Cone Nebula

Hi All,
Here is one from Sunday night,a very cold night!Temp right at 0 degrees,Brrrr8O
This is the best I have come up with so far though I'm sure I'll play with it some more.
LRGB
L-10 minutesx12
RGB 5minutesx6 binned 2x2

What do you think?Does it look OK?

Tec 140 at F4.7
ST-2000xm
CFW-8 with Astrodons
G-11 on a pier

Attached Image:

Jason...that is a beautiful, detailed pic...great job!! The cone is still on my to-do list!!! Alan

Jason Boyce said:
.....What do you think?Does it look OK?

Since you asked....
Acquisition looks to be good, Jason, but the processing is a little harsh to my eyes.
I would back off on the sharpening so that the stars don't have such a hard edge.
As an example, Bernhard Hubl has a master's touch when it comes to processing stars. Look under 'Star Clusters' on his site:
http://hubble.heim.at/
Here's one that's simple, natural, and stunningly beautiful (to my eyes, anyway):
http://hubble.heim.at/images/stephenson1-1_full.jpg
I think that one of the hardest things in processing is getting the stars to look natural. It's certainly a skill that I haven't mastered.
My regards,

dan kowall

Nice detail & colors Jason... 8)

One thing I noticed, it seems your processing is a bit too agressive...
Might want to try and keep it as natural as possible, even if it means not showing as much detail as you do now... (for example, the large blue halo around the brightest star, it does not softly merge into the bagkground, but instead it is sharply cut)

Little details like these take lots of time & practice, but you surely are on your way to great images... keep it up! 8)


By the way, great equipment... enjoy it!

very nice acqisition.
but if I may:
it looks a bit like green and blue clipping...
that makes it look a bit har processed.
perhaps checking the historgramm would be a good idea...?
best regards
Dietmar