NGC 281 Pacman Nebula in HOO (Paul Macklin)

Celestial hemisphere: Northern · Constellation: Cassiopeia (Cas) · Contains: HD5005 · IC 1590 · LBN 615 · LBN 616 · NGC 281 · PGC 137305 · PGC 137312 · PGC 137314 · Sh2-184

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NGC 281 Pacman Nebula in HOO

Revision title: Retouched with noiseXTerminator

Powered byPixInsight

NGC 281 Pacman Nebula in HOO

Revision title: Retouched with noiseXTerminator

I was excited to finally get some clear nights to focus on one of my all-time favorite targets: PacMan!

This was shot with OSC, with Ha and [OIII] extracted and recombined in a slightly adjusted HOO(2) palette. I chose to emphasize the Ha a little more than some PacMan nebulas to better emphasize the structures towards the top of the "head," since these can tend to disappear when [OIII] is further emphasized.

I'm excited to have a good rendition in the books, and excited to perhaps revisit it again next summer with improved technique. Please enjoy! :-)

Some notes for my own reference:

In AstroPixelProcessor:
* APP profile: 15% background, 3 sigma, 2.5% base
* HOO details:
* Ha: 1.05 (bg: 1.00)
* [OIII]: 1.0 (bg: 1.1)
* reduce star size by 20%, reduce intensity by 50%

In Photoshop (1):
* auto-levels (black at 25, gamma 1.25)
* linear contrast curve
* vibrance and saturation +20

In Topaz:
* remove noise: 1%
* enhance sharpness: 5%
* original detail: 25%

In Photoshop (2):
* unsharp mask (125%, 3 px radius)
* linear contrast curve
* color: +15, +0, -10.

Original
B
Final
C

B

Title: Zoom and rotate on an interesting region

Description: I'll probably make a Zoom background out of this. :-)

Uploaded: ...

C

Title: Retouched with noiseXTerminator

Uploaded: ...

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Status	Advanced success
Started	...
Astrometry.net job	6792828
PixInsight job	TJ5DR8K17L9NV99BH9AST34B36QKEBA4
PixInsight queue size	n/a
PixInsight stage	TASK_LOG

RA (center)	00h52m53s.145
RA (top/left)	00h55m41s.520
RA (top/right)	00h50m06s.661
RA (bottom/right)	00h50m08s.180
RA (bottom/left)	00h55m36s.867

Dec (center)	+56°37′29″.56
Dec (top/left)	+56°55′28″.89
Dec (top/right)	+56°55′44″.90
Dec (bottom/right)	+56°19′16″.22
Dec (bottom/left)	+56°19′01″.69

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NGC 281 Pacman Nebula in HOO

Revision title: Retouched with noiseXTerminator

NGC 281 Pacman Nebula in HOO

Revision title: Retouched with noiseXTerminator

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NGC 281 Pacman Nebula in HOO

Revision title: Retouched with noiseXTerminator

NGC 281 Pacman Nebula in HOO

Revision title: Retouched with noiseXTerminator

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