TheSkySearchers

I had 3 straight nights of clear skies so I added another 5 hours each of H-Alpha, OIII, and SII with the NP127 and took some more LRGB with the TV-85 and added it to what I already had. This is a bit over 28 hours of total integration time using the 2 scopes/cameras simultaneously.
Hope ya like it!

Tom

Amazing Tom!

That is a ridiculously cool image Tom!

Man, its beautiful.

Thanks,
Jim

I'm utterly gobsmacked now, Tom. Even more wraith-like nebulosity. It's still the best ground-based image of Horsehead & Flame Nebulas I've ever seen.

More please.

Very impressive! Great work, Tom!!

That looks great, thanks for sharing.
Clear Skies

Fantastic Tom.
Thank you.

Fantastic work.

Lovely lovely image. Curious as to what exposure length and gain you are using? Alnitak is certainly kept in check superbly :-)

Benjamin wrote: ↑Mon Dec 09, 2019 12:35 am Lovely lovely image. Curious as to what exposure length and gain you are using? Alnitak is certainly kept in check superbly :-)

Hey Benjamin, for the NB images I do 1200s subs, for the RGB I do 300s subs, for luminance I do some 20s subs, 180s subs, and 300s subs, then combine them in HDRComposition then use the HDR master in the SHO-AIP Script with the combining luminance feature with the H-Alpha at 100%, the HDRL at 50%, and the SII master at 50%....then process the SHO-AIP L from there.
Hope That Helps and Thanks !!
Tom

Here's the same image (more natural) straight out of Pixinsight without any color correction or saturation boost done with Photoshop. Many might like this one better....I like to up the reds a bit.

As always, beautiful Tom!

Thanks for the detailed reply Tom :-) Is star size and colour (in particular Alnitak) managed through this process (given the different length luminance subs) or are you also removing stars/tone mapping/masking etc.? Is it also the benefit of a CCD camera perhaps over a CMOS camera that helps keep things in check? I’ve had nightmares with Alnitak in particular in case it isn’t obvious! That second image is a cracker too! The wider field is nice and I like that dusty nebulosity below the horsehead.

Benjamin wrote: ↑Mon Dec 09, 2019 8:36 pm Thanks for the detailed reply Tom :-) Is star size and colour (in particular Alnitak) managed through this process (given the different length luminance subs) or are you also removing stars/tone mapping/masking etc.? Is it also the benefit of a CCD camera perhaps over a CMOS camera that helps keep things in check? I’ve had nightmares with Alnitak in particular in case it isn’t obvious! That second image is a cracker too! The wider field is nice and I like that dusty nebulosity below the horsehead.

Hey Benjamin....the answer is YES. A star as bright as Alnitak will really blow out the entire region around it if you just use your regular exposure times. I haven't found any way to "control" a star like that except by using HDRComposition. I'm not sure what processing program you're using, but Pixinsight is a very powerful tool and my "bread and butter" processing program (I do use photoshop to do some tweaking and color correction). I think they still offer a 30 day trial subscription and then it's like $200 USD for life....which I don't think is a bad deal at all! The exposure times are critical to controlling the really bright stars. To get Alnitak to not be blown out you would need to take 15 or 20s exposures...of course with those short exposure times you wouldn't get any nebulosity......that's where HDRComposition excels. You take 50 or 100 exposures of say 15s and then take exposures of 300-600s and combine the two masters. The resulting image will look like Alnitak is still blown out but then you use this other magical tool called HDRMultiscale Transform and BOOM Alnitak is controlled and the nebulosity from your longer exposures is intact!! You can do all this with a DSLR or CCD (I used to use a Canon 60Da with great results....but a CCD gives you a bit more processing control and, of course, more sensitivity). Anyway, sorry for the long rambling explanation, hope it helps!!
Thanks Again !!
Tom

Brilliant! I use PixInsight already so know exactly what you mean. I’m just reprocessing M42 as an HDR image (have 10s, 30s, 60s, 120s LRGB subs) so am getting on top of that workflow. Did you integrate the really long subs (1200s) in the HDR workflow, or are these processed as starless images to work on the nebulosity ? So many more questions but maybe I’ll just go and explore a bit in the hope of getting close to your wonderful image :-) Again many thanks for sharing the workflow.

Benjamin wrote: ↑Tue Dec 10, 2019 7:36 pm Brilliant! I use PixInsight already so know exactly what you mean. I’m just reprocessing M42 as an HDR image (have 10s, 30s, 60s, 120s LRGB subs) so am getting on top of that workflow. Did you integrate the really long subs (1200s) in the HDR workflow, or are these processed as starless images to work on the nebulosity ? So many more questions but maybe I’ll just go and explore a bit in the hope of getting close to your wonderful image :-) Again many thanks for sharing the workflow.

Benjamin, you are most welcome!! I don't process the 1200s NB images in the HDR workflow....BUT if you have the MultiChannel Synthesis Script, you can process the luminance (if you're using a DSLR process the RGB and Luminance separately) as an HDRComposition then use it in the Script as one of the luminance components and then add your H-Alpha data (if you have that capability) to make a combined Luminance.
Tom

Using a ZWO ASI1600MM-Pro with Astrodon LRGB and 5nm Ha, 3nm O3 and 3nm S2. The multichannel script sounds great. Don’t have Ha for M42 but will collect some for the Horsehead and will give that a go (previously combined Ha, OIII and S2 in a combined luminance but just used pixel math). Again that’s some great advice and much appreciated!