This image is made from the same data as my previous image (M16 imaged in SHO). It was a fun little experiment to see how much usable resolution I could squeeze out of my little 80mm refractor imaging at 382mm fl.

One of the most iconic Hubble images is the "Pillars of Creation". This region in the core of the Eagle Nebula shows dark pillars of dust where newborn stars have been formed within. While I can't pull off the resolution and details of Hubble, it is very exciting to "tribute" the iconic image from data collected in my backyard.

Equipment:

OTA: William Optics GT81 w/0.8x reducer (382mm fl at f/4.7)

Mount: Orion Sirius EQ-G (HEQ-5)

Guidescope: Orion 50mm guidescope

Guiding camera: Orion StarShoot Autoguider

Imaging camera: ZWO ASI1600MM-Cool

Accessories:

DeepSkyDad Autofocuser

QHYCCD PoleMaster

Software:

SGP

PHD2

CdC

PixInsight

Acquisition:

Location: Flower Mound, TX for Ha(Bortle 7), Atoka, OK and Ft. Griffin State Historic Park, TX for Oiii and Sii(Bortle 3)

Dates: 5/12/18, 5/26/18, 5/27/18, 6/29/18, 6/30/18, 8/2/18, 8/3/18, 8/6/18

Gain: 200 Offset: 50

Camera temp: -10C

Sii: 36x600" Astrodon 3nm

Ha: 160x300" Astrodon 5nm

Oiii: 37x600" Astrodon 3nm

Total integration time: 25hr 30min

64x darks per calibration (master from library)

30x flats per calibration

200x bias per calibration (master from library)

Preprocessing:

Batch PreProcessing script to generate calibrated images

StarAlignment

LocalNormalization

ImageIntegration

DrizzleIntegration

DynamicCrop each master

DBE each master

Luminance Processing:

Duplicated the master Ha to use as the luminance

Deconvolution

HistogramTransformation bring to non-linear

MultiscaleLinearTransform for sharpening

Preparing separate Sii, Ha, and Oiii linear masters for tonemapping (applied to each master individually):

TGV & MMT noise reduction (via Jon Rista's method)

Removed stars via a StarMask and a few iterations of MMT and MT

Further removed background artifacts with an unmasked MMT

HistogramTransformation to bring to non-linear

Combined prepared Sii, Ha, and Oiii masters with ChannelCombination:

R: Sii

G: Ha

B: Oiii

Tonemap Processing:

Invert>SCNR green>Invert to remove magenta

Several a/b channel CurvesTransformations using ColorMasks to alter the colors to an aesthetically pleasing palette

CurvesTransformation for saturation

Combined Tonemap with Luminance using LRGBCombination

UnsharpMask with a StarMask to harden up the soft stars a tad

CurvesTransformation for slight saturation