Narrowband Images with a Color Camera

Narrowband images with a color camera

Narrowband imaging with a color camera is not only possible, but I have found it to be an excellent way of adding detail and structure to my astrophotography images. If you currently own a one-shot-color camera or DSLR, I highly recommend trying some narrowband filters with it such as Ha (Hydrogen-alpha).

Ideally, you’ll use a monochrome astronomy camera for narrowband (and LRGB) images, yet owners of color cameras can still tap into the benefits of narrowband filters before taking the big leap to mono.

An example scenario is someone with a one-shot-color cooled astronomy camera such as the ZWO ASI294MC Pro. With this camera I shot countless deep sky images using a duo-narrowband filter that isolates Ha and OIII. 

deep sky astrophotography

Images captured using a color camera and duo-narrowband astrophotography filter from the city.

Using Narrowband Filters with a Color Camera

My latest encounters capturing narrowband images with a color camera have once again opened my eyes to a new level of astrophotography possibilities. In this post, I’ll share my results using a color CMOS sensor camera through narrowband filters such as Ha, OIII, and SII.

In the past, I found that by collecting narrowband data such as H-Alpha with a DSLR, you can complement your broadband (true color RGB) astrophotography. This is great news for DSLR astrophotographers that want to amplify their deep sky imaging.

RGB Channels in astrophotography

Narrowband Astrophotography Filters

The ongoing learning curve involved with astrophotography continues to provide me with endless moments of victories and defeat.

Over the years, I’ve used a number of one-shot-color cameras with narrowband filters in front of the sensor. For example, the ZWO ASI294MC Pro is a fantastic color camera to use with the STC Astro Duo-Narrowband Filter, because it collects wavelengths of light associated with both Ha, and OIII at the same time.

So what is a “narrow band” filter anyway?  These are filters that allow a specific “narrow bandpass” of light to pass through them.  Traditionally, the 3 different narrowband filters associated with astrophotography are:

  • Ha (Hydrogen Alpha)
  • OIII (Oxygen III)
  • SII (Sulfur II)Astronomik 12nm narrowband filters

Astronomik 12nm Ha, OIII, and SII narrowband filters.

When I originally tried the Astronomik narrowband filters, my goal was to capture a deep-sky image from my light-polluted backyard with more interstellar details and nebulosity than ever before.

In the resulting image, the intense city glow was largely ignored, and the light from the gases in my deep-sky target passed through. My target: NGC 6960 – The Western Veil Nebula.

This time of year offers up an endless amount of narrowband imaging targets.  The one I have selected for this project is a supernova remnant in Cygnus – The Western Veil Nebula.  NGC 6960 (often referred to as “The Witch’s Broom”), is an exemplary target for narrow band imaging with a DSLR or color camera due to its composition of hydrogen, oxygen, and sulfur.

Astronomik 12nm Ha SII and OII Filters

I was given a great deal to buy these filters used from Sean Molony at www.redstickastro.com. You may recognize his name from the work he has done with the Astro Imaging Channel. Thank you, Sean, and keep up the fantastic work.

Narrowband Images with a Color Camera

Is narrowband imaging with a DSLR or color camera a waste of time?

The astrophotography community made it quite clear that a monochrome camera such as the ZWO ASI1600MM-Pro is the way to go when imaging with narrowband filters. The bayer matrix design of a color CMOS camera sensor cuts the light gathering power by 1/4, meaning less detail is recorded than with a mono astrophotography camera.

These warnings have not gone ignored, and every bit of that statement is true. However, the financial position I, and so many other backyard astrophotographers are in, mean that purchasing a new mono camera for astrophotography in the $2K range is not something that can be done quickly.

Altair Hypercam 183C

Utilizing the gear I have to push the limits of what’s possible is perhaps my favorite aspect of this enchanting hobby.  The Altair Hypercam 183C utilizes an internal cooling fan and open design to reduce noise from the 20MP CMOS sensor.  The highly sensitive sensor also benefits from CCD-level controls such as Gain adjustment and produces high-resolution 12bit RAW .FIT images.

Update: In early March, 2018 – I tested out a new mono astrophotography camera, the Altair Hypercam 183M. This is the monochrome version to the 183C used in this post.

Benefits of narrowband using a DSLR

Here is where it gets exciting. If you own a DSLR camera – You too can start reaping the benefits of filtered deep-sky astrophotography from almost any city location. The added contrast and details provided by using narrowband filters with your camera can improve your existing deep-sky photos, and create new imaging possibilities.

Sure, a dedicated monochrome camera will perform better in this scenario, but you can start employing narrowband benefits to your DSLR now. 2″ round mounted filters like the Astronomik versions above can be threaded directly to your field flattener/reducer or 2″ nosepiece.  They can be used with a DSLR camera or CCD when you upgrade.

For the image below, I used an Astronomik 12nm Ha clip-in filter on my Canon EOS Rebel T3i DSLR. The images were exposed for 5-minutes each through a William Optics Zenithstar 73 APO. This is a fantastic example of what is possible with a DSLR camera and small telescope when a narrowband Ha filter is included.

Butterfly Nebula in Ha

The Butterfly Nebula in Ha using a DSLR Camera

The Veil Nebula in SII, Ha, OIII and RGB

Adding Ha (Hydrogen-Alpha) can add a lot of interesting stellar details to your emission nebulae images. I have also recently discovered first-hand at how OIII can make your planetary and supernovae remnant images “pop”.  I can, of course, continue to use the Astronomik filters when I eventually do decide to upgrade to a Mono CCD camera.

The diagram below showcases the different wavelengths of light I recorded through each filter using the Altair Hypercam 183C:

narrowband images with a color camera

The H-alpha portion of the data acquisition process yielded impressive results.  The amount of hydrogen gas in the Veil Nebula was evident in my 300-second exposures using Astro Photography Tool. The data would have been better had I taken the time to capture proper bias and flat frames during the acquisition stage.

I’ll blame this one on my lack of experience using the Hypercam 183C.  I have since found a suitable target ADU for the 183C by using the flats aid tool in APT. (2200 ADU seems to be working well)

The OIII image was my hands-down favorite, as the composition of this supernova remnant contained lots of delicate Oxygen light wavelengths.  This was a pleasant surprise and exceeded my expectations for narrowband images using a color camera.

This time around, I completed the data set with darks, flats, and bias support files. The difference in the image quality was evident right away.

The Veil Nebula in OIII

The Veil Nebula in OIII

The SII stage of the image was the least impressive.  The Sulfur II content in the Western Veil Nebula appears to be much less than Oxygen III and H-Alpha.  However, my SII data suffered from a lack of integrated exposure time and poor seeing conditions.

Processing Narrowband Images

Like many aspects of the astrophotography image processing realm, there are a number of ways to go about it. My preferred method is to copy and paste each of the narrowband greyscale images into the corresponding R-G-B channels in Photoshop for a full color (yet false color) image.

Bob Franke has provided a fantastic tutorial for Hubble Palette Color Map images in Photoshop. This technique creates a false-color image by mapping SII, Ha and OIII data as to the R, G and B channels respectively (SHO). This method can produce some stunningly detailed and colorful results.

Others prefer the robust features of PixInsight to complete the task as seen in the false-color image in Ha, SII and OII below.  The true power of this method is fully deployed when used with a cooled Mono camera. For example, Jay Bolt of DSO Imaging recently completed a narrowband project on the Wizard Nebula using a QHY163m.

Cooled Monochrome Camera Example

Wizard Nebula False Color
The Wizard Nebula by Jay Bolt

My personal tastes lean towards a hybrid RGB image that showcases the true colors of the deep-sky object as opposed to the Hubble Palette. That may change as I progress further into narrowband imaging, and crave the intricate details a full SHO image provides.

NGC 6960 – The Western Veil Nebula

My final photo of the Veil Nebula combines a standard broadband RGB image with narrowband Ha and OIII details.  I was not overly impressed with the HST palette version of my image that mapped the NB data to the RGB channels. (R=SII, G=Ha, B=OIII).

The RGB data was shot using the Altair Hypercam 183C camera with a Baader UHC-S Filter to block the city glow.  The true color portion of the image was used to give the photo a more natural look, with accurate star colors.

NGC 6960 - The Western Veil Nebula
NGC 6960 – The Veil Nebula using Narrowband Data

Photo Details:

Camera: Altair Hypercam 183C
Filters: Astronomik 12nm Ha, OIII

Ha: 47 x 300s Bin 2×2
OII: 64 x 180s Bin 2×2

Camera: Altair Hypercam 183C
Filter: Baader UHC-S Filter

RGB: 40 x 120s Bin 2×2

Telescope Equipment

Stacking Ha, OIII and SII in DSS

I am often pushed towards the PixInsight software by my colleagues and friends. My future in deep-sky astrophotography will undoubtedly include PI at a later date. I feel no rush to make this transition, as I would like to reach the full potential of my beloved DeepSkyStacker and Photoshop workflow first.

DeepSkyStacker

The great news is that the aging (free) registering and stacking software known as DeepSkyStacker works brilliantly at combining this narrowband data. DSS creates smooth, high resolution .TIF images from your collection of individual image frames.

When using the Altair Hypercam 183C with DeepSkyStacker, one of the main adjustments I needed to make was the star detection threshold setting. Because of the narrow wavelength of light collected on the CMOS sensor, the RAW .fit images come out of the camera very dark. So dark, in fact, that DSS does not recognize a single star in the field at the default 10% star detection threshold setting. I have found setting this slider from 3-5% effective.

You’ll want to include darks, flats and bias frames in your stack, just as you would with a regular color image. My image exposures using the Hypercam 183C in H-Alpha and OII were 300-seconds and 180-seconds, respectively. I shot data in SII as well, but the data collected was of little value due to poor imaging conditions and lack of overall exposure time.

Narrowband processing in Photoshop
My image using narrowband data for each channel

Image Processing in Adobe Photoshop

Full disclosure, I am new to narrowband imaging and there may be far superior methods for combining your data using Photoshop. The workflow used to create my composite image of the Western Veil Nebula is as follows:

1. Process each narrowband image separately

My processing steps included the traditional operations of level adjustments, curves stretch, sharpening and noise reduction. The biggest difference this time, as that the data is grayscale and not full color.

I first isolate the color channel that is the most dominant for each filter. For example, the H-Alpha records almost exclusively as red in a CMOS sensor. I then copy and paste the red channel only to a new document before processing. Video – Processing H-Alpha

My OIII image contained the most data in the blue channel. This is the channel I extracted for processing in grayscale.

2. Create a new RGB image using Channels

Channels

Create a new document, and open the Channels tab. With your pre-processed narrowband images open, copy and paste the main image layer in the corresponding channel for each color.

For my RGB+NB composite image, the Ha was used to boost the red channel, OII for the green channel, and a 50/50 combination of Ha/OII for the blue channel. Once the grayscale narrowband images have all been slotted into each channel, the new false-color RGB image will reveal itself.

You can adjust the color levels independently by making curve adjustments to each channel.  When the color balance is to your liking, final processing can be applied to the final RGB image as a whole.

3. Finishing touches

I enjoy the Astronomy Tools Action Set and continue to utilize useful 1-click actions when processing in Photoshop.  Some of the actions applied were “Increase Star Color” and “Make Stars Smaller”.  The StarSpikes Pro filter was used to create a synthetic diffraction spike on the star 52 Cygni.

I also created and applied a master luminance layer using the Ha and OII grayscale images for an increase in contrast and structure.  This is a powerful image processing technique that can be enjoyed after collecting narrowband images with a color camera.

Master Luminance Layer in Photoshop

If you’re looking to retain the natural colors in your galaxy or nebula, adding the narrowband data as a luminance layer is the answer. I absolutely love the look of natural color stars and appreciate the idea of seeing space as it truly exists to our eyes.

This is common practice when shooting deep-sky objects with a Mono CCD in LRGB format. The L stands for luminance as its only job is to collect as much light as possible.  The same concept can be used when shooting narrowband images with a color camera, it just takes much more time.

The additional detail gathered by using a narrowband filter such as Ha and OIII makes for a detailed master luminance layer in your final image. Meaning, that only the highlights, and contrast from the data can be harnessed without affecting the natural color of your deep-sky photo.

Luminance Layer
My narrowband luminance layer in Photoshop

The legendary Doug Hubble of the Astrophotography Tutorials YouTube Channel and myastroimages.com shares a useful tutorial on creating a master luminance layer from your narrowband data in Photoshop. This process involves first removing the stars in your astrophoto and then applying the image using the screen blending mode to your existing color image.

Final Thoughts
Astronomik 12nm SII filter

As always, it is my pleasure to share my journey through each stage of backyard astrophotography with you all.  I really think that adding a set of narrowband filters to your kit can improve your images from the city, no matter which kind of camera you are currently using.

I’ll continue using the Altair Hypercam 183C for the remainder of the summer and share my results.  Next up, I’ll review some new CLS/UHC filters from Baader and Explore Scientific for collecting color/luminance data with your DSLR or CCD camera. To stay up-to-date, please subscribe to the AstroBackyard newsletter.

A special thank you goes out to Jay Bolt, Sean Molony, and Steve Malia for making this post possible. Until next time, clear skies!

Additional Resources:

Ron Brecher is a leader in PixInsight image processing. Many of the principles shared in this tutorial can also be applied to taking narrowband images with a color camera.

Combining Color and Narrowband Images – Astrodoc

Sara Wager is an accomplished astrophotographer with images that have graced the face of APOD multiple times.

Narrowband Information – Swag Astro

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26 Comments

  1. Spectacular Trevor! I like how you can image with light pollution and while the moon is out.

    Got couple of questions now that you are a CCD expert. I now have (or have excess to) a Coronado PST and would like to do some solar imaging with my QHY5-II-M CCD (my autoguiding camera). I started using APT as I don’t like EZPlanetary to run the camera. Is it possible to get a daylight live view like you can with a DSLR do I have to play with the live view at night?

    Also, I think one of my next purchases is going to be a 12 nm Ha filter to use with my T3i. Do recommend the clip version or 2-inch version?

    1. Looks like your answer to one of my questions would be to get the 2-inch filter if I am reading correctly.

    2. Hey Kurt! Believe it or not, I have never used the 183C (Or the ASI071) in daylight for anything – although I have seen it done. It would just be a matter of setting the exposure value way to a quick, looping exposure. For example, my flat frames using the 183C are less than a 1/10th of a second. I would recommend the 2″ filters so you can use them with a CCD down the road – a little more expensive but you’ll always have it. (Until you upgrade to Astrodons) LOL

  2. Great write up Trevor, can’t thank you enough for all the time and effort you put into your site and YouTube channel. Finding your channel and seeing the results you get from a LP location inspired me to get into astrophotography, I don’t expect to reach your image quality but I’ll have fun trying 🙂

    Keep up the good work!

    1. Thanks so much for the comment, Colin! Inspiring others to really get into this hobby is the greatest compliment. I am sure you will capture some amazing images in the future, keep in touch!

  3. Byt till svenska
    Without exaggerating, I can say that almost everything I can about astrophotography I have learned from you. Especially image processing.
    Here in Seeden (Gothenburg area) we have to pause this hobby for the whole summer because it does not get dark at night. Your videos and your site are what makes me stand out the long wait to dark nights. Can not thank you enough for all the time you sacrifice to share your successes and adversities with us !!!!

  4. Hi Trevor,

    Wonderful tutorial. Thank you!

    Can you elaborate a little bit on how to get a 50-50% mixture in a channel?

    thanks

    1. Thanks Stephan! Using the processed grayscale OIII version as a base – I add the processed Ha image as a new layer on top at 50% opacity. Then flatten the image and use for the blue channel.

  5. Hello Trevor, Can 1.25 filers be used in a Canon 50D camera ? I have a filter wheel in 1.25. I was hoping to use this filter wheel and purchase your recommend filters. Should I just buy the 2″ filters and not use the filter wheel? I hope you understand what I am trying to ask. Thank you, Jeff

    1. Jeff – I would definitely try using the 1.25″ filter wheel with your 50D first, before investing in any 2″ versions. I think there will be some vignetting around the edges of your images – but you may be fine with cropping them out.

  6. Hi, I am completely new to astronomy and i was thinking to buy a used telescope for first time under 100 CAD. Can you guide me ? should I go for a computerized to go mount? Because I think it is the easiest now a days and I dont even know if I will be able to see moon if I buy a manual telescope. Also I don’t have much budget as of now but I want to see Saturn rings and if I can get the best views I am ready to spend 200 CAD for that. Please reply. Thanks.
    PS – I reached here from YouTube watching your setup for astrophotography.
    Amit

    1. Hi Amit – You will definitely be able to see the moon and Saturn through a used telescope around the $200 range. The quality of your view would be best in a Dobsonian, as they offer the most aperture for the price. You will not find a telescope for astrophotography at that price – and there are a lot of extras needed to get into that. All the best!

  7. Trevor,

    Just wanted to say thank you for giving back and being an inspiration. Also I have a question. I live in NJ USA outside of Philadelphia and am in heavy light pollution. I turn 40 in 10 days and am looking to treat myself to an EQ6 as well as mod a sony a6000. Not sure full spectrum or Ha yet. I plan on ccd in long run. What’s your opinion on full spectrum vs. Ha only mod?

    Keep on rocking!

    Thanks,
    Paul

    1. Hey Paul, thank you! I’m not familiar with the Ha mod – but sounds very cool. Personally, I wouldn’t do it unless I had another camera that could grab color images as well. I am hooked in HaRGB processing at the moment. I would say go for the full spectrum mod, and then shoot filtered H-alpha images when the moon is out. If you go for a 2″ round mounted version, you can thread the filter into your 2″ adapter and use with both your DSLR or a future CCD. Cheers!

  8. Hi Trevor
    I would like to emphasize that the camera sensor cuts the light gathering power by 3/4 NOT 1/4 when having bayer matrix filter on top of it. Also a greatly missed factor of the superior quality of the mono camera is it has no anti aliasing filter either. That filter softens images by shifting focus purely for getting rid of sensor pixels lining up with tight line patterns and lessening effects of producing harsh artifacts on normal pictures that are shot mainly in broad daylight. Meaning…much sharper stars, auto guiding and better quality resolution and so on 😀 Cheers from Iceland

    1. Excellent points! I forgot to mention the anti-aliasing filter – which indeed can make a big difference. I hope to use the Altair 183M again soon. Thanks!

  9. Dear Trevor

    As always, your images and VLOG provide much inspiration and positive reinforcement. Thanks for that!

    A stupid question no doubt but, can one only use narrowband filters with a modded DSLR?

    I’m assuming that the benefits of Ha, for example, are lost in an unmodified DSLR, since that signal will simply be swallowed by the built-in IR blocking filter of the camera. If I am in Bortle 7/8 skies and do not want to modify a DSLR, is the only option then to go for a dedicated astronomy camera, most likely colour, and then add narrowband filters to that?

    I tried the Witch’s Head reflection nebula and simply couldn’t detect it from the background glow of the sky despite 300s subs. Since it is not an emission nebula, could Ha still potentially enhance it though removal of unwanted background noise thereby improving the contrast or would the shorter wavelengths of the nebula be invisible in this narrow wavelength anyway?

    Alternatively, would a broadband filter be a workable option? For example, I have an inexpensive Orion SkyGlow filter – would that work on an unmodified DSLR?

    I’ve also heard of dual band filters (Ha+OIII) but assume these would be better suited to non-DSLR cameras.

  10. Hi Trevor,
    Thanks for the info,
    I have just completed an astro mod on my 600d and am going out tonight to capture some data with an h-alpha filter.
    What ISO and sub length would you recommend?
    I shot 8x300sec subs at 3200 ISO last night, this was pre modification for comparison.
    The images even after stacking have so much noise its insane.
    do you think I could be doing something wrong or do I simply need more subs? I am hoping the new full spectrum mod will help too.
    I’m new to this and am jumping in the deep end a bit so would love to hear your thoughts on getting the most out of the setup.
    I have both the H-Alpha and OIII from astronomik.
    Would I use the same settings for both?
    Many thanks in advance.
    Regards
    Tom
    Clear skies!

  11. Hey Trevor, have always loved your videos and blogs and step by step reviews. I had one question: I have a Canon 5D Mark II and Mark III and wondering if I had to use the narrow band filters to capture the emission spectrum it would still require my camera to be modded right? All of this what you mention is possible only on a modded camera right? Or even with an unmodded camera this would work?

  12. I have a new SW Espirit 100 and ZWO ASI 294 one shot color camera. My question is how do you attach a 2 inch filter to this set up? It seems there is an adapter I’m missing.

  13. Hey Trevor,

    Thank you for your excellent blog. What gain and black offset settings did you use?

    Greetz from The Netherlands,

    André

  14. Trevor, I use a non-mod Canon T6s for my astrophotography and have an Astronomik clip-in filter for nebulas. Is there any advantage to putting my color camera in monochrome mode when shooting with the Ha filter? Or is the advantage only gained by shooting with a pure monochrome camera?

    1. Correct – Joe. The signal is still being split into the RGB channels (even in b/w) with that camera. A mono is best for narrowband.