Celestial hemisphere:  Southern  ·  Constellation: Sagittarius (Sgr)  ·  Contains:  Lagoon Nebula  ·  M 8  ·  NGC 6523  ·  NGC 6526  ·  NGC 6530  ·  The star 7Sgr  ·  The star 9Sgr
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M8, Lagoon  Nebula, HαRGB and HαRRGB, 2 Aug 2014, David Dearden
M8, Lagoon  Nebula, HαRGB and HαRRGB, 2 Aug 2014
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M8, Lagoon Nebula, HαRGB and HαRRGB, 2 Aug 2014

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Description

I tried both the HαRGB and HαRRGB methods from Starizona for combining Hα and RGB data. Processing details are in the 2 Aug Hα and 30 Jul RGB uploads. At least for this image, I think I prefer the HαRRGB result, which preserves more of the dim stars. The HαRGB does preserve more nebular detail, but looks overprocessed to me. The C revision is a modification of Starizona's HαRGB to show a few more stars while still bringing up nebular detail, with some adjustment to saturation and local contrast enhancement at the end, followed by "less crunchy more fuzzy." I think I like this best now. On second thought, I still favor the HαRRGB result (B).

In the D revision I have tried to preserve details in the core (by using a layer mask) while still bringing up nebular detail and contrast by using a combined HαR image for luminance. I did local contrast enhancement at the end to try to bring out the Bok globules a bit more.

In the E revision I have tried to preserve details in the core by using a layered HDR:core reveal and HDR:optimize image for the RGB. This does preserve the core fairly well, but leaves a lot of yellow in the central nebula that does not process out easily. Still, I think E is better than D.

The F revision is what I got using StarTools to do the combination. It looks a lot like Starizona Method 2 but I think it retains even more of the Hα information, at the expense of wiping out a lot of the stars and some funny colors. I guess I could desaturate to tone them down a bit.

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Revisions

  • M8, Lagoon  Nebula, HαRGB and HαRRGB, 2 Aug 2014, David Dearden
    Original
  • M8, Lagoon  Nebula, HαRGB and HαRRGB, 2 Aug 2014, David Dearden
    B
  • M8, Lagoon  Nebula, HαRGB and HαRRGB, 2 Aug 2014, David Dearden
    C
  • M8, Lagoon  Nebula, HαRGB and HαRRGB, 2 Aug 2014, David Dearden
    D
  • Final
    M8, Lagoon  Nebula, HαRGB and HαRRGB, 2 Aug 2014, David Dearden
    E
  • M8, Lagoon  Nebula, HαRGB and HαRRGB, 2 Aug 2014, David Dearden
    F

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M8, Lagoon  Nebula, HαRGB and HαRRGB, 2 Aug 2014, David Dearden