Mike73

So last night I got around 8 hours of LRGB data on M31 and tonight I'm doing the same on M33. I know both galaxies have Ha regions and basically I'm sat here wondering if I should add some Ha just to finish the images off? I really dont know how much I should add or in the case of M33 if it will even be worth it as its already fairly small due my my 500mm fl? Also any tips (or links) on how to process Ha LRGB with Pixinsight would be appreciated. 🙂

Thought I'd add another, its a wide field of the Bubble Nebula (Caldwell 11) but of course their's a ton of other objects in there like the Lobster nebula, M52 open cluster just to the right of the bubble and even Nova V1405. This is the first image that I've processed using only Pixinsight, I've been dragging my heels when its come to using PI as I'm already comfortable using Photoshop but I think this version is better than an earlier attempt when the bulk of the work was in PS. Its still not great and I have so much to learn with PI but I think I'II stick at it. It was combined as a HOO but what really made this image shine for me was creating a Luminance mask using the Ha image, Deconvolution and MorphologialTransformation tools also really helped.

I went mono simply because I want to be able to create the best images I can and the best images I've seen are still mono regardless of where they've been taken in the world. I roughly give myself a month to complete an image, even if I used OSC and had a really bad month of weather I still wouldn't be happy with an image or want to show it if it had a small amount of RGB data. The law of sod usually means we get clear skies on a full moon, dont ask me how or why but from my experience and in Cornwall that's just the way it is. I've pretty damn sure I can get a lot more useful data and make the most of the few clear skies we have by using a Ha filter on those nights rather than a filtered OSC. Do I regret buying into mono? No way! Would I make the same choice? Yep too right! I do enjoy seeing people completed images no matter what they use though, astrophotography is just as bad as any other type of photography where people get too fixated on gear rather than what their gear shows them. 🙂

This absolutely stunning Adam! I dread to think how long it will take my little 51mm Redcat to get enough data to get anything decent but I really can't wait to start. I've found one of the greatest ways to boost enthusiasm even further on cloudy nights is seeing others great images. Looking forward to seeing even more data on this. 👏

I added this image to the Deep Sky section of the forum a few weeks ago asking for any constructive criticism and a couple forum members mentioned their could be more detail that I could pull out in post processing so today I revisited the data trying to keep as much of the faint Ha around the Veil as possible. Taken using a Redcat 51 on a HEQ5 and ASI1600MM 5.5 hrs of Ha 3.5 hrs of OIII Processed as HOO using PI and PS

Looks real nice Steve. I like how the FoV includes the loop of Ha around the Crescent. 😎 So what target is next? NGC 7000?

Thanks Colm. Yes so many objects in there, even a Nova. https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-news/nova-in-cassiopeia-brightens-suddenly/

Your Crescent was really nice and completely worth getting more data on rather than waiting a year so my advice is to hit that just one more night just to finish it off. Besides lots of new Autumn targets are just round the corner. Wow!!! Check me out making decisions!!!!

Thats a great version of the Veil Stu. 👍

Thanks Steve. I actually got another 6 hours of SII on it but as soon as I processed it as SHO or HSO it just didn't look that great so that was 6 hours of clear sky wasted and another rookie error notched up. 😂

Both really, the starless results are far better as you don’t get that strange waffle effect that Starnet can show.

So many objects in just one small patch of sky but the main ones here are the Lobster Nebula(SH2-157), The Bubble nebula(NGC7635) and the open cluster on the right of that is M52. There is 14.5 hours of integrated data here but still I'm constantly amazed at just how much detail my little Redcat with its whopping 51mm aperture can see! I've been in 21.8 mag skies with a 16" dobsonian and never dreamed of seeing this much. I did capture an extra 6 hours of SII but I just dont like how the SHO palette looks in wide field images but I'm really taken with HOO. I did consider adding RGB for the stars but as they are so small I didn't think it would really add anything to the image? Processed using PI and Photoshop, I also used StarXTerminator to create the starless image and it worked great, I'II definitely purchase it after my trial has ended. Redcat 51 HEQ5 ASI 1600mm Pro Antlia 3nm Ha and OIII filters 95x300's Ha 78x300's Oiii Captured from home under 20.3 SQM

You are completely right, I can get a really good mask of the foreground and trees but the star layer is a real problem. Getting a tracked star image with a clear horizon would certainly make things easier or maybe even just stacking the stars instead of a tracked star image?

The best way by far for blending tricky foreground and sky together is by using Luminosity masks. I'II come back to this later as I'm just heading off to work now but in the meantime take a look at this video it should help.

Looks great and nice to see you decided to keep imaging. 👍 Weather isn't looking too shabby for tonight or tomorrow so hopefully you'll get more data to add to it. I think you have some horizontal banding in there but maybe try something like GradientXTerminator which is a PS plugin and should help with that. https://www.rc-astro.com/resources/GradientXTerminator/