So, I tried the Veil Nebula a long time ago and it didn’t go well. I tried it with a DSLR camera in rgb. The dense starfield that the veil resides in made it almost impossible to process. I’ve been working on the veil this past month or so. I thought I would share my raw data so far. I’m doing a 2-panel mosaic with a HOO color pallet for each panel. I’m doing 10-minute subs and I have about 65, 10-minute subs per filter (4 x 65 total).
Here are the raw files so far:
I’m not really sure what problem the starfield is causing you but you can always remove the stars with Starnet++ and then readd them later in your editing process.
Thank you for the reply. Yes, I’m well aware of Star removal during processing. Specifically what I meant was that, when imaging the veil with a one shot color camera, and attempting to go “very deep” to get all the faint structures, the stars get blown out and over power the data. This time, I’m using my mono camera and narrow band filters to “go deep” and with the narrow band filters, the stars stay way smaller. I hope that clears up what I meant. Thanks and clear skies 
Ah, I understand. I am sure thet to mono is going to be much better for what you are after.
This is interesting, going to be watching your progress as you share it. I’ve not seen the veil nebula before I don’t think.
I love the Veil Nebula. I’ve only imaged the Western Veil once; I’m hoping to get a mosaic of the whole thing, if that’s even possible with my scopes.
NGC 6960 - Western Veil Nebula. Taken at the OKCAC’s Cheddar Ranch Observatory on the evening of 17 Oct 2022. Conditions were great! Clear, no moon, 46% humidity, 45F, Bortle 5.
360 ten second images stacked over 60 minutes with my Vaonis Stellina. No post-processing. Not as vibrant as it could be with processing, but I like it. I liked it so much it’s the background on my computer.
Was that your veil data? Looks pretty good Have you imaged the whole complex? The darn thing is pretty big.
Looking good Mitche! Yeah, you might have to manually do your own mosaic, I don’t think it would do an “auto mosaic”.
Thanks, Andy! Not on par with your work, but it’s a decnt image for no processing!
Stellina does actually have a mosaic mode. It was added last fall. But the Veil Nebula is so big, I’m not sure it’ll be able to capture it all. If it doesn’t I’ll try stitching together images manaully. Maybe I can learn how at the PixInsight class!
Andy - your work always impresses! The Veil Nebula is one of my favorite DSO’s to observe at Okie-Tex.
Tim
Those are nice pictures. How about 1 minute subs? I know its a lot of data, but do you think that might avoid the star blowout?
Thank you. It really is massive. At best, I can only get a little over half in one shot. I haven’t attempted a mosaic yet though eager to try. I’m not sure the focal length needed to capture the whole complex but for me to go any lower I would have to go with a DSLR and camera lens or buy an OTA specifically for it.
Chris: yes and you can also do two data sets, one with short exposures just for stars to not blow them out, then do long exposures for all the fain details.
Very nice Mitche!
Quick update on my 2-panel mosaic. This is a reduced resolution jpeg of my working file so far. The true resolution is 12,500 x 15,000 because I dithered and drizzled 2x with Pixinsight. I’m happy to be seeing the faint “secondary and tertiary” nebulosity.
wow! I’m going to need a really big screen lol.
Images like yours, Andy, are why I love the Veil!
Yeah, it’s pretty crazy when you start seeing all the tangled nebulae.
I probably should have done a 4-panel mosaic.
Just wanted to say that this is very cool!
