IC443 - Jellyfish Nebula in Narrow Band

I had another go at processing this - trying to bring out the structure of the nebula. My processing still leaves a lot to be desired
I went through the subs again and dropped some from the processing. This is now: 14xHa + 11 x SII + 5 x OIII put together in the final image as Ha SII Ha OIII for LRGB. Total time is 10 Hours of subs.

Again a Flickr Link:
www.flickr.com/photos/kinch-astro/16266899975/sizes/l/

Brendan

Here's what I did to it, I left it so that you can still see the structure, however you really need to do something with Darks and Flats, that will boost up the image a great deal

You did a great job there Simon - a much more 'subtle' result than I could manage. Agree re the flats - not all that sure re darks. Basically I have been ignoring both since I started (though on some shots it was very clear to me that the flats would have negated some problems I was having).
Processing has always been my downfall - I will have to get myself a much better workflow routine. Soon I may even start taking flats :- )

Flats and Darks are so important, once you get into the habit of doing them and using them you will see exactly what I mean.

With narrowband it is all too easy to "Over Stretch" the SII and OIII images, what I find is:

RGB images, I use the curve stretch twice very aggressively, then adjust the levels and then curve stretch again but less aggressive, with NB Images, I only Curve Stretch twice (Very Aggressive and then less aggressive) and then adjust the levels, stretching too much with NB just injects more noise, this is why my HA image is very noise free but still has the detail. Also over stretching them causes the detail to get washed out, I suspect that is what happened in your images, and I never used Carboni's tools on your image either, nor my Pacman one

Using a HA Layer as a Luminance layer at between 15 and 30% also boosts the image, this is what I did with your image too

Thanks for your time and hints on this. I am presently involved in getting a new dome set up. I hope later in the week - when the rain has gone - that I will have some time for more shots. If not.....it is away for 4 or 6 weeks and a big gap in my astrophotography.....except I'll have time to play with all the subs again. IF I really get things set up before going away....I may even be able to do some remote control of the scope......that is my final goal.....but I don't think it will happen this time.