This was my first try using the new Antlia SII/Hb 5nm dual narrowband filter with my existing Antlia Ha/OIII 5 nm dual narrowband filter. I thought the results were interesting, and I really liked how the SII/Hb filter enhanced the image. There are quite a few objects hiding out in this ultra widefield image (about a 6 x 4 degree field)!
(I was actually testing the back focus adjustment of my Askar ACL200 on the stars and decided to combine that test with a test of the new SII/Hb filter.)
I used Pixel Math in PixInsight to extract RGB channels from both filters, recombined the resulting set of 4 BG images after linear fit into a single OIII image, and then put SII in R and Ha in G for an initial SHO palette. The areas where the SII overlapped the Ha are the brightest areas in the image, but the SII brought out some nice filamentous structures as well away from those areas.
Being a first foray into using these OSC dual narrowband filters, I can see there is a LOT more that can be done with the images produced by this combination of filters (with more time -- and PixInsight know-how I don't have yet), but I thought this was a very cool first pass at using these OSC dual narrowband filters.
Capture Date: 10/23/23
Average Moon Illumination 71%
Askar ACL200 (native fL = 200mm)
ASI2600MC Pro (OSC camera)
Antlia 5nm dual narrowband filters: Ha/OIII (10 x 300s), SII/Hb (10 x 300s)
ZWO 5-position, 2" Electronic Filter Wheel
ZWO AM5 mount with guiding via ASI120mm mini and ZWO 30F4 guidescope
All light frames calibrated with dark, flat, and bias frames
Pre- and post-processed in PixInsight
Photoshop for generation of reduced size jpeg
Greg, fantastic image. I love that you've included the crescent nebula, it makes the image special. Beautiful coloring as well. A great area of the sky to explore and image!
Terri
@terri Thanks, Terri. It was fun to do something a little different. And manual Bahtinov focus, no less!
Greg
