geoflewis

Thanks Thommy, I too was surprised to see those star forming regions and it got me wondering about shooting some Ha to see if that added anything extra. Geof

Well Dave, that is an absolute cracker-jack of an image. As I mentioned on the 'playing tonight' thread, I really like the FOV and your processing is spot on IMHO

That's a big question - easy to ask, but not so easy to answer...!! Have you tried here... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milky_Way See the section on 'environment' towards the end, which explains a bit about the MW's association with other galaxies and voids within the Virgo Supercluster. Not sure if this is what you wanted, but I hope that it helps.

Just found this thread, what a cracking read - all of it, but especially the OP by @Ships and Stars

Many thanks. Geof

Thanks everyone, it was good to get a decent run of nights to capture this. I just checked my data and forgot that I added more data one night before switching to M82, so closer to 13 hours total integration. @cfpendock Chris, this was captured with my C14 + x0.67 Optec telecompressor lens and QSI583 camera. It was a tight squeeze 🥴

Here is a look at IC342, knows as the Hidden Galaxy, it's name coming from it being seen though the dusty regions close to the galactic equator making it more difficult to observe. This is my first image of 2020, though I did start capturing the data on 31 Dec 2019 and completed it over the past run of clear nights. The image comprise L 31x10m, RGB 30x5m each for a total integration of just under 13 hours. Thanks for looking.

Very nice Carole, I just saw it over on Astrobin. I'm loving your processing of the gas and dust

Well those aren't too shabby George...😀. 2 excellent images of 2 of the most popular targets to get your imaging underway. Well done, I look forward to seeing more....

Hi @Simple-Human, welcome to SGL. I lived just up the road from you at Frimley for 21 years before moving to Norfolk nearly 4 years ago. Despite the LP in that part of Surrey/Hants, I still had many enjoyable hours under the stars, both visual and AP. I was a member at Farnham Astronomy Society, who meet monthly at Aldershot Cricket Club on the 2nd Tuesday each month, so tonight would be a meeting night if you wanted to pop along there. See details on their website at https://www.farnham-as.co.uk/ They are a very friendly bunch and visitors are always welcome, so no obligation to join. I still have some astronomy friends living in Mytchett, so there might be some local help getting going if you wanted it. Good luck

I agree, definitely subtle to see and anyone not knowing what they were looking for wouldn't see it, however, I was pleased to observe it and once pointed out, my wife also clearly saw the slight dimming.

Nice report and images Stu

That's a very nice result Steve. Yes, there is overlap between Registax and Autostakkert. I believe that Registax has been around longer and in my (and many others) opinion it's wavelet function is still the best, but Autostakkert does a better job of grading and stacking video frames than Registax, hence many now use the best features of both tools. Autostakkert also has a nice feature that allows you to send the graded, stacked image straight over to Registax already open and ready for wavelet sharpening. This linked process also automatically applies the same wavelets to each subsequent image loaded into Registax from Autostakkert once you've fine tuned the wavelets appropriate for the session, which is really useful when processing a series of planetary image ready for derotation in WinJupos, if you ever want to get into that level of planetary imaging.

Both are excellent. I prefer the one with stars, but then I'm an old traditionalist....!! 😏

I also wondered if I’d applied too much noise reduction, so thanks for the comment. The additional use of high pass filter did increase noise in the background, so I applied some noise reduction and it was a bit of punt how far to go with that....

Thanks both, I'm glad that you don't think that I wasted my time. Thanks for the suggestion Carole, I now recall that you showed me the Match Colour tool at Kelling, but I forgot about it, so is this what you mean? I pushed the intensity slider to 120....

Hi knobby, thanks for the feedback. I agree that the Ha on it's own really shows the detailed nebulosity very well. I think every time I shoot Ha, I like it on it's own as a B&W image more and more. If I may ask, of the 2 colour versions, do you prefer the one with whiter stars, or the one with more colour, sharpening, etc. If no preference then no worries. Many thanks

So I captured some additional 2 min RGB subs to try and add colour to the stars and reworked it several times without success until I came across a tutorial by Jerry Lodriguss on his Catching the Light website, on how to do this in PS CS2, which is the version that I have. Whilst reprocessing I also applied some additional sharpening using both high pass and unsharp mask filters, plus colour saturation boost. This is the result.... I'd be really interested in feedback on this version, e.g. is it ok, am I on the right track, or have I overdone the colours, saturation, sharpening, etc. I usually go for 'less is more' with my processing, so for me I really pushed the envelope this time, hence would value any feedback. Cheers,

Very nice V2 Carole, but maybe just a very small edge crop to lose the slight frames misalignment, particularly bottom left edge and right bottom edge.

Nice job Carole, seeing in the new decade with a flaming star - very appropriate

A nice winter pair to see off the decade...

There's a bottle of bubbly in the fridge for me and SWMBO to see in the NY - she's currently watching pre New Year TV (Dame Edna), which is rubbish and I'm going back and forth between the warm indoors and the obs, as for some reason tonight RDC isn't working properly, so I've given up on that..... Cheers

Happy New Year to everyone from me too - I'm currently imaging IC342, waiting for M82 to get above my neighbour's treeline which is just a few meters on the north side of my obs, so I have no view below about 60 degrees in that direction.... Cheers

Thanks Stu, I did wonder whether you'd still have them 😏. I've been wanting a parallelogram mount for years as I like to lay back in my sun lounger with the 15x70s, but I can never hold them steady enough, so I got the P mount in the run up to Christmas - I told my wife not to splash out on Christmas presents for me this year, as I would be buying what I wanted 😄. The difference using the 15x70s with the P mount is remarkable, but once they are used rock steady rather than hand held they really start to show their deficiencies. I understand what you mean about preferring a scope and I may find the same, but I won't know until I've giving them a try. I'm now also considering the Helios Lightquest 25x100s as they were given a 9/10 review by Stephen Tonkin at Binocular Sky back in 2017. Decisions, decisions..... Cheers, Geof

Hi Stu, I know this is a very old thread, but I'm wondering whether you still use those 22x85 binos and what your longer term impressions are of them? I just purchased the Monster Parallelogram Mount from Orion and have been playing with my 7 year old cheap (£50) 15x70 Revelation binos with surprisingly good results, but of course optically they have lots of issues, especially off centre. I've been researching larger size options and think I'll prefer using straight through (rather than 45 deg / 90 deg), as I like to point binos where I am looking to locate targets, so these came up and I then found this thread. I also like the option of using UHC/OIII filters as I have both of those kicking around in 1.25" sizes, now rarely used as I've moved over to 2" with my C14. Any info that you (or indeed anyone else) can share will be great and I see that FLO have them listed 'in stock' (https://www.firstlightoptics.com/all-binoculars/helios-apollo-high-resolution-85mm-binoculars.html), so subject to the feedback I get, I'm pretty much ready to pull the trigger. Cheers,