RCC NGC2244 - Request for Critique

I am also new, but I think this looks amazing. Congratulations.

Dynamic range looks good, colors are nice, balance of clarity and nebulosity looks good. Was it cropped much, stars look round but do have a slightly "stick on top" look that I also struggle with. But great image I'd be very happy.

Maybe tell us a bit about the exposure and gear.

Hi, very nice image indeed. A tip from beginner to beginner: I find it worthwhile to double check via the Astrobin search function what results other users achieved for the same object - preferably with a similar integration time and similar equipment. You'll find an abundance of great examples for Rosette Nebula, even limiting the search for the top picks yields more than one page of results: Search - AstroBin

A quick glance reveals that the top picks do a little bit better to control the "star bloat" which is always a problem (to me at least) when you have a combination of a nebula and bright stars. But that's nit picking.

Have fun and clear skies
Wolfgang

Thanks so much for your reply Steven. I’m happy with the image, but I’m so new to this that it’s one of those “I don’t know what I don’t know” things. This is my second attempt at taking a shot of a deep space target, so I was just looking for feedback. Thank you for your comments, I really appreciate it!

Thanks for your comment Ian. This is my second attempt at shooting a target, so I think I'm pretty new. I was following the suggestion here at Astrobin to get opinions from those who have been doing this for awhile. I think this is invaluable and is helping me to learn what I don't know. Thanks again for your comment!

Hi Mike.

First, let me start by saying that this is an extremely good job for a second DSO image. You are certainly well on your way and doing the right things to improve by asking for feedback. 

All of my feedback is aimed at providing positive guidance to you as others did for me. Please don't take any of this as criticism.

On a technical note, the stars in the lower right corner seem to be slightly elongated. You can use something like ASTAP or other tools to check for sensor tilt. It may be worth evaluating. It's not terrible, but, as I say, may be worth looking at.

Two processing notes…

The image looks a little bit bright, and as a result, looks flat. Try using HDRMultiscaleTransform and then LocalHistogramEqualization. These two tools will help to reduce brightness and increase edge contrast and will add some depth and texture to the image. Be careful with them. A light touch is always better. These are easy to over do, especially LHE. 

Also, I notice that you've removed all of the green from the image, probably with SCNR.  While I realize there are lots of folks out there that tell you this is what you should do (and is what I started off doing) for Hubble palette images, IMHO this is completely incorrect. If we only wanted two colors in our images we'd only shoot with two filters. You need green to be able to realize the broad range of colors possible with three different channels. Instead of removing green, what I think you should strive for is balancing the red and blue channels with the green channel (since Ha is so dominant). Balancing the the channels is the key! There are lots of techniques for doing this. DM me if you are interested in exploring some techniques. 

It seems like you ARE doing the right thing with stars. But just to mention it, tonemapping the image to process the nebula and adding in the stars back later is (my opinion) the right move. I think you are doing that based on how your stars look, but if this is new news to you let me know. I can help with some direction.

Lots of folks helped me improve. If I can pay it forward I'm happy to. Feel free to reach out if I can help.

Again, great job for a second attempt!

Tim

Mike Patrick:
your mention of "sensor tilt."  I was thinking it might be related to the flattener/reducer, but I'm so new to this I wasn't sure

I probably should have said that better...What I meant was that something in the imaging train MAY have your camera sensor slightly out of square with the light path.  It could be coming from anywhere.  The only way that I know to fix it is with tiny "shims" that can be used to square up the camera.  Not a trivial task, but not real complicated either. ASTAP or CCDInspector can look at a single sub and show you if your sensor is out of square.  Easy to diagnose, typically very hard to attribute to one thing in the imaging train, but can be solved by shimming (if you're not using a rotator that is).  

Also, it may be that it's so slight that it isn't worth messing with.  (With my setup it was so small that I said "The heck with it...")

Tim