astro mick

Thankyou for all this Olly. Having it explained makes it easier to understand,and I will not now be rushing out to buy new equipment.(If only) Mick.

Thanks Mark. Have tried a slight rework. Mick.

Hi Olly. Thank you so much for this detailed answer. At 3.5"PP the image looks absolutely fine,areas are sharp and defined,and makes me wonder if part of it is the quality of equipment used,as well as expert processing. My Luminance is taken with a Celestron ED80 with an F Ratio of 7.5 giving a F/L of 600mm.This with an Atik 314L+ mono ccd. Now according to the the calculator that gives me 2.22"/Pixel when again the calculator says this is significant under-sampling.Ideally it should be 0.33-1"PP.(As you say) This suggests to me that I cant produce fine detail in an image even with Photo-shops tricks. I enclose this recent photo of M101 If you look carefully at the dust lanes they are not sharp but soft,even the overall image.Now this might well be focussing and tracking,but I would be surprised if it was + of course my woeful processing. I would be interested in your views Olly.Your the man. Mick.

Thanks Craig. Yes I have heard of drizzle but have never used it.Something I will have a look at. Mick.

Hi. I must admit I have never paid any attention to the importance of this but now I think I will have to. Although in focus my images always seem soft and lack fine detail. I use mainly scopes around F7.5 or F 6.0 with a reducer coupled to an Atik 314L+. Using Astronomy tools calculator,i am under sampling significantly. I would have to switch to an F9 focal length scope to get the sampling right.But who images at F9 except planetary imagers. Must admit this is causing me confusion,as to what to do. Any advice on this. Mick.

Thanks Lee. Kind of you to comment. I will look at the magenta cast. Mick.

Hi. An image of the lovely spiral M101,a firm favourate with us all. This is an LRGB image,consisting of 3hrs of Luminance and 2hrs each of RGB data. Using a ED80 and a WO73 and Atik 314L+ ccd camera. I have taken some Ha subs as well,but am having difficulty merging this with the RGB for some reason and I don't know why!!!! Fully calibrated with Bias/Darks and Flats. Cheers. Mick.

Thanks Alan,drag that 12inch out,it would be great on Galaxies. Yes Nadeen the Atik 314L+ mono. Mick.

Thanks Nadeem. Strangely it does,nt look purplish on my screen.However I have tried to alter it. Mick.

Thankyou both for some great comments,really appreciate the time taken to post them. Mick. Will have a look at the colour.

Hi. Stayed clear here last night for a welcome change so decided to image M51 as it was nicely placed in the East. I only used the RGB filters,as i thought the Galaxy was bright enough to escape a luminance. I took 2hrs each of RGB making this a 6hr image in total. Maybe it needed a Luminance not sure. Calibrated with Bias/Darks and Flats. Usual scopes and cameras. Cheers. Mick.

That is a cracking M42 Alan,you must be well chuffed with that.I know I would be. Exerllent. Mick.

Hi Francis. Well done on the capture of these Galaxies.It looks a bit noisey to me and calibration frames would defo improve the overall image.The Galaxies seem to be a bit overexposed,with blown out cores,however you proberbly know this. Still a nice capture. Mick.

What an exerllent capture of an unusal object.I think the Phamtom is more suited personally. Great work. Mick.

Hi Rodd. The only cropping I did was to the borders.I had to alighn images from different scopes,so some cropping was inevitable. Mick. Thanks also for reacting to to the image.

This is a fantastic image,i,m surprised at the lack of comments.My only take on this is maybe a tad darker background, but superb. Mick.

Very nice indeed. Nice location. Colour would really add to this exerllent image. Mick.

Very nice image,and some handy tips above. Enjoy your new scope. Mick.

lovely indeed Rodd.The detail in the Galaxy is extraordinary. Mick.

Very nice indeed Adam. A lot of advice here,bit over my head I,m afraid. Mick.

Thanks Tooth. Mick.

Hi. Clear skies here at the moment are non existent except for very small windows.One such window came on Saturday,so dashed out and grabbed 2hrs on the Galaxy NGC2903. This is and LRGB image taken with my ED80 and WO73 scopes with a Atik 314L+ccd. Using two scopes I got 1hr Luminance and 30 mins in R/B.I had to synthesise the Green as it clouded up. Calibration frames applied. I always end up rushing as I,m always battling the clouds,as most of us do. Mick.

Hi. Unfortunately most Galaxies with my setup appear rather small,and this is no exception.It is to be found in Ursa Major. This was taken with my ED80 and Atik 314L+ccd. Its an RGB image only,as Moonlight was present. It consists of 18x300 secs for each Filter.Longer subs under these conditions looked fairly noisey. Calibrated with Bias/Darks and Flats. Cheers. Mick.

Yes indeed. This is a nice capture of a difficult object.I have just imaged this myself and got very similar results. Mick.

Thankyou Mark.