Valentine Rose (Sh2-174) (estabrook)

Valentine Rose (Sh2-174)

Valentine Rose (Sh2-174). This image, one of my most ambitious projects, took over 30 hours to capture. It took another 30 hours to process before I finally settled on a version I liked (after well over 30 attempts). It still could use more time--I'm a little surprised to see that 30 hours was not quite enough to brute-force my way through my Bortle 8 light pollution to a clean and smooth image--but it is a marked improvement over the version I processed (but opted not to share here) after 15 hours. I was particularly happy to see that I captured some hydrogen gas on the nebula's outskirts--though I initially mistook it for gradient and tried to eliminate it! Glad to add this to my planetary nebula collection.

(Captured: Askar FRA500, AM5, ASI183MC Pro, Optolong L-eNhance Filter, Optolong UV/IR Filter. Processed: AstroPixelProcessor, PixInsight, StarXterminator, NoiseXterminator, Blanshan/Cranfield Star Reduction Script)

BU

Description: For fun, I applied the Blanshan/Cranfield Narrowband Normalization process in PixInsight. Looks good!

Uploaded: ...

BX

Description: This version sports a slightly brighter look, which more fully exposes the hydrogen gas.

Uploaded: ...

BZ

Description: Perhaps a little too much noise reduction!

Uploaded: ...

CN

Description: Because I'm still not quite satisfied with this image, I completely reprocessed it. This time, in an attempt to get a somewhat more "natural" look, I adopted a "less is more" approach. I gave it a gentler stretch and generally used fewer tools and took fewer steps. (I took the same approach with the stars). In the end, this version has a little less noise, but at the price of the surrounding Ha. There are always tradeoffs!

Uploaded: ...

NOVAC
Optolong L-eNhance filter
ZWO ASIAIR PRO USERS
The OSC Club (One Shot Camera)
ZWO ASI183/QHY183
Light Polluted skies
Virginia Astronomers and Astrophotographers

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Status	Advanced success
Started	...
Astrometry.net job	8849225
PixInsight job	VNA6LPYEGBPH6RYTTBX3LQEGWI7DXIQ1
PixInsight queue size	n/a
PixInsight stage	TASK_LOG

RA (center)	23h46m50s.455
RA (top/left)	23h33m28s.842
RA (top/right)	23h38m17s.460
RA (bottom/right)	00h00m57s.650
RA (bottom/left)	23h54m29s.856

Dec (center)	+80°56′16″.59
Dec (top/left)	+80°40′05″.14
Dec (top/right)	+81°26′17″.90
Dec (bottom/right)	+81°10′32″.80
Dec (bottom/left)	+80°25′35″.14

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