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NGC 7380 (Wizard Nebula) October 2023 HaRGB, Fabian Butkovich
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NGC 7380 (Wizard Nebula) October 2023 HaRGB

Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
NGC 7380 (Wizard Nebula) October 2023 HaRGB, Fabian Butkovich
Powered byPixInsight

NGC 7380 (Wizard Nebula) October 2023 HaRGB

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Description

Not only is this my first attempt photographing the wizard nebula, it is also my first attempt at creating an HaRGB composite image. I did not use the traditional method of combining Ha data with full color data, where a monochrome blend between the red channel from the RGB and the Ha image is created, and then pasted onto the red channel in the RGB image.

To combine the two datasets, I instead set the Ha image to luminosity blend mode over the stretched RGB image with dust and scratches applied, then to get my color information back set another copy of the Ha image on top of those two layers and set the blend mode to lighten. 

I'm not sure if the method to create an HaRGB image is the right way, however it still achieved the end goal of retaining RGB stars whilst adding the enhanced luminosity of the nebula structure which was almost non-existent in my full color image despite several hours of integration.

It will be interesting to see moving forward how hydrogen alpha data combines with full color data on other deep sky objects.

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NGC 7380 (Wizard Nebula) October 2023 HaRGB, Fabian Butkovich