I highly recommend opening the full version to take a closer look at some of the finer details revealed by the large integration time. A starless copy is also provided to show off fainter detail.
This incredibly detailed image of the Rosette nebula was created from more than 110 hours of exposure across three continents — Europe, USA, and Oceania. We combined 1064 subframes and 6791 minutes of exposure to reveal faint details previously masked by lower amounts of data. The high exposure time also allowed us to sharpen fine features, giving the image more contrast and revealing more fine structures.
On the top of the image lies a wispy structure of bok globules and dust, framed by the glowing ionized gas behind it. The center of the image displays the faint particle streams created by sulfur and oxygen gas blown away from the bright cluster of stars. Just below the center of the rosette nebula lies a beautiful mountain-like structure created by sulfur and hydrogen gas. Through the center of the image, faint wisps of glowing sulfer gas are visible above the dominant oxygen gas.
Credits:
Image Acquisition: Jens Unger (https://www.instagram.com/jazz.astro/), Rob Olson (https://www.instagram.com/the.robservatory/), Dominic Annis (https://www.instagram.com/domnuch/), Justin P. (https://www.instagram.com/justadudewitha_camera_/), Amrit Prasad (https://www.instagram.com/amrit.insta/), Tommy Lease (https://www.instagram.com/colorado_astro/), Jay Aigner (https://www.instagram.com/aignerastro/)
Image Processing: William Ostling (https://theastroenthusiast.com/), Justin P. (https://www.instagram.com/justadudewitha_camera_/)
Image:
Starless Version:
Acquisition:
Total 1064 subframes, 6791 minutes (113.18 hours):
Sii – 302 subframes, 2084 minutes (34.73 hours)
– 7x300s(Jay)
– 38x600s(Justin)
– 97x300s (Rob)
– 67×420 (Tommy)
– 8×300, 49x600s (Dominic)
– 36×300 (Jazz)
H-alpha – 436 subframes, 2480 minutes (41.33 hours)
– 8x300s (Jay)
– 126x300s (Rob)
– 41×600 (Justin)
– 74 x 180 (Amrit)
– 44×420 (Tommy)
– 69×300, 31×600 (Dominic)
– 45×300 (Jazz)
Oiii – 327 subframes, 2237 minutes (37.28 hours)
– 39x600s (Justin)
– 4x300s (Jay)
– 103x300s (Rob)
– 66×420 (Tommy)
– 55×600 (Dominic)
– 60×300 (Jazz)
R (For stars)
– 38x30s (rob)
G (For stars)
– 39x30s (rob)
B (For stars)
– 39x30s (rob)
Processing:
- The subframes were weighted using the following expression:
(30*((PSFSignalWeight-PSFSignalWeightMin)/(PSFSignalWeightMax-PSFSignalWeightMin)) + 15*(1-(Eccentricity-EccentricityMin)/(EccentricityMax-EccentricityMin)))
+ 15*(1-(FWHM-FWHMMin)/(FWHMMax-FWHMMin))
+ 10 *(SNRWeight-SNRWeightMin)/(SNRWeightMax-SNRWeightMin)
+ 30
- The subframes were integrated and drizzled with a scale of 2
- Each channel was cropped to remove stacking artifacts
- Each channel had its gradients removed using DBE
- SII, HA, and OIII were deconvolved
- SII, HA, and OIII were denoised using TGV and MMT in the process outlined by John Rista
- SII, HA,and OIII were stretched using histogram transformation
- SHO colors were adjusted using histogram transformation and curves transformation
- Local histogram Equalization and dark structures were used to enhance contrast
- the RGB images were combined, photometrically calibrated, stretched, and slightly convolved.
- RGB stars were added to the SHO image
- Slight curves adjustments were made to enhance colors and contrast