I've been working on this simultaneously with the Heart Nebula NB image, first full HaLRGB image I've ever done and boy is it difficult. I don't feel like the color balance is correct, still learning how to properly combine the RGB, Luminance, and Ha layers. This was about the best I could come up with, any suggestions would be much appreciated. Equipment: WO GT81 w/Flat6Aii F/R ZWO ASI183mm w/ZWO LRGB Filters and Orion H-alpha 7nm Filter Orion Sirius EQ-G Mount (Belt Modified) Acquisition: LRGB acquired at Gain 53 and offset 11, all 2 minute subs 180 x Lum 45 x R, G, and B 40 x H-alpha Calibrated with darks only, all pre-processing and editing done in PixInsight
This is a little bit different of an edit than I normally do, one done to emphasize the nebulosity around the Milky Way (at the sacrifice of sharpness and increase in noise). Shot with my NIkon D600 and Rokinon 85mm f1.4 lens on an iOptron Skytracker, 6 panels stitched together, each panel is a stack of 8 shots, ISO 400, f2.5, and 2 of each exposure at 4 minutes, 3 minutes, 2 minutes, and 1 minute. Each panel was stacked with Deep Sky Stacker, initial edits done with PixInsight, then all the panels were stitched with PTGui and final edits were done with Photoshop and Lightroom. Shot from a Bortle 4/5 zone at Rockport Reservoir, Utah. I think overall it'll look cleaner once I can collect more shots to reduce the noise, not bad though given that each frame is 20 minutes total integration from a fairly light polluted area.
Last day of August, can't help but feel the change of seasons in the air as we transition from summer to fall. With the change in seasons we also shift from prime Milky Way season with the core visible to winter season where we can no longer see the core of our galaxy. Here in the northern hemisphere it also means longer and colder nights and I have to think about other things to image and work on. This time of year we also start seeing the Orion constellation rise earlier and earlier, my main goal this fall and winter will be putting together a series of images of the constellation at various focal lengths. Here's a shot of the Orion and Running Man Nebula from last year, this will be my benchmark to improve on.
