Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Cassiopeia (Cas)  ·  Contains:  HD5005  ·  IC 1590  ·  LBN 615  ·  LBN 616  ·  NGC 281  ·  Sh2-184
Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
NGC281 (Pacman Nebula), Ben Hayes
Powered byPixInsight

NGC281 (Pacman Nebula)

Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
NGC281 (Pacman Nebula), Ben Hayes
Powered byPixInsight

NGC281 (Pacman Nebula)

Equipment

Loading...

Acquisition details

Loading...

Description

A combination of 123 x 300sec narrowband frames collected using an Optolong L-Extreme filter and 83 x 60sec broadband frames collected using an UV-IR Cut filter.  The Full Width Half Maximum (FWHM) of the stars was 4.52 pixels and Eccentricity (Ec was 50.2%) for the narrowband image.  Below is what the narrowband image looked like while still in the linear phase, after (1) background gradients were removed using GraXpertAI, (2) the image was resampled downward 2x and astrometric solution/plate solving re-computed, (3) colors were calibrated using PixInsight's Spectral Photometric Color Calibration (SPCC) tool, and (4) deconvolution was performed using BlurXTerminator using the following settings: (sharpen stars = 0%,  halo adjustment = 0%, PSF = 4.52, and "Correct Only" selected).  

Revision (A) is rendered using a S-H-O color palette, using the new NarrowbandNormalization script written for PixInsight by Mike Payne and Bill Blanchan to recolor the stretched starless image.  As easy as this script is to use, I am still struggling to find visually pleasing results.  I need to study their documentation and experiment with it more.  Right now,  my yellows and golds appear too olive and brown, but when I try to adjust it in curves or worse yet, by applying SCNR, I just seem to make it worse!  Anyway, I welcome your tips, criticism, and suggestions.  

Please note that this is a 100% false S-H-O color rendition, since no light in the sulfur (S) spectrum was collected.  The L-Extreme filter allows only Ha and Oiii to pass.  I just like the colors of the S-H-O a little better than Revision (C), which is the more tradition H-O-O rendering where Ha is red and Oiii is blue.  

I don't know if something is wrong with me or not, but I still like the traditional red and white H-O renditions more than the HOO and HSO hubble palette renditions.   I can see why many people have become "bored" with the red/white and crave for more colors and even rainbow effect in their images.  And I like their work.  It's just that my attempts to do the same are lousy.   I also understand how the Oiii signal is often diminished and sometimes indistinguishable in traditional red/white renditions.  That's why I chose it for this NGC281 image, because it definitely show the pillars and tendrils of dust protruding inward and the blues and whites accentuates the nebulosity in the center.   

NGC281 (Pacman Nebula) Linear GraXpert+SPCC+BXT (4.52PSF - Correct Only).png

Comments

Revisions

  • Final
    NGC281 (Pacman Nebula), Ben Hayes
    Original
  • NGC281 (Pacman Nebula), Ben Hayes
    B
  • NGC281 (Pacman Nebula), Ben Hayes
    C

B

Description: Same as original (Revision A, rendered in S-H-O color palette), but with acquisition details added at the bottom of the image

Uploaded: ...

C

Title: Same as Revision A, but rendered in the more traditional H-O-O color palette, which better represents the Ha and Oiii data.

Uploaded: ...

Sky plot

Sky plot

Histogram

NGC281 (Pacman Nebula), Ben Hayes

In these public groups

Cloudy Nights