Skipper Billy

The Horsehead Nebula and Flame Nebula (Barnard 33 and NGC2024) - 7 hours of Ha data gathered on 12th Feb. and 40 mins each of RGB binned 2x2 under terrible conditions - (full moon and wispy high cloud) on 1st March. Nearly didn't bother processing it but the quality of the HA data hides the poor quality of the RGB.

Well done - tough one to image - I have never had any success on that target.

Well done - you should be proud of that!!!

Very elegant light touch processing - well done - you should be proud of that!!

Thanks Gina - it was a bit of an experiment really before the target disappears from view for the season.

I used starnet++ to remove all the stars and create a star mask. Then in Photoshop repaired all the holes left by the star haloes using clone stamp (very time consuming) - then processed the stars to make them tighter and brighter then blended the two images back together.

Lovely image. Well done.

Bloated stars fixed .....

Thanks for that Bryan - I am always open to feedback ! I never use deconvolution - for two reasons - firstly I have never managed to get a result that I am happy with - it always seems to make the image dull and flat. Secondly its the one process that to me identifies it as processed in Pixinsight! I still have work to do on the stars - its something i always struggle with and I will try your very helpful suggestions. Thanks again. Watch this space!!!

M42 and NGC1977 - The Orion Nebula and the Running Man Nebula. Imaged 10th Feb 2021. 3 hours Luminance in 600 second subs binned 1x1. 45 mins each of RGB in 120 second subs binned 2x2. 4" frac and Atik mono camera. Processed in Pixinsight with a full set of calibration files.

A clear night forecast for the Scottish Highlands tomorrow - no moon - no wind but -14 degrees. I may need a light fleece!

NGC 2174 - The Monkeys Head Nebula. 5 hours Ha in 1200 sec subs binned 1x1 from a couple of weeks ago and 3 hours OIII in 600 second subs binned 1x1 from last night. The OIII was weak and sketchy and it clouded over before I had as much data as I really wanted. If its clear again tonight I will grab a few more hours of OIII and reprocess it as I had to push the OIII really hard (too hard). Or I might image it in SII and make a 'Hubble' pallet image.

77% waxing gibbous Moon - imaged with a DSLR and ED72 scope on a Star Adventurer. 50 photographs RAW format. Stacked the best 75% and processed in Photoshop. ISO 100 1/1200 sec.

Its a target that I think looks better in BB than NB - bit of an experiment really as it wasn't fully clear as well as a bright moon!