PIER-05 IC2169 - NGC2264 in Monoceros

Hi Richard, 

That is very nice and now that you have shared this and shown how good it is, I was wondering if you may now be considering extending it. A 2x2 mosaic with this as the top right I think would work really well.

The attached screenshot is approximately the area it would cover.

Cheers, 

Ray 

Hi Richard, 

That is very nice and now that you have shared this and shown how good it is, I was wondering if you may now be considering extending it. A 2x2 mosaic with this as the top right I think would work really well.

The attached screenshot is approximately the area it would cover.

Cheers, 

Ray 

That's possible Ray, but I wonder if it is a good use of time. The two left hand panels complete the emission nebula area, but apart from that are pretty empty. Is there enough in the other panels? Perhaps some additional dark nebulae?

I compared what we have from this single shot with some widefields on Astrobiin (eg 20200324NGC2264,Sh2-273,IC2169,IC446 ( attyyRXZ ) - AstroBin or this one Colored Rose & Christmastree Widefield ( seasonzhang813 ) - AstroBin). A 2x2 mosaic will not reach as far as the Rosette nebula, and our single frame covers two thirds of the nebulosity in the first astrobin example - from NGC 2261 down to NGC 2259 and from IC446 to NGC2264.

So, I am willing to give it a go if you want to, but I am not sure we will add a great deal.

old_eyes

Hi Richard, 

I agree with what you said and to maintain the good balance you have it would be best to only use a part of each of the 3 additional images. 

The reason for the suggestion was more about keeping the pier occupied when the clear skies return. The queue is extremely sparse right now but has not been a problem due to the current inactivity. What I hadn't done and should have realised is that Mike already had a mosaic in the queue for this nebula. This was submitted at the start of October as jobs 1882 and 1883, neither of which has been started. For some reason it decided to do your submission first, so here we are. I'd like that mosaic to be done. 

I attach a couple of screenshots approximating to the mosaic, rotated to match yours. The starless image, although not a OSC image, I think gives a clearer picture. This means that there is no need for my suggestion as Mike's mosaic gives a fuller image of the nebula and immediate surroundings, albeit lacking parts of yours.

This does however leave the pier with little else to do. I'll try to address that in a separate post. 

Cheers, 

Ray 

Hi Richard, 

I agree with what you said and to maintain the good balance you have it would be best to only use a part of each of the 3 additional images. 

The reason for the suggestion was more about keeping the pier occupied when the clear skies return. The queue is extremely sparse right now but has not been a problem due to the current inactivity. What I hadn't done and should have realised is that Mike already had a mosaic in the queue for this nebula. This was submitted at the start of October as jobs 1882 and 1883, neither of which has been started. For some reason it decided to do your submission first, so here we are. I'd like that mosaic to be done. 

I attach a couple of screenshots approximating to the mosaic, rotated to match yours. The starless image, although not a OSC image, I think gives a clearer picture. This means that there is no need for my suggestion as Mike's mosaic gives a fuller image of the nebula and immediate surroundings, albeit lacking parts of yours.

This does however leave the pier with little else to do. I'll try to address that in a separate post. 

Cheers, 

Ray 

I like the two panel mosaic from Mike. We could add that to my single frame. I don't think is is necessary for all mosaics to be 'square'.

I was not panicking about Pier 5 as up to yesterday I still had 5 panels of the Orion mosaic outstanding. You are right, it is time to fill the pipeline again and I will give it some thought. The suggestions you have made in the other thread are good, so I will respond there.

I would really rather find new targets (or targets that need additional data) rather than hope for interest in apparently blank areas of the sky.

Hi Richard, 

I agree with what you said and to maintain the good balance you have it would be best to only use a part of each of the 3 additional images. 

The reason for the suggestion was more about keeping the pier occupied when the clear skies return. The queue is extremely sparse right now but has not been a problem due to the current inactivity. What I hadn't done and should have realised is that Mike already had a mosaic in the queue for this nebula. This was submitted at the start of October as jobs 1882 and 1883, neither of which has been started. For some reason it decided to do your submission first, so here we are. I'd like that mosaic to be done. 

I attach a couple of screenshots approximating to the mosaic, rotated to match yours. The starless image, although not a OSC image, I think gives a clearer picture. This means that there is no need for my suggestion as Mike's mosaic gives a fuller image of the nebula and immediate surroundings, albeit lacking parts of yours.

This does however leave the pier with little else to do. I'll try to address that in a separate post. 

Cheers, 

Ray 

I have an alternative suggestion.

Starting from the image described here, we can extend to the South to include the Rosette Nebula (see image).

I  have started with the current image coordinates (not precise, but better than 0.5 arcmin) and I can reach the Rosette in another two panels. It is a bit of a squeeze to get the main rosette in with a little clearance below, but it can just be done. I needed to reduce the overlap to 13%, which is a bit risky. Not much room for error if anything goes wrong. But I think it is worth the risk.

Unless anyone has any objections, I will submit this one.

old_eyes

Hi Richard, 

That's excellent and a definite thumbs up from me, great suggestion. Also thanks for adding those new Orion mosaic jobs.

After replying to that Orion post with regards to another extension afterwards, time permitting, I realise that I got the the direction wrong. It should have been extend to the East and not West. Extending the mosaic width ways rather than height would make it a squarer image as opposed to a taller skinnier one, but it is your choice. This is assuming the sky cooperates and time allows for that.

Cheers, 

Ray 

Jobs 1973 and 1974 added to extend mosaic From IC 447 - Rosette Nebula

Mosaic processing has started.

FYI I used the following jobs :

• 1883 & 1961 (NGC 2264 NORTH)
• 1882 & 1962 (NGC 2264 SOUTH)
• 1973 & 1974 (IC 447 + Rosette)
• 1932 (IC 447)
• 1507 & 2009 (Rosette only)

Final picture will be approx 25000 px x 16000 px

Now croping and processing :)

Hello Nicolas, 

That's an impressive area you have managed to cover using all of those jobs. Looking forward to seeing it further down the line.

I hope that your computer has plenty of RAM because judging from your estimate of its final size, you're going to need it.

Cheers and good luck, 

Ray 

Hello Nicolas, 

That's an impressive area you have managed to cover using all of those jobs. Looking forward to seeing it further down the line.

I hope that your computer has plenty of RAM because judging from your estimate of its final size, you're going to need it.

Cheers and good luck, 

Ray 

32gb of RAM. But I'm more worried about the size of the .psb file after editing haha

I have not yet dared to attempt the vast mosaic that Nicholas has, but this is my process of the three panels from the Christmas Tree to the Rosette (Jobs 1932, 1973, 1974).

I think it has some nice elements and it holds together - something I am still struggling with in larger mosaics where I seem to get colour gradients and more obvious boundaries. Keep practising I suppose!

Here is the final image together with an annotated version. These are scaled approximately 50% from the original.

My blue stars are probably a bit too blue, but I will sort that out in a later process.

Hi guys,
Mosaic finished. Orignial file is 22000x10000px but I have rescale it 5000x2650 px. 

Just for fun, photoshop .psb file siez: 38Go :)

To remove black areas, I had to crop heavely the mosaic so I have almost the same filed as old_eyes but maybe with more subs exposures.

also some cropped areas at 50% scale.

Hi guys,
Mosaic finished. Orignial file is 22000x10000px but I have rescale it 5000x2650 px. 

Just for fun, photoshop .psb file siez: 38Go :)

To remove black areas, I had to crop heavely the mosaic so I have almost the same filed as old_eyes but maybe with more subs exposures.

also some cropped areas at 50% scale.

Very nice set of images Nicolas.

I think it is a shame that you have cropped the mosaic so severely. It misses some useful additional images. We should be more willing to expose the mechanics of mosaics to maximise the use of our expensive imaging time. I would really like to see the full mosaic - black areas as well!

Hi guys,
Mosaic finished. Orignial file is 22000x10000px but I have rescale it 5000x2650 px. 

Just for fun, photoshop .psb file siez: 38Go :)

To remove black areas, I had to crop heavely the mosaic so I have almost the same filed as old_eyes but maybe with more subs exposures.

also some cropped areas at 50% scale.

Very nice set of images Nicolas.

I think it is a shame that you have cropped the mosaic so severely. It misses some useful additional images. We should be more willing to expose the mechanics of mosaics to maximise the use of our expensive imaging time. I would really like to see the full mosaic - black areas as well!

Yes you are right.

I only kept the purple area. The main part removed (except yellow one) is just stars. But I agree, the mosaic could have been better :) For the next one maybe!

Hi guys,
Mosaic finished. Orignial file is 22000x10000px but I have rescale it 5000x2650 px. 

Just for fun, photoshop .psb file siez: 38Go :)

To remove black areas, I had to crop heavely the mosaic so I have almost the same filed as old_eyes but maybe with more subs exposures.

also some cropped areas at 50% scale.

Very nice set of images Nicolas.

I think it is a shame that you have cropped the mosaic so severely. It misses some useful additional images. We should be more willing to expose the mechanics of mosaics to maximise the use of our expensive imaging time. I would really like to see the full mosaic - black areas as well!

Yes you are right.

I only kept the purple area. The main part removed (except yellow one) is just stars. But I agree, the mosaic could have been better :) For the next one maybe!

 

It’s the parts around the Christmas Tree  that would have added most value. More of the eastern side of the nebula site, and a bit of space above to frame the Christmas Tree better. But I can see why you made the choice you did.

a lovely image nevertheless.

old_eyes

Hi Nicolas and Richard, 

Both excellent images, so would anyone else be keen on expanding it now?

Any suggestions on what would bring about the best improvements, and how many or few new panels would be required, plus a quick vote on it.

Nicolas might be a bit nervous about making it much larger, but you can always resample each panel prior to assembling.

Just a thought. 

Cheers, 

Ray