BackgroundThis was a very fun short and sweet project. I started imaging this one back in June, just getting RGB data. I decided that I didn't want to get any Lum to better preserve the saturation profile - its a subtle change but when I can get a good enough SNR with RGB alone, I tend to prefer the look. Similarly I chose not to get any Ha on lagoon as it was already very prominent in the RGB signal. I figured it wouldn't really do anything to help this image. The initial RGB process turned out good but it was definitely missing something, so in September just before Lagoon disappeared for the season I grabbed some last minute Oiii and found SNR G007.5-01.7 in the frame. I was only able to get about an hour a night before it fell below the walls of the observatory, but after 10 or so nights, I got enough Oiii. This isn't something I had really seen before, seems there are only a couple images of it out there. With that in mind I tried to process it as a bit more of a focal point in the image. It took a lot of work isolating the SNR structures and getting it integrated neatly into the frame without turning everything bright blue, but with a lot of time in MMT and a bit of pixel math I got what I feel like was a good addition. In the interest of transparency, though, I will include an an image below of the Oiii structure after continuum subtraction and with some HDR as there are many other structures belonging to lagoon itself that didn't make it into the final image.
This was the first target that I was able to try my new
PhotometricContinuumSubtraction script on as well! Using the green data I was able to subtract the continuum out of my Oiii and got a much cleaner signal to integrate into the data. I also used a small amount of Sii in the image to accentuate the highlights and details near the core, mapping it to a pale pink color. For the core I have been using a bit of a work in progress HDR method but it shows very promising results. I try in my images to strike a balance between the natural intensity of bright regions like the core of M8 while still being able to see all of the details present in the data. In the closeup crop below I used a slightly higher strength HDR as well which looks great up close but was a bit too strong for the wide.
I hope you all enjoy the images!
Charlie
IC 4685 & Others
This region is filled with all sorts of lovely different nebulae. On the far right, there is PK 006-02.2, a very detailed little planetary nebula. I am always surprised with the sharpness and the resolve of this scope, and that region in particular certainly highlights it. Just to the left of it, there is LBN 28 with its pale blue reflection and rim of rich emission. Finally, on the left side is LDN 227, a dark nebula and blue reflection, hollowed out by the radiation pressure of the new stars in the cluster Cr 367
Core of M8
There's nothing much to this one, just a close up of the chaotic core of M8. There are subtle hints of the teal-blue emission and reflection at the center and the edges of the brighter emission structures are a bit brighter than usual due to the Sii addition. As I mentioned earlier, for this crop I used a bit of a stronger HDR to ensure that the brighter parts of the core remained visible.
Continuum Subtracted & HDR'd Oiii
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