Witch's Broom Bi-color
Witch's Broom Bi-color
I just finished processing some data I collected in August of the often-photographed celestial celebrity NGC6960, the Western Veil, or Witch's Broom. The result is a bi-color image with purple representing O-III and cyan for H-alpha.
The image acquisition details are here, and you can click on the image below for the full resolution version.
I hope you like it, thanks for checking it out.
The image acquisition details are here, and you can click on the image below for the full resolution version.
I hope you like it, thanks for checking it out.
Andy
Re: Witch's Broom Bi-color
I love the splendid array of blended gasses, Andy. Beautiful job. Twelve hours! Wow!
Tom
Tom
Tom H
"Science knows no country, because knowledge belongs to humanity, and is the torch which illuminates the world. Science is the highest personification of the nation because that nation will remain the first which carries the furthest the works of thought and intelligence." - Louis Pasteur
"Science knows no country, because knowledge belongs to humanity, and is the torch which illuminates the world. Science is the highest personification of the nation because that nation will remain the first which carries the furthest the works of thought and intelligence." - Louis Pasteur
Re: Witch's Broom Bi-color
Awesome Andy,
Great project
BobS
Great project
BobS
Re: Witch's Broom Bi-color
I may be overstating it, but I've only seen photos like that from the Hubble. Amazing !!
Don
Don
"When I was 18, my father was the dumbest man I ever knew.
When I was 21, I could not believe how much he had learned in 3 years." --- Mark Twain
Orion 120mm F/5 Refractor
Celestron 8
Explore Scientific 80 Triplet
Explore Scientific 102 Triplet
Orion 8" Astrograph
When I was 21, I could not believe how much he had learned in 3 years." --- Mark Twain
Orion 120mm F/5 Refractor
Celestron 8
Explore Scientific 80 Triplet
Explore Scientific 102 Triplet
Orion 8" Astrograph
Re: Witch's Broom Bi-color
LOVE IT One of my favorite objects to view, and you nailed it TY for sharing.
Clear skies,
Mark
iOptron CEM25P w/ Tri-pier
CGEM DX
LXD750 w/ CDS #1697
LXD75 w/ #497 autostar Hypertuned
Antares 8" f/5 Newt
Antares 4" f/15 "Vixen Spec" long focus refractor
Orion 4" f/7 ED refractor
Astro-Tech 65mm Quad APO
and so much more
Mark
iOptron CEM25P w/ Tri-pier
CGEM DX
LXD750 w/ CDS #1697
LXD75 w/ #497 autostar Hypertuned
Antares 8" f/5 Newt
Antares 4" f/15 "Vixen Spec" long focus refractor
Orion 4" f/7 ED refractor
Astro-Tech 65mm Quad APO
and so much more
Re: Witch's Broom Bi-color
Andy,
Very nice work! Question: how did you manage to keep the star 52 from over exposing? I suspect it's something in processing...care to share your secrets?
Very nice work! Question: how did you manage to keep the star 52 from over exposing? I suspect it's something in processing...care to share your secrets?
Frank N
Stellarvue 80mm APO, Skyguider Pro, Celestron AVX
"I'm a seeker too. But my dreams aren't like yours. I can't help thinking that somewhere in the universe there has to be something better than man. Has to be"
Taylor in "Planet of the Apes" 1968
Stellarvue 80mm APO, Skyguider Pro, Celestron AVX
"I'm a seeker too. But my dreams aren't like yours. I can't help thinking that somewhere in the universe there has to be something better than man. Has to be"
Taylor in "Planet of the Apes" 1968
Re: Witch's Broom Bi-color
Thanks, Frank. Actually, I think it was simply the narrowband filters that prevented 52 Cygni from being more overexposed. Here are crops from Ha and OIII raw subs. The FWHM is ~9px for the Ha sub and ~7px for the OIII sub.bluemax wrote:Question: how did you manage to keep the star 52 from over exposing? I suspect it's something in processing...care to share your secrets?
Ha (single sub, uncalibrated, stretched)
OIII (single sub, uncalibrated, stretched)
Now here's something interesting... Taking that same OIII sub and only doing a very mild stretch and zoom 2x:
52 Cygni is a double star! I never knew that ... confirmed online that the A/B components of the double star system are separated by 6.1". Cool!
This gives me an idea for Paul's Sirius A/B challenge... maybe try a filter to cut down A's intensity?
Last edited by AndyG on Sun Sep 29, 2013 10:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Andy
Re: Witch's Broom Bi-color
Glad someone reads my challenges LOL.. 52 Cygni A and B are respectively mags 8.5 and 4.2. Doing the calculations for 52 Cygni it recommended splitting it with a 4 - 6 mm EP in the 16inch.
What makes Sirius B (The Pup) so hard is the sheer magnitude of Sirius A which is a staggering -1.5 and Sirius B is 8.2 which in any scope is normally an easy find without Sirius A glare. Believe me when I say I have tried every trick in the book. I tried all the filters including stacking different color filters. I have tried taking a junk eyepiece and putting a black marker dot on the lens inside the barrel and aligning that dot over Sirius A. I have tried covering the barrel half way with black electrical tape and again blocking out Sirius A. The new tricks in Sky and Tel this month along with the pups placement give me hope this time around. I would have never thought of allowing dawn to be the filter to kill the glare of Sirius A. That is ingenious.
One piece of advice I will say is don't go out knowing where B is. Imagine-o-vision kicks in and you will see things that are not there. I also try to do this target with someone else observing with me simply to verify it. We have had past members who were very new to the hobby who clamed to have found it when most who were out on the same night knew it was not possible. Not to mention in the report listed the pup on the wrong side based on the scope they were using.
Just so I wont Hijack the thread, Great image of the Witch's Broom Andy. Always one of my first targets when we are at MSSF or Stellafane.
What makes Sirius B (The Pup) so hard is the sheer magnitude of Sirius A which is a staggering -1.5 and Sirius B is 8.2 which in any scope is normally an easy find without Sirius A glare. Believe me when I say I have tried every trick in the book. I tried all the filters including stacking different color filters. I have tried taking a junk eyepiece and putting a black marker dot on the lens inside the barrel and aligning that dot over Sirius A. I have tried covering the barrel half way with black electrical tape and again blocking out Sirius A. The new tricks in Sky and Tel this month along with the pups placement give me hope this time around. I would have never thought of allowing dawn to be the filter to kill the glare of Sirius A. That is ingenious.
One piece of advice I will say is don't go out knowing where B is. Imagine-o-vision kicks in and you will see things that are not there. I also try to do this target with someone else observing with me simply to verify it. We have had past members who were very new to the hobby who clamed to have found it when most who were out on the same night knew it was not possible. Not to mention in the report listed the pup on the wrong side based on the scope they were using.
Just so I wont Hijack the thread, Great image of the Witch's Broom Andy. Always one of my first targets when we are at MSSF or Stellafane.
Paul...
16" f/5 Night Sky Truss (Midnight Mistress)
10" f/5 Home built Dob with Parks mirror.
Pre-Meade PST
Celestron Skymaster Binos 25-125x80
Meade Travelview Binos 10x50
See that 16" in the sleek black dress? She is all mine. :)
16" f/5 Night Sky Truss (Midnight Mistress)
10" f/5 Home built Dob with Parks mirror.
Pre-Meade PST
Celestron Skymaster Binos 25-125x80
Meade Travelview Binos 10x50
See that 16" in the sleek black dress? She is all mine. :)