16 replies to this topic

[ChristopherBeere]

 

I posted a couple of versions of this one a few months back but wanted to improve it. Basically started from scratch, again. 

 

The goal was to make the background a lot darker and mitigate the chrominance noise from the stretch while still maintaining the pop of the molecular cloud and also retain more of the starfield.

 

The original went deep but the overall aesthetic needed work. 

 

 

Capture :

 

• Shot during the 2019 September Equinox from Tivoli Astro Farm in the Khomas region of Namibia - SQM 22.13
• Modified Canon 6D MKII + Sigma Art 105mm @ f/1.4 on Fornax LightTrack II
• 4 panels each 30 minutes - 60 x 30 second exposures at ISO 1600.
• 10 x 10 second, 10 x 5 second, 10 x 2 second , 10 x 1 second at ISO 1600 for the Trapezium and M42 core data.

 

Processing Workflow :

 

• RawTherapee (Flats, defringe, demosaicing)
• PixInsight (Alignment, Integration, Correction, SCNR)
• Astro Pixel Processor (Mosaic Registration)
• PixInsight (Masked Stretch, Starnet++)
• Photoshop (Layer Management, M42 HDR, Tweaks, Finalisation, RC Starshrink)

[DubbelDerp]

Fantastic! The detail in the dust cloud is incredible. 

[ChristopherBeere]

Thanks Dubbel !!

 

Its such an iconic region of the sky.

 

Ive reprocessed it a lot of times but never get bored trying to squeeze a bit more out of it lol.

[Lord Baltimore]

Incredible. Wonderful colours.

[astrodom]

 Amazing mosaic!  One of the best I have ever seen!  I love the color balance and how you can see all of the nebula's, the flame, horsehead all the way down to the witch head.  Those skies must have been amazing.  Thanks for sharing. 

[j.gardavsky]

Fantastics capture!

 

Some new details, not seen before,

JG

[sunnyday]

very well done. I think this is the first time I see the whole thing. Thank you and well done.

[ChristopherBeere]

 Amazing mosaic!  One of the best I have ever seen!  I love the color balance and how you can see all of the nebula's, the flame, horsehead all the way down to the witch head.  Those skies must have been amazing.  Thanks for sharing. 

Thanks man, glad you like it !

 

Skies were about as good as it gets up top, there was a bit of very low fluff and the extinction wasnt perfect but it hit 22.13 on the SQM 

[wxcloud]

Just a stunning view of a very nice area of the night sky! Fascinating area!

[Gucky]

A wonderful picture! Well done!!

[StuF]

Outstanding 👍

[SandyHouTex]

 

 

I posted a couple of versions of this one a few months back but wanted to improve it. Basically started from scratch, again. 

 

The goal was to make the background a lot darker and mitigate the chrominance noise from the stretch while still maintaining the pop of the molecular cloud and also retain more of the starfield.

 

The original went deep but the overall aesthetic needed work. 

 

 

Capture :

 

• Shot during the 2019 September Equinox from Tivoli Astro Farm in the Khomas region of Namibia - SQM 22.13
• Modified Canon 6D MKII + Sigma Art 105mm @ f/1.4 on Fornax LightTrack II
• 4 panels each 30 minutes - 60 x 30 second exposures at ISO 1600.
• 10 x 10 second, 10 x 5 second, 10 x 2 second , 10 x 1 second at ISO 1600 for the Trapezium and M42 core data.

 

Processing Workflow :

 

• RawTherapee (Flats, defringe, demosaicing)
• PixInsight (Alignment, Integration, Correction, SCNR)
• Astro Pixel Processor (Mosaic Registration)
• PixInsight (Masked Stretch, Starnet++)
• Photoshop (Layer Management, M42 HDR, Tweaks, Finalisation, RC Starshrink)

 

Unbelievably gorgeous.

[Starman27]

Excellent image.

[Bloated Star]

Incredible work indeed!!!

[Kevin_A]

Definitely one of the best I've seen to date..... awesome!

[vnc1218]

Beautiful photo.  Did you use Starnet for star removal while you were processing?

Edited by vnc1218, 12 April 2020 - 11:58 AM.

[ChristopherBeere]

Beautiful photo.  Did you use Starnet for star removal while you were processing?

 

Yes, I use Starnet after the stretch then process the layers separately.

 

Many thanks to everyone for the comments, Im pretty happy with this revision so its very encouraging to get positive feedback.

 

I'm back in the Kalahari next year and plan to shoot a lot more data for this region - to include the Rosette hopefully.