I’m guessing it’s called that because it’s kinda headphone shaped. It was discovered in the 30’s so I’m assuming only the brightest parts of the nebula were visible to the astronomers.
This image is a combination of false color narrowband images for the nebula itself, plus true color RGB stars (the nebula is mostly red and a little blue in true color). If you zoom in to the center you can see the very blue white dwarf that caused the planetary nebula to form. Also for those curious this is what a single 10 minute long Ha exposure looks like (image total is 83.5 hours exposure). Captured over 33 nights from Jan-May 2024 from a bortle 9 zone.
Places where I host my other images:
TPO 6" F/4 Imaging Newtonian
Orion Sirius EQ-G
ZWO ASI1600MM-Pro
Skywatcher Quattro Coma Corrector
ZWO EFW 8x1.25"/31mm
Astronomik LRGB+CLS Filters- 31mm
Astrodon 31mm Ha 5nm, Oiii 3nm, Sii 5nm
Agena 50mm Deluxe Straight-Through Guide Scope
ZWO ASI-290mc for guiding
Moonlite Autofocuser
Acquisition: 83 hours 30 minutes (Camera at -15°C), NB exposures at unity gain and BB at half unity
Ha - 238x600"
Oiii - 247x600"
R - 54x60"
G - 53x60"
B - 54x60"
Darks- 30
Flats- 30 per filter
Capture Software:
PixInsight Preprocessing:
BatchPreProcessing
StarAlignment
Blink
ImageIntegration per channel
DrizzleIntegration (2x, Var β=1.5)
Dynamic Crop
DynamicBackgroundExtraction 3x
duplicated each image and removed stars via StarXterminator. Ran DBE with a shitload of points to generate background model. model subtracted from original pic using the following PixelMath (math courtesy of /u/jimmythechicken1)
$T * med(model) / model
Narrowband Linear:
Blur and NoiseXTerminator
StarXterminator to completely remove stars (to be later replaced by the RGB ones)
ArcsinhStretch to slightly stretch nonlinear
iHDR 2.0 script (low preset) to stretch each channel the rest of the way.
here’s the link to the repo if you want to add it to your own PI install.
RGB Linear:
ChannelCombination to combine monochrome R G and B frame into color image
SpectroPhotometricColorCalibration
BlurXTerminator for star sharpening (correct only)
HSV Repair
StarXterminator to generate a stars-only image
ArcsinhStretch + HT to stretch nonlinear (to be combined with starless narrowband image later)
Invert > SCNR > invert to remove magentas
Curves to saturate the stars a bit more
Nonlinear:
R = iif(Ha > .15, Ha, (Ha*.8)+(Oiii*.2))
G = iif(Ha > 0.5, 1-(1-Oiii)*(1-(Ha-0.5)), Oiii *(Ha+0.5))
B = iif(Oiii > .1, Oiii, (Ha*.3)+(Oiii*.2))
NoiseX again
Background Neutralization
Shitloads of Curve Transformations to adjust lightness, hues, contrast, saturation, etc
even more curves
Pixelmath to add in the stretched RGB stars only image from earlier
This basically re-linearizes the two images, adds them together, and then stretches them back to before. More info on it here)
mtf(.005,
mtf(.995,Stars)+
mtf(.995,Starless))
Couple final curves
Resample to 65%
DynamicCrop
Annotation
Yeah if the smart scope is just doing all the work and spitting out an image on its own that’s fine. Generally as long as you include any kind of info about your processing steps it’s fine, and you can have it be as brief or detailed as you want (I know mine are on the longer side).
Personally I’m all for more detail = better. It’s a lot easier for people to give constructive criticism, and a good enough writeup can serve as a guide for those just learning how to process (and I’m always going back to my old posts just to remember how the hell I even processed a tricky image)
Hi OP can you include acquisition/processing info per rule 5?
Hi OP can you include acquisition/processing info per rule 5?
Sh2-64 is the red nebula to the right of the image. It frames up pretty well with the more golden stars seen in the milky way core. I probably should’ve gotten more exposure time to help bring out some of the dark nebula details, but it was only clear for one night at the dark site (at least the night went perfectly, which is rare for trips out to the middle of nowhere). Captured on June 7th, 2024 from a Bortle 3 zone (Deerlick Astronomy Village)
Places where I host my other images:
TPO 6" F/4 Imaging Newtonian
Orion Sirius EQ-G
ZWO ASI1600MM-Pro
Skywatcher Quattro Coma Corrector
ZWO EFW 8x1.25"/31mm
Astronomik LRGB+CLS Filters- 31mm
Astrodon 31mm Ha 5nm, Oiii 3nm, Sii 5nm
Agena 50mm Deluxe Straight-Through Guide Scope
ZWO ASI-290mc for guiding
Moonlite Autofocuser
Acquisition: 5 hours 44 minutes (Camera at half unity gain -15°C)
L - 76x120"
R - 32x120"
G - 32x120"
B - 32x120"
Darks- 30
Flats- 30 per filter
Capture Software:
PixInsight Preprocessing:
BatchPreProcessing
StarAlignment
ImageIntegration per channel per panel
DrizzleIntegration (2x, Var β=1.5)
Dynamic Crop
DynamicBackgroundExtraction
Luminance Linear:
BlurXterminator (Correct only)
NoiseXterminator
HistogramTransformation + sketchpad’s iHDR script (low preset) to stretch to nonlinear
RGB Linear:
ChannelCombination to combine monochrom R G and B stacks into color image
SpectrophotometricColorCalibration
BlurXterminator (correct only)
HSV repair
ArcsinhStretch + iHDR script (low preset) to stretch to nonlinear
Nonlinear Processing:
LRGBCombination using stretched L as luminance
DeepSNR
Various curve adjustments for lightness, contrast, hue, saturation, etc (with varying lum/star masks)
Slight SCNR green
ColorSaturation to boost the saturation of the Ha region
More curves
NoiseXterminator
invert > SCNR > invert to remove some magentas
LocalHistogramEqualization
two rounds at scale 16 and 132 to target different sized structures
LOTS more curve adjustments
MultiscaleLinearTransform for chrominance noise reduction
Even more curves
Resample to 60%
Annotation
Sh2-64 is the red nebula to the right of the image. It frames up pretty well with the more golden stars seen in the milky way core. I probably should’ve gotten more exposure time to help bring out some of the dark nebula details, but it was only clear for one night at the dark site (at least the night went perfectly, which is rare for trips out to the middle of nowhere). Captured on June 7th, 2024 from a Bortle 3 zone (Deerlick Astronomy Village)
Places where I host my other images:
TPO 6" F/4 Imaging Newtonian
Orion Sirius EQ-G
ZWO ASI1600MM-Pro
Skywatcher Quattro Coma Corrector
ZWO EFW 8x1.25"/31mm
Astronomik LRGB+CLS Filters- 31mm
Astrodon 31mm Ha 5nm, Oiii 3nm, Sii 5nm
Agena 50mm Deluxe Straight-Through Guide Scope
ZWO ASI-290mc for guiding
Moonlite Autofocuser
Acquisition: 5 hours 44 minutes (Camera at half unity gain -15°C)
L - 76x120"
R - 32x120"
G - 32x120"
B - 32x120"
Darks- 30
Flats- 30 per filter
Capture Software:
PixInsight Preprocessing:
BatchPreProcessing
StarAlignment
ImageIntegration per channel per panel
DrizzleIntegration (2x, Var β=1.5)
Dynamic Crop
DynamicBackgroundExtraction
Luminance Linear:
BlurXterminator (Correct only)
NoiseXterminator
HistogramTransformation + sketchpad’s iHDR script (low preset) to stretch to nonlinear
RGB Linear:
ChannelCombination to combine monochrom R G and B stacks into color image
SpectrophotometricColorCalibration
BlurXterminator (correct only)
HSV repair
ArcsinhStretch + iHDR script (low preset) to stretch to nonlinear
Nonlinear Processing:
LRGBCombination using stretched L as luminance
DeepSNR
Various curve adjustments for lightness, contrast, hue, saturation, etc (with varying lum/star masks)
Slight SCNR green
ColorSaturation to boost the saturation of the Ha region
More curves
NoiseXterminator
invert > SCNR > invert to remove some magentas
LocalHistogramEqualization
two rounds at scale 16 and 132 to target different sized structures
LOTS more curve adjustments
MultiscaleLinearTransform for chrominance noise reduction
Even more curves
Resample to 60%
Annotation
Omega Centauri is the largest globular cluster in the sky and contains about 10 million stars, but it’s generally considered a southern hemisphere target since it’s at -47 declination. It was right at the meridian for me while waiting for it to get completely dark out, so I tried shooting it at just 9 degrees up. Had to do short exposures without guiding, because even the dim flashlights of the other campers with me would overwhelm my guide camera. Captured on June 7th, 2024 from a Bortle 3 zone (Deerlick Astronomy Village)
Places where I host my other images:
TPO 6" F/4 Imaging Newtonian
Orion Sirius EQ-G
ZWO ASI1600MM-Pro
Skywatcher Quattro Coma Corrector
ZWO EFW 8x1.25"/31mm
Astronomik LRGB+CLS Filters- 31mm
Astrodon 31mm Ha 5nm, Oiii 3nm, Sii 5nm
Agena 50mm Deluxe Straight-Through Guide Scope
ZWO ASI-120MC for guiding
Moonlite Autofocuser
Acquisition: 12 minutes (Camera at half Unity Gain, -15°C)
Lum - 20x10"
Red - 11x15"
Green - 13x15"
Blue - 12x15"
Flats- 30 per filter
Capture Software:
PixInsight Processing:
BatchPreProcessing
StarAlignment
ImageIntegration
DrizzleIntegration (2x, Var β=1.5)
DynamicCrop
DynamicBackgroundExtraction
duplicated each image and removed stars via StarXterminator. Ran DBE with a shitload of points to generate background model. model subtracted from original pic using the following PixelMath (math courtesy of /u/jimmythechicken1)
$T * med(model) / model
Luminance:
BlurXTerminator (correct only mode)
ArcsinhStretch + histogramtransformation to bring nonlinear
RGB:
ChannelCombinaiton to combine monochrome R, G, B stacks into color image
BlurXTerminator (correct only mode)
SpectroPhotometricColorCalibration
HSV Repair
MMT for large scale chrominance noise reduction
ArcsinhStretch + histogramtransformation to bring nonlinear
Nonlinear:
LRGBCombination with stretched L as luminance
Several CurveTransformations to adjust lightness, contrast, colors, saturation, etc.
DeepSNR Noise reduction
HistogramTransformations
More curves
Resample to 70%
Annotation
RIP my home button whenever my SE3 bites the dust
Good ol magnesium shit-rate
Wasn’t expecting much with the last night’s geomagnetic storm, but seeing the aurora come in on the camera was definitely an “oh shit” moment for me and my wife, especially when it got overexposed. The initial burst in the gif was very noticeable to the naked eye, despite our light pollution. Sadly it died down a bunch, but seems to have come back (although not as strong) after 3am (video timestamp is in UTC). Tonight definitely wont be as strong, but I’m hoping the camera might pick something up on another timelapse. Captured on May 10th, 2024 from Atlanta, GA
(probably) Better quality version on youtube
Places where I host my other images:
Equipment:
Acquisition:
Capture Software:
Processing:
deleted by creator
Hello, OP! Please include ALL acquisition and processing details.
Hello, OP! Please include ALL acquisition and processing details.
Timestamp is UTC
Definitely the lights. I got them in Atlanta too
Hi, OP! Please include ALL acquisition and processing details
Was any processing done to this?
Kcalbeloh mod, but I’ve also got OPM plus the minor planets expansion for OPM. The kcalbeloh mod does add a wormhole near sarnus like in the movie interstellar.
Yes it’s blackrack’s volumetrics. Despite all the clouds I’m still CPU bound, even with a 5800X3D
I’m guessing it’s called that because it’s kinda headphone shaped. It was discovered in the 30’s so I’m assuming only the brightest parts of the nebula were visible to the astronomers.
This image is a combination of false color narrowband images for the nebula itself, plus true color RGB stars (the nebula is mostly red and a little blue in true color). If you zoom in to the center you can see the very blue white dwarf that caused the planetary nebula to form. Also for those curious this is what a single 10 minute long Ha exposure looks like (image total is 83.5 hours exposure). Captured over 33 nights from Jan-May 2024 from a bortle 9 zone.
Places where I host my other images:
Flickr | Instagram
Equipment:
TPO 6" F/4 Imaging Newtonian
Orion Sirius EQ-G
ZWO ASI1600MM-Pro
Skywatcher Quattro Coma Corrector
ZWO EFW 8x1.25"/31mm
Astronomik LRGB+CLS Filters- 31mm
Astrodon 31mm Ha 5nm, Oiii 3nm, Sii 5nm
Agena 50mm Deluxe Straight-Through Guide Scope
ZWO ASI-290mc for guiding
Moonlite Autofocuser
Acquisition: 83 hours 30 minutes (Camera at -15°C), NB exposures at unity gain and BB at half unity
Ha - 238x600"
Oiii - 247x600"
R - 54x60"
G - 53x60"
B - 54x60"
Darks- 30
Flats- 30 per filter
Capture Software:
PixInsight Preprocessing:
BatchPreProcessing
StarAlignment
Blink
ImageIntegration per channel
DrizzleIntegration (2x, Var β=1.5)
Dynamic Crop
DynamicBackgroundExtraction 3x
Narrowband Linear:
Blur and NoiseXTerminator
StarXterminator to completely remove stars (to be later replaced by the RGB ones)
ArcsinhStretch to slightly stretch nonlinear
iHDR 2.0 script (low preset) to stretch each channel the rest of the way.
RGB Linear:
ChannelCombination to combine monochrome R G and B frame into color image
SpectroPhotometricColorCalibration
BlurXTerminator for star sharpening (correct only)
HSV Repair
StarXterminator to generate a stars-only image
ArcsinhStretch + HT to stretch nonlinear (to be combined with starless narrowband image later)
Invert > SCNR > invert to remove magentas
Curves to saturate the stars a bit more
Nonlinear:
NoiseX again
Background Neutralization
Shitloads of Curve Transformations to adjust lightness, hues, contrast, saturation, etc
even more curves
Pixelmath to add in the stretched RGB stars only image from earlier
Couple final curves
Resample to 65%
DynamicCrop
Annotation