IC 59 and IC 63

[AstronomyUkraine]

HaRGB image of IC59 and IC63, or also known as the Ghost of Cassiopeia. This is a tricky object to process and I'm not 100% happy with the result, need to work more on the blue reflection.

 

Integration:

 

RGB 5 hours of each filter. 2 min exposures at gain 75.

Ha 10 hours at 5 min exposures. Gain 139.

 

 

 

 

Edited October 5, 2021 by AstronomyUkraine

[TerryMcK]

That big star off screen is always a problem with the Ghost. I believe that is a lot closer to us than the nebula and creates a large halo that is difficult to process out. 

[AstronomyUkraine]

39 minutes ago, TerryMcK said:

That big star off screen is always a problem with the Ghost. I believe that is a lot closer to us than the nebula and creates a large halo that is difficult to process out. 

I deliberately avoided putting that star in the frame. Can just make out a blue halo at the top of the image.

[MarkAR]

It's a cracking start, get more data quick.

 

[AstronomyUkraine]

9 minutes ago, MarkAR said:

It's a cracking start, get more data quick.

 

Thanks Mark. It has 25 hours already, not sure if more data will improve it any. Maybe adding some OIII to the mix might improve the colour a little.

Edited October 5, 2021 by AstronomyUkraine

[paul]

Very nice and good to see some natural RGB in there but the blue is going to be tricky. When you first mentioned it I checked it out on Stellarium, it's bigger than I expected and I can see the framing will be very critical. Where does the halo originate do you think, would a longer dew shield help?

Edited October 5, 2021 by paul

[AstronomyUkraine]

22 minutes ago, paul said:

Very nice and good to see some natural RGB in there but the blue is going to be tricky. When you first mentioned it I checked it out on Stellarium, it's bigger than I expected and I can see the framing will be very critical. Where does the halo originate do you think, would a longer dew shield help?

Thanks Paul. The halo is from gamma Cas, which is the brightest star in Cassiopeia. This causes the blue reflection in the nebula.

Edited October 5, 2021 by AstronomyUkraine

[peter shah]

nicely done

[AstronomyUkraine]

2 hours ago, peter shah said:

nicely done

Thanks Peter.

[AstronomyUkraine]

Had another go at processing IC59. I prefer this version to the original. I mixed the Ha with the red channel in SHO-AIP, to use as the red channel, which resulted in a better balanced image IMO.

 

[TerryMcK]

I like the ethereal look you have obtained in this one Brian. It looks excellent.

[AstronomyUkraine]

2 hours ago, TerryMcK said:

I like the ethereal look you have obtained in this one Brian. It looks excellent.

Thanks Terry. Yeah it looks more like a ghost now.

[Astrobdlbug]

Your SHO-AIP re-process has brought out more contrast/detail in the nebula. The reflection glow in the nebula from gamma Cas is much more apparent in this rendition

I definitely prefer this version

Bryan

[AstronomyUkraine]

22 minutes ago, Astrobdlbug said:

Your SHO-AIP re-process has brought out more contrast/detail in the nebula. The reflection glow in the nebula from gamma Cas is much more apparent in this rendition

I definitely prefer this version

Bryan

Thanks Bryan. The SHO-AIP script is a fantasic tool for mixing Ha with RGB, far better than the NBRGB script.

[MarkAR]

On 10/5/2021 at 5:51 PM, AstronomyUkraine said:

Thanks Mark. It has 25 hours already, not sure if more data will improve it any. Maybe adding some OIII to the mix might improve the colour a little.

Yes, looks like a boost in the blue is needed.

 

[MarkAR]

On 10/6/2021 at 12:45 PM, AstronomyUkraine said:

Had another go at processing IC59. I prefer this version to the original. I mixed the Ha with the red channel in SHO-AIP, to use as the red channel, which resulted in a better balanced image IMO.

 

Wow, l really like this mix.

[AstronomyUkraine]

7 hours ago, MarkAR said:

Wow, l really like this mix.

Thanks Mark. Yeah I think adding the Ha to the red, instead of adding Ha to the RGB in the NGRGB script really helped.

[Padraic M]

Very nice Brian, I really like the colours and the enhanced contrast in that new version. I think it's authentic too as it highlights the Ha red and the blue reflection. Everyone knows that Navi is just there out of frame so I wouldn't worry too much about the blue halo. 

One thought though... do you need to add some RGB stars? I think the star colour is better in the first rendition.

[AstronomyUkraine]

12 minutes ago, Padraic M said:

Very nice Brian, I really like the colours and the enhanced contrast in that new version. I think it's authentic too as it highlights the Ha red and the blue reflection. Everyone knows that Navi is just there out of frame so I wouldn't worry too much about the blue halo. 

One thought though... do you need to add some RGB stars? I think the star colour is better in the first rendition.

Thanks Padraic. The stars are not too good. I keep using Starnet to remove the stars while I play with curves, but it's not doing a great job. I'm seriously looking at the new PS plugin called StarXterminator, but converting the xisf file into tiff, then re-importing back into Pixinsight doesn't appeal to me.

[P Holdsworth]

I'd be more worried from the ghost in version two coming at me ! Really like the colour mix in version two . Great image Brian. 

Cheers Paul

[AstronomyUkraine]

1 hour ago, P Holdsworth said:

I'd be more worried from the ghost in version two coming at me ! Really like the colour mix in version two . Great image Brian. 

Cheers Paul

Thanks Paul. I'd be worried too, if a ghost that size was chasing me. 😂