bnw12
Iris Nebula and surrounding dark nebulae
Fujifilm X-T10, Samyang 135mm f/2.0 @ f2.0, ISO 1600, 54 x 60 sec, tracking with iOptron SkyTracker Pro, stacking with DeepSkyStacker, editing in GIMP, taken Aug. 26 under Bortle 2/3 skies.
I'm somewhat, not completely happy, with this one. Pulling out the dark nebulae and dust among all of the stars, with a not-completely-flat field and a light pollution gradient from shooting fairly low, was tricky.
I plan to shoot this extent again 1) when it is higher in the sky later this year, 2) possibly with 90 sec subs instead of 60 sec (although tracking was spot on with a 90% keeper rate at 60 sec), and 3) I might experiment with PixInsight to better emphasize the dark nebulae while deemphasizing the stars.
April 26 update: Cropped
Aug 8 update: Reprocessed using raw instead of out-of-camera jpeg. Definitely some advantages to using raw.
Aug 26 update: Reimaged when closer to zenith, 54 x 60 sec this time, the two versions are extremely similar (so I just replaced the older with this one) although this one has the edge in that dust cloud representation is more accurate. Processing with this cleaner data was much easier, and involved much less manipulation.
Sept 13 update: Reprocessed with Astro Pixel Processor. I like the colors a bit better, and after several reprocesses I've decided to leave the dust cloulds fairly dim, since I don't like how it turns out when I stretch too far. This is just a tricky extent - the dust is so dim. Maybe I'm finally going to leave it alone. I'm excited to tackle the Dark Shark and Wolf's Cave nebulae widefield again, but am going to reshoot since I don't have raw files.
Oct. update: Alright, I wasn't done. I couldn't help but give it another try. The nebulosity is now a bit brighter, the color of the iris is bluer, and the stars slightly more reduced. I also upped the contrast and saturation of the Ghost Nebula. Maybe I'm done now.
April 2020 edit: Still wasn't done. I upped the brightness and contrast of the dark nebulae a bit more.
Iris Nebula and surrounding dark nebulae
Fujifilm X-T10, Samyang 135mm f/2.0 @ f2.0, ISO 1600, 54 x 60 sec, tracking with iOptron SkyTracker Pro, stacking with DeepSkyStacker, editing in GIMP, taken Aug. 26 under Bortle 2/3 skies.
I'm somewhat, not completely happy, with this one. Pulling out the dark nebulae and dust among all of the stars, with a not-completely-flat field and a light pollution gradient from shooting fairly low, was tricky.
I plan to shoot this extent again 1) when it is higher in the sky later this year, 2) possibly with 90 sec subs instead of 60 sec (although tracking was spot on with a 90% keeper rate at 60 sec), and 3) I might experiment with PixInsight to better emphasize the dark nebulae while deemphasizing the stars.
April 26 update: Cropped
Aug 8 update: Reprocessed using raw instead of out-of-camera jpeg. Definitely some advantages to using raw.
Aug 26 update: Reimaged when closer to zenith, 54 x 60 sec this time, the two versions are extremely similar (so I just replaced the older with this one) although this one has the edge in that dust cloud representation is more accurate. Processing with this cleaner data was much easier, and involved much less manipulation.
Sept 13 update: Reprocessed with Astro Pixel Processor. I like the colors a bit better, and after several reprocesses I've decided to leave the dust cloulds fairly dim, since I don't like how it turns out when I stretch too far. This is just a tricky extent - the dust is so dim. Maybe I'm finally going to leave it alone. I'm excited to tackle the Dark Shark and Wolf's Cave nebulae widefield again, but am going to reshoot since I don't have raw files.
Oct. update: Alright, I wasn't done. I couldn't help but give it another try. The nebulosity is now a bit brighter, the color of the iris is bluer, and the stars slightly more reduced. I also upped the contrast and saturation of the Ghost Nebula. Maybe I'm done now.
April 2020 edit: Still wasn't done. I upped the brightness and contrast of the dark nebulae a bit more.