Sharpless-308 The Dolphin Nebula

CRTAstro

CRTAstro

Well-Known Member
This is Project 2122 started Dec 30 and completed acquisition last night (Jan 7) for an extra full 6hrs bringing it to a total of 25+hrs integration time. The nebula surrounding the bubble did get denser as did the starfield. I think the amount of time spent has done it some justice. I did have to crop around the edges somewhat to remove stacking artefacts introduced due to the extended period of imaging. Also, the cooling temp was not consistent throughout as I had to bump it up one night due to higher ambient temperatures. Didn't seem to affect the calibration using existing dark subs. I used the Ha layer as a luminosity layer but because of the increased density of the starfield, I had to use some StarXTerminator + tone mapping to enhance the bubble nebula. 77 x 20min subs @-10C spread across 8 nights for a total integration time of almost 26hrs.
For a higher resolution visit: https://www.astrobin.com/fci3i5/
Equipment used:
Sharpstar 61EDPH II APO Triplet Refractor
Skywatcher NEQ6 Pro Hypertuned by Astronomy Academy Perth
Primaluce Sesto Senso2 Electronic Focuser
ZWO ASI2600MM Pro Cooled Camera
ZWO Off Axis Guider
ZWO ASI290MM Mini Guide Camera
ZWO Electronic Filter Wheel
Antlia Pro 36mm 3nm Ha and Oiii unmounted filters
Rollon rolloff modified shed observatory
Bortle 5
Data acquisition software: NINA Astronomy Software
Processing software: PixInsight and Photoshop CC

1641776705915.png
 
JimFox

JimFox

Moderator
Staff member
This could be the best Dolphin Nebula I have seen Carlos! Wow, you really have it standing out so nice and pretty. I have got to look more into StarExterminator as it seems to be the way to go now.
 
CRTAstro

CRTAstro

Well-Known Member
JimFox said:
This could be the best Dolphin Nebula I have seen Carlos! Wow, you really have it standing out so nice and pretty. I have got to look more into StarExterminator as it seems to be the way to go now.
Click to expand...
Many thanks Jim !! Star for star I defintely like StarX....it's not perfect but does a better job imho.
 
Mike Lewis

Mike Lewis

Staff Member
Carlos,

OK, this is fantastic! Firstly, I just have not seen that many images taken at this FOV. It is perfect for showing the interesting nebulosity around the Dolphin, and yet still retaining a very nice amount of detail in the main nebula itself. Spectacular. And the color really is great.

Lots of folks just do not see the benefit of spending this kind of time on a single object, but my own experiences once I was finally able to do so myself have convinced me that it is just this sort of long integration time that can really make an image special, as long as the data is of high quality and the post processing is done care and skill as is demonstrated in this breathtaking example. WELL deserving of Featured status, and echoing some of the sentiments above one of the best Dolphin Nebula images I have seen for sure.

ML
 
CRTAstro

CRTAstro

Well-Known Member
Mike Lewis said:
Carlos,

OK, this is fantastic! Firstly, I just have not seen that many images taken at this FOV. It is perfect for showing the interesting nebulosity around the Dolphin, and yet still retaining a very nice amount of detail in the main nebula itself. Spectacular. And the color really is great.

Lots of folks just do not see the benefit of spending this kind of time on a single object, but my own experiences once I was finally able to do so myself have convinced me that it is just this sort of long integration time that can really make an image special, as long as the data is of high quality and the post processing is done care and skill as is demonstrated in this breathtaking example. WELL deserving of Featured status, and echoing some of the sentiments above one of the best Dolphin Nebula images I have seen for sure.

ML
Click to expand...
Thanks Mike ! Your comments are always much appreciated !
 
BlackRockArt

BlackRockArt

Staff
CRTAstro said:
This is Project 2122 started Dec 30 and completed acquisition last night (Jan 7) for an extra full 6hrs bringing it to a total of 25+hrs integration time. The nebula surrounding the bubble did get denser as did the starfield. I think the amount of time spent has done it some justice. I did have to crop around the edges somewhat to remove stacking artefacts introduced due to the extended period of imaging. Also, the cooling temp was not consistent throughout as I had to bump it up one night due to higher ambient temperatures. Didn't seem to affect the calibration using existing dark subs. I used the Ha layer as a luminosity layer but because of the increased density of the starfield, I had to use some StarXTerminator + tone mapping to enhance the bubble nebula. 77 x 20min subs @-10C spread across 8 nights for a total integration time of almost 26hrs.
For a higher resolution visit: https://www.astrobin.com/fci3i5/
Equipment used:
Sharpstar 61EDPH II APO Triplet Refractor
Skywatcher NEQ6 Pro Hypertuned by Astronomy Academy Perth
Primaluce Sesto Senso2 Electronic Focuser
ZWO ASI2600MM Pro Cooled Camera
ZWO Off Axis Guider
ZWO ASI290MM Mini Guide Camera
ZWO Electronic Filter Wheel
Antlia Pro 36mm 3nm Ha and Oiii unmounted filters
Rollon rolloff modified shed observatory
Bortle 5
Data acquisition software: NINA Astronomy Software
Processing software: PixInsight and Photoshop CC

View attachment 45679
Click to expand...

Most beautiful dolphin head I have seen.

Oliver
 
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