Horsehead and Flame Nebulae in NB (JDJ)

Horsehead and Flame Nebulae in NB

Imaged the Horsehead and Flame Nebulae in Orion in narrowband over the course of six nights in February/March 2021. Image was captured using an APO refractor and full spectrum modified DSLR through two dual narrowband (Ha/OIII and SII/OIII) filters. This was my first attempt collecting SII data with the plan of generating some SHO pallette images. I really need to collect more SII data for this target, but at this time of year the available imaging hours are very limited, so a project to continue next year... Presenting the individual narrowband channel data in this post.

Original version = Ha image

Rev B = SII image

Rev C = OIII (from LP3 filter)

Rev D = OIII (from Lenhance filter, interestingly quite different from the LP3 OIII image!)

Imaged with WO GT81 at F4.7 (382 mm focal length) using Flat6A II field flattener/0.8x reducer, Optolong L-Enhance dual narrowband filter (for Ha and OIII) and IDAS NB3 dual narrowband filter (for SII & OIII), and full spectrum modified Nikon D5300. Total integration time of ~11 hours:

Ha/OIII data: 76 subs at ISO400x360 sec

SII/OIII data: 32 subs at ISO400x360 sec

Pre-processed using PixInsight Batch Pre-Processing (BPP) script. Images calibrated using darks, flats, and flat darks. Extracted red/green/blue channels using BatchChannelExtraction script. R and G+B channels registered and stacked using StarAlighment and Integration. R and G+B channels individually post-processed in Pixinsight. Initial processing: Cropped, gradient removal with ABE noise reduction using the EZ Processing Suite for PixInsight EZ Denoise script. Next I performed a masked stretch in PI followed by another round of noise reduction using Topaz Denoise AI. Additional post-processing in Pixinsight: hdr transformation, local histogram transformation, and morphological transformation.

Final
Original
B
C
D

B

Description: SII data (from LP3 filter)

Uploaded: ...

C

Description: OIII data (from LP3 filter)

Uploaded: ...

D

Description: OIII data (from Lenhance filter)

Uploaded: ...

DSLR narrowband
Suburban Astrophotography
Optolong L-eNhance filter
The refractors!
Cloudy Nights

Orion

	Distinct awarded users	Total awarded images
Image of the day
Top picks
Top pick nominations

	Image of the day	Top pick	Top pick nominations	Total submitted
Deep sky
Solar system
Extremely wide field
Star trails
Northern lights
Noctilucent clouds
Landscape

	Image of the day	Top pick	Top pick nominations	Total submitted
Backyard
Traveller
Own remote observatory
Amateur hosting facility
Public amaeteur data
Professional, scientific grade data
Mix of multiple sources
Other
Unknown

Submitted The date and time when you submitted this image for IOTD/TP consideration.	...
Views by Submitters (available since September 19th, 2023) Every image is assigned to 50% of available Submitters. In the event that at least 80% of them don't view the image before its time in the IOTD/TP process expires, it's assigned to the other 50% of Submitters and the process begins anew.
Promotions by Submitters When 3 distinct Submitters promote the image, it moves on to the next stage of the process: evaluation for Top Pick status. This requirement, in addition to anonymization of images and distribution to only a subset of them, prevents biases and ensures that the best images are selected.
Promotions by Reviewers When 3 distinct Reviewers promote the image, it moves on to the next stage of the process: evaluation for IOTD status.
Early dismissal Staff members have a lot of images to inspect on a daily basis, and they can dismiss images if they believe they don't meet the requirements for IOTD/TP selection. If an image is dismissed 5 times, it's removed from the process. This streamlines the process and ensures that any bias present in promotions could be overruled by other staff members.

Status	Advanced success
Started	...
Astrometry.net job	4351606
PixInsight job	2IF8JFHJ3ORHY8I8EJ8XE1TTLGKO3O33
PixInsight queue size	n/a
PixInsight stage	n/a

RA (center)	05h40m56s.79
RA (top/left)	05h45m29s.10
RA (top/right)	05h45m04s.52
RA (bottom/right)	05h36m25s.20
RA (bottom/left)	05h36m48s.76

Dec (center)	-02°22′50″.2
Dec (top/left)	-03°56′47″.6
Dec (top/right)	-00°44′40″.3
Dec (bottom/right)	-00°48′49″.5
Dec (bottom/left)	-04°00′57″.2

Image Index:

Contribution Index (beta):