NGC 1333 is a reflection nebula located in the western part of the Perseus molecular cloud. The blue nebula is surrounded by a dense dust cloud and is home of a very active star forming region.

The image is the result of 23.5 hours of integration of broadband LRGB exposures shot during the months of November-December 2020.

Full size here

NGC1333 cluster molecular cloud reflection space
NGC 1333
NGC 1333 – detail with astrometric annotations of the reflection nebula and star forming region

Luminance 395x100s

Red 150x100s

Green 150x100s

Blue 150x100s

Processing details

Pixinsight

LRGB calibration, weighting, alignment, integration (drizzle integration vark 1.5), crop, Integer downsample 2x

Luminance

  • EzDenoise,
  • HT stretch making sure stars are not pushed too far
  • Duplicate + starless version with PS ContentAware fill
  • Exponential blend of starless back into L to enhance the intergalactic dust
  • Duplicate + hdr to enhance details in the bright star forming region
  • Blend hdr version back into L with mask to only select the bright region
  • LHE with protection mask
  • Slight curves adjustment

RGB

  • LinearFit of R and B masters to G master
  • Channel combination
  • PCC
  • LRGB combination with L master

Photoshop

  • Enhanced saturation and contrast with luminosity masks
  • Non linear noise reduction protecting stars
  • various curves, contrast and color adjustments with masks

Caprile Observatory

Caprile Astronomical Observatory, Astrophotography, located in Tuscany (Italy) countryside. A photographic journey across the marvels of the universe | Galaxy | Nebulae | Deep Sky Objects