The Eagle Nebula, M16

Image Critiques Nightscape & Astro Critiques
1

And with another 1.5 hours of integration (two nights of the “raw files” combined) and maybe a more skillful final stretch. The stars are smaller somewhat by chance – they are separated and stretched independently and the stretching gives a lot of leeway in how big they are, so I never know how big to make them. I could back up and redo that step, but I think I prefer them very small, and that seems to be the judgment of a lot of people who do this stuff at a higher level than I can.

M16 Eagle Nebula v2
M16 Eagle Nebula v22500×1850 1.12 MB

M16 Eagle Nebula.jpg
M16 Eagle Nebula.jpg2500×1905 1.13 MB

Critique Style Requested: Standard

The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.

Description

Had to clear my head of the comet – which still needs better processing from two different nights. I haven’t shot this target yet so decided to give it a try. It’s a little late in the year – it would have been higher in August – but FWIW. I’ll shoot it again the next 2 nights to add data to try for a better result but this one will do for now. I’ll have to take down the rig Saturday with some rain coming in. I’ve had a lucky couple of weeks of being able to leave it in place.

Specific Feedback

All comments welcome!

Technical Details

You really don’t want the details. Shot with the astro rig, only about 1.5 hours of 1-min exposures. Processed in PixInsight with a final minor tweak and crop in PS.

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2 Likes
2

Very beautiful image, Diane. I particularly like how you captured the surrounding Ha nubulosity within the background of stars. This is quite an accomplishment for an object that is at a low altitude this time of year.

3

Thanks, @Keith_Lisk! I was able to shoot it one more night (I was hoping for two more but last night was cloudy) so I added the extra 1.5 hrs of frames and got a better result, but I don’t know if most of the difference was just that I did a better job with the final stretch. That process involves some learned judgement. Anyhow, posted above.

1 Like
4

Oh my, that’s quite an improvement in bringing out the nebulosity and color saturation.

5

Another marvelous astro image! The re-work is an improvement. Love the colours and truly facinating colours and stars.

6

Definitely worth the addition in that second post Diane; this is a nice mix of inspiring and beautiful.

7

Thanks, @John_Williams! There is a lot of leeway, both artistic and technical, in processing this stuff. Problem is, you have to get the technical down first. (Gee, wait – that sounds a lot like daytime photography, too!)

1 Like