planetary nebulae. The distance, measured by the Gaia mission, is 655±13 light-years. It is similar in appearance to the Cat's Eye Nebula and the Ring Nebula, whose size, age, and physical characteristics are similar to the Dumbbell Nebula, varying only in its relative proximity and the appearance from the equatorial viewing angle. The Helix Nebula has sometimes been referred to as the "Eye of God" in pop culture, as well as the "Eye of Sauron".

Just click the link below to download and process Rob's image using your preferred software and methods.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/ ... sp=sharing

This is Rob's original posting:

viewtopic.php?f=66&t=11924&p=101487&hil ... bo#p101241

AP Processing Challenge No. 11 starts today and ends on the 30th November.

Please keep the submissions coming in for future challenges. Just send a PM to a Mod or an email to:

tssapchallenge@theskysearchers.com

And don't forget Challenge No 10 is still running. If you haven't already, have a go at processing Bobharmony's capture of M33, The Triangulum Galaxy.


Have fun!

Regards

Graeme
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Re: AP Processing Challenge No. 11 - The Helix Nebula

#2

Post by Graeme1858 »


Opened in Gimp as layers.
Ha converted to RGB. Oiii and Nii already RGB.
Curves stretched, Levels cropped (is that the right word?)
Nii Colour Balanced with Red shadows and mid tones increased.
Oiii Colour Balanced with Green shadows and mid tones increased.
Na Colour Balanced with Blue shadows and mid tones increased.
Nii Opacity at 75%. Oiii Opacity at 75%.
Ha stretched some more but still not enough Blue!
Sharpened (Unsharp mask)

Image

I could have played with this for a lot longer to try changing the order of layers and levels of opacity but I thought I'd post it up and ask if there is a set formula for that? Or is it experience, intuition and natural ability!

Comments please.

Regards

Graeme
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Re: AP Processing Challenge No. 11 - The Helix Nebula

#3

Post by Graeme1858 »


That might be Nii Colour Balanced with Green and Oiii Colour Balanced with Red. I shut down Gimp before I made a note!
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Re: AP Processing Challenge No. 11 - The Helix Nebula

#4

Post by yobbo89 »


Very nice, you might get better colour balance with some blending or just doing a Bi colour image with two of the 3 mono sets. My retailer wrote up an article on the nii filter I'll link it when I get some time free. There is a 10% leakage of nii in the ha and 13% ha in the nii filter, apparently pixelmaths in pi can superate the data to show more distinct details. It seems every target has slightly different amounts of nii and the separation is a little better but still can be improved with pixel maths. One of the more distinct targets I imaged was the dumbbell nebula and Carina, it's very subtel in the helix.
scopes :gso/bintel f4 12"truss tube, bresser messier ar127s /skywatcher 10'' dob,meade 12'' f10 lx200 sct
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mounts : eq6 pro/eq8/mesu 200 v2
filters : 2'' astronomik lp/badder lrgb h-a,sII,oIII,h-b,Baader Solar Continuum, chroma 3nm ha,sii,oiii,nii,rgb,lowglow,uv/ir,Thousand Oaks Solar Filter,1.25'' #47 violet,pro planet 742 ir,pro planet 807 ir,pro planet 642 bp ir.
extras : skywatcher f4 aplanatic cc, Baader MPCC MKIII Coma Corrector,Orion Field Flattener,zwo 1.25''adc.starlight maxi 2" 9x filter wheel,tele vue 2x barlow .

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Re: AP Processing Challenge No. 11 - The Helix Nebula

#5

Post by Graeme1858 »


I'll try that.

So, is there a convention for which layer goes on top with opacity reduced?

Regards

Graeme
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Re: AP Processing Challenge No. 11 - The Helix Nebula

#6

Post by yobbo89 »


scopes :gso/bintel f4 12"truss tube, bresser messier ar127s /skywatcher 10'' dob,meade 12'' f10 lx200 sct
cameras : asi 1600mm-c/asi1600mm-c,asi120mc,prostar lp guidecam, nikkon d60, sony a7,asi 290 mm
mounts : eq6 pro/eq8/mesu 200 v2
filters : 2'' astronomik lp/badder lrgb h-a,sII,oIII,h-b,Baader Solar Continuum, chroma 3nm ha,sii,oiii,nii,rgb,lowglow,uv/ir,Thousand Oaks Solar Filter,1.25'' #47 violet,pro planet 742 ir,pro planet 807 ir,pro planet 642 bp ir.
extras : skywatcher f4 aplanatic cc, Baader MPCC MKIII Coma Corrector,Orion Field Flattener,zwo 1.25''adc.starlight maxi 2" 9x filter wheel,tele vue 2x barlow .

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Re: AP Processing Challenge No. 11 - The Helix Nebula

#7

Post by Ruud »


My approach was a lot like Graeme's above, but I tone mapped the images before combining them. Also I used Photoshop instead of GIMP.

The tone mapping was done with Topaz Adjust. I'm sure it brought out non-existing details, but I'm afraid to check it against the HST's images of this target.

So I botched it, but I did enjoy the challenge (actually, deep inside I feel the Helix nebula should look like this).

Thank you Rob and Graeme!

Click for a larger view
Ruud - Challenge 11.png
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Re: AP Processing Challenge No. 11 - The Helix Nebula

#8

Post by yobbo89 »


very nice , you have some good inner detail ,topaz lab denoise ?
scopes :gso/bintel f4 12"truss tube, bresser messier ar127s /skywatcher 10'' dob,meade 12'' f10 lx200 sct
cameras : asi 1600mm-c/asi1600mm-c,asi120mc,prostar lp guidecam, nikkon d60, sony a7,asi 290 mm
mounts : eq6 pro/eq8/mesu 200 v2
filters : 2'' astronomik lp/badder lrgb h-a,sII,oIII,h-b,Baader Solar Continuum, chroma 3nm ha,sii,oiii,nii,rgb,lowglow,uv/ir,Thousand Oaks Solar Filter,1.25'' #47 violet,pro planet 742 ir,pro planet 807 ir,pro planet 642 bp ir.
extras : skywatcher f4 aplanatic cc, Baader MPCC MKIII Coma Corrector,Orion Field Flattener,zwo 1.25''adc.starlight maxi 2" 9x filter wheel,tele vue 2x barlow .

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Re: AP Processing Challenge No. 11 - The Helix Nebula

#9

Post by yobbo89 »


This was from the original proccess i did awhile back, it's the ha and nii data as nii-ha-ha for rgb

a very small difference between the spectrums , i hope to learn how to do that pixel maths for the ha and nii data.

viewtopic.php?f=66&t=11915&p=101254&hil ... ii#p101254


it's very strange, it shows the outline of the radial spikes where the oiii should be but theres no oiii data just a shadow of it .
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nii-nii-ha-ha.jpg
scopes :gso/bintel f4 12"truss tube, bresser messier ar127s /skywatcher 10'' dob,meade 12'' f10 lx200 sct
cameras : asi 1600mm-c/asi1600mm-c,asi120mc,prostar lp guidecam, nikkon d60, sony a7,asi 290 mm
mounts : eq6 pro/eq8/mesu 200 v2
filters : 2'' astronomik lp/badder lrgb h-a,sII,oIII,h-b,Baader Solar Continuum, chroma 3nm ha,sii,oiii,nii,rgb,lowglow,uv/ir,Thousand Oaks Solar Filter,1.25'' #47 violet,pro planet 742 ir,pro planet 807 ir,pro planet 642 bp ir.
extras : skywatcher f4 aplanatic cc, Baader MPCC MKIII Coma Corrector,Orion Field Flattener,zwo 1.25''adc.starlight maxi 2" 9x filter wheel,tele vue 2x barlow .

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Re: AP Processing Challenge No. 11 - The Helix Nebula

#10

Post by Ruud »


yobbo89 wrote: Tue Nov 03, 2020 2:11 pm very nice , you have some good inner detail ,topaz lab denoise ?
The tone mapping (Topaz Adjust) brought up the detail, but I had to use Denoise too because Adjust amplified the noise as well as the detail. The gradients got worse too. Those I fixed with the burn tool of Photoshop.

This is part of the green layer (Ha)
Ha green.png
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Re: AP Processing Challenge No. 11 - The Helix Nebula

#11

Post by Gordon »


Just playing....

StarTools.
NewComposite.jpg
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Re: AP Processing Challenge No. 11 - The Helix Nebula

#12

Post by Graeme1858 »


Nice one Gordon. You have brought out the nebulosity on both sides of the eye!

Regards

Graeme
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Re: AP Processing Challenge No. 11 - The Helix Nebula

#13

Post by bobharmony »


My StarTools result. Mapped Oiii to blue, Ha to green, Nii to red and lum. Processed with Autodev, Crop ( to keep the large file from killing my PC), Wipe, AutoDev with ROI, color, decon, HDR, Life and noise reduction. What a great data set to work with! Rob, did you drizzle the data to get the large files?
Helix SHO.jpg
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Re: AP Processing Challenge No. 11 - The Helix Nebula

#14

Post by yobbo89 »


Very good Gordon and Bob
scopes :gso/bintel f4 12"truss tube, bresser messier ar127s /skywatcher 10'' dob,meade 12'' f10 lx200 sct
cameras : asi 1600mm-c/asi1600mm-c,asi120mc,prostar lp guidecam, nikkon d60, sony a7,asi 290 mm
mounts : eq6 pro/eq8/mesu 200 v2
filters : 2'' astronomik lp/badder lrgb h-a,sII,oIII,h-b,Baader Solar Continuum, chroma 3nm ha,sii,oiii,nii,rgb,lowglow,uv/ir,Thousand Oaks Solar Filter,1.25'' #47 violet,pro planet 742 ir,pro planet 807 ir,pro planet 642 bp ir.
extras : skywatcher f4 aplanatic cc, Baader MPCC MKIII Coma Corrector,Orion Field Flattener,zwo 1.25''adc.starlight maxi 2" 9x filter wheel,tele vue 2x barlow .

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Re: AP Processing Challenge No. 11 - The Helix Nebula

#15

Post by Gordon »


As soon as I'm done doing my morning forum checks and fixes, I will try playing with using different filtered images for color effect.
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Scopes: Explore Scientific ED80CF, Skywatcher 200 Quattro Imaging Newt, SeeStar S50 for EAA.
Mounts: Orion Atlas EQ-g mount & Skywatcher EQ5 Pro.
ZWO mini guider.
Image cameras: ZWO ASI1600 MM Cool, ZWO ASI533mc-Pro, ZWO ASI174mm-C (for use with my Quark chromosphere), ZWO ASI120MC
Filters: LRGB, Ha 7nm, O-III 7nm, S-II 7nm
Eyepieces: a few.
Primary software: Cartes du Ciel, N.I.N.A, StarTools V1.4.

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Re: AP Processing Challenge No. 11 - The Helix Nebula

#16

Post by Gordon »


HOS version:

StarTools
HOS version.jpg
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Scopes: Explore Scientific ED80CF, Skywatcher 200 Quattro Imaging Newt, SeeStar S50 for EAA.
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Filters: LRGB, Ha 7nm, O-III 7nm, S-II 7nm
Eyepieces: a few.
Primary software: Cartes du Ciel, N.I.N.A, StarTools V1.4.

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Re: AP Processing Challenge No. 11 - The Helix Nebula

#17

Post by Gordon »


How about HOO?

StarTools

HOO.jpg
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Scopes: Explore Scientific ED80CF, Skywatcher 200 Quattro Imaging Newt, SeeStar S50 for EAA.
Mounts: Orion Atlas EQ-g mount & Skywatcher EQ5 Pro.
ZWO mini guider.
Image cameras: ZWO ASI1600 MM Cool, ZWO ASI533mc-Pro, ZWO ASI174mm-C (for use with my Quark chromosphere), ZWO ASI120MC
Filters: LRGB, Ha 7nm, O-III 7nm, S-II 7nm
Eyepieces: a few.
Primary software: Cartes du Ciel, N.I.N.A, StarTools V1.4.

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Re: AP Processing Challenge No. 11 - The Helix Nebula

#18

Post by Graeme1858 »


The colours in the HOO are really striking!

Regards

Graeme
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Re: AP Processing Challenge No. 11 - The Helix Nebula

#19

Post by andrewsscope »


Hi all I had an attempt with the data,I processed in astronomy tools and combined Rgb and used Ha as red,o3 as green,the other in blue.I used Vertical and horizontal removal in the software.I adjusted using curves a few times to bring out the detail,shadow and highlights in Adobe cs2.This is the final image that I finished and thanks for the data as gives me more practice using different software.
helix4.jpg
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Re: AP Processing Challenge No. 11 - The Helix Nebula

#20

Post by Graeme1858 »


Nice one Andy.

The range of colours in the various submissions in this thread is amazing!

Regards

Graeme
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