NGC 2029

Image Description and Details : This is a Narrowband image of NGC 2029, which is an area of emission nebulae in the LMC. This is a modified Sulphur II, Hydrogen Alpha, Oxygen III (SHO) image. The SHO combination, conventionally called the Hubble Palette, maps SII to Red, Ha to Green and OIII to Blue. It does however produce quite garish colours and pink stars.The mix is therefore often modified to give a more aesthetically pleasing image, but one where the abundance of the chemical species is still well mapped in a colour image. After some experimentation I went with:
Red: 50% SII + 50% Ha
Green: 20% Ha + 70% OIII
Blue: 100% OIII
I removed the stars with StarXTerminator, before processing the image. Previously I had removed the natural colour (RGB) stars in processing the LRGB image and I was able to use Pixel Math to add them back to this finished image, to give a much more pleasing star field.
The amazing tendrils of gas come through well in this version and I hope you like it, both for its scientific value in mapping the presence of Hydrogen, Oxygen and Sulphur in this region of the sky, but also for its aesthetics.
OTA: C11 EdgeHD
Camera: SBIG 16803
Mount: Paramount MEII
Filters: Astronomik 50mm RGB, Ha, OIII & SII
Exposures:
Ha: 17 x 1800 secs
OIII: 17 x 1800 secs
SII: 16 x 1800 secs
Red: 25 x 600 secs
Green: 24 x 600 secs
Blue: 24 x 600 secs
Total SHO integration: 25 hrs
Total RGB integration (stars): 12.2 hrs
Bias: 35
Darks: 35
Flats: 20

Copyright: Niall MacNeill