Horse head and Flame nebula

This image was taken in December 2012, one of the few days this winter which wasn't cloudy!!
This is my first attempt at these targets and I combined a number of techniques I'd not used before.

Capture date: 

2012-11-14T00:00:00

Location: 

  • Southborough, Kent

Imaging Camera: 

  • SBIG ST8300M

Guiding camera: 

  • Starlight Express Lodestar

Guiding Software: 

  • PHDguiding

Capture Software: 

  • AstroArt V5

Processing Software: 

  • AstroArt V5
  • FITS Liberator
  • Photoshop CS4

Supporting software: 

  • Cartes du Ciel
  • EQASCOM
  • EQMOD

Filters: 

  • Blue
  • Green
  • Hydrogen Alpha
  • Red

Light frames: 

6 x BR x 600s @-20c
8 x H x 600s @-20c
7 x G x 600s @-20c

Mount: 

  • Skywatcher EQ6 pro

is an image of: 

Ambient Temperature(C): 

3

Dark frames: 

20 x 300s

Imaging telescope: 

  • William Optics FLT 110 with WO AFR-IV @F5.6

Guiding telescope: 

  • Bresser 70

Astronmical objects in image: 

  • Dark Nebula
  • Bright Nebula

Workflow: 

Merge align and colour balance in AA5
Scale and stretch RGB in FITS LIBERATOR
combine RGB in PS
Scale and stretch HA in FITS LIBERATOR
Add HA as an overlay layer in PS
take copy of HA
flatten HA
copy layer
smart sharpen 4/5 pixels
hide all mask
paint brush 20 pixels
gaussien blur mask 30px
adjust opacity to taste and improve blending
flatten image
duplicate layer
high pass filter 15 pixels (small features)
Hide all mask
gaussien blur mask 30px
adjust opacity to taste and improve blending
flatten image

duplicate layer x 2
top layer hide all mask + screen
brush 10 px flow + opacity 15% = work on flame detail
gaussien blur mask 30px

middlelayer hide all mask + soft light
brush 10 px flow + opacity 15% = work on flame detail
gaussien blur mask 30px
Save checkpoint 1

Change to lab mode
copy HA into lightness
Levels in a and b equally 30
Levels in a and b equally 15