M97 – the Owl Nebula

Observation Notes

These data were on my disk since last spring. I did several attempts to process them, but never achieved anything reasonable whether I used  RGB on its own or trying to play with SHO. The data itself looks ok but the processing is a real challenge. So dried out for fresh data owing to winter fog,  I tried once more. The basic strategy this time was to base in on LRGB, boost Red by Ha and SII (both corrected for broad band flux), and the Blue and Green with O3. Lum was also boosted by O3 (which was essential to get the outer ring). So it kind of worked, at least I am happy with it as a first try, but for sure this is an object one has to come back to, proecssing wise and also with additional data.

Data were taken on 2022 March 21,22,23,24, and 25.

Technical Details

View the full-resolution image together with complete acquisition and processing details on AstroBin.