Search the Community

LRGBHa 31 Hrs integration CT10 294MM Pro Antlia Filters EQ8 R Pro

2hrs with EOS650D at 18Mp shooting visual colour range (240s subs @ ISO800), 1.5hrs with EOS1000D Full-spectrum-modified (no narrowband filters) at 10Mp (120s subs @ ISO800 as core blows out VERY easily in full spectrum). 5x dark frames and 20x bias frames for the EOS1000D session. No flats. Stacked in DSS 64bit with 2x drizzle, processed in Photoshop CC 2018 (very little needed doing to it to be honest, just pull the saturation up a bit to bring the colour out). This is a heavy crop hence the apparent low resolution of the final image. This was the last outing for the EOS650D before I killed it, hence no darks / bias applied to the subs from that camera - it died in process of taking it off mount to shoot darks etc whilst I packed everything else away.

M51 The Whirlpool Galaxy 21.04.18 My first proper attempt at RGB imaging with the monochrome CCD Imaged using William Optics FLT-110 and Atik 314L monochrome camera. 10 x 300 seconds R, 10 x 300 seconds G, 2 x 300 seconds B (as I had to delete the other 8 due to technical issues). 10 x 300 seconds Luminence. I will have another look at this data once I have done more reading up on combining my Luminence data with the RGB data as it was a case of having a play around this morning. However, I'm very happy with my result for now.

In 2017 I went through a major upgrade of my imaging equipment and moved from a SW NEQ6/SW ED 80 to a SW Esprit 150/10micron GM1000HPS combination. In the course of testing my new mount in unguided mode I took some M51 Lum test shots at 600 and 1800s with the Esprit 150. Rather than waste this data I decided to see if I could use it to try to improve an Ha + LRGB image that I had acquired in 2016 with my NEQ6/ED 80 combination. Since I've never tried to blend data from two difference telescopes, I decided to take the lower resolution post processed Ha + LRGB image and to treat it as "RGB" data (this image can be seen in my gallery Deep Sky II M51 reprocessed). I then took the higher resolution Lum data that I had acquired with the Esprit 150 and used this as a Luminosity layer within PS (I aligned the Lum and "RGB" data via Registar). After a little processing in Pixinsight and PS I got the above result.

I took this image over several nights in February and March 2017 using SGPro control software and ATIK 4120EX OSC on a Celestron C11 with 6.3 focal reducer and a NEQ6 Pro mount in my garden. 30 x 300s Lights 30 Darks, Flats and Bias. Processed using PixInsight. Cropped.

Taken on 28 February 2017 using: SW200 PDS, HEQ5 Pro, Atik Infinity CCD Camera preprocessed in AstroArt and Startools and processed in Photoshop

A reprocess of the data captured in Feb/March 2016 (my original attempt is also in this album). This is an LRGB image with about 6 hours integration time. The main difference between this and the earlier image is that I concentrated on correcting the starfield colours and sharpening the galaxy.

M51 Whirlpool Galaxy Skywatcher ED80 + 0.85FF/FR on EQ6 guided Atik 16IC-S 1hr20mins L, 12mins each RGB

M51 Cropped again to avoid gradients

M51 (the Whirlpool Galaxy). I spent a good portion of the night on this one. Hardware details: Camera: Nikon D200 Telescope: SW Evostar 120 with Baader contrast booster. Mount: AZ-EQ6 guided using a ST80 synguider. Image details: Lights: 35 x 3min at ISO 800 Lights (and darks) were taken with 1 minute intervals (to let the camera cool down) Darks: 30 x 3min at ISO 800 Flats: 30 x 1/40s at ISO 800 Bias: 30 x 1/8000 at ISO 100 Date of capture 14/01/2016 Conditions: Very clear sky with no cloud. Seeing was good, the guiding was not as stable, the wind was picking up and causing slight movement. Cold and dry.

Using Atik 16IC-S monochrome CCD on William Optics FLT-110 F7 refractor, guided with QHY5L-II camera 14 x 120 second subs, stacked in DSS and cropped and processed in PS Elements 11

My second image with my new camera (Trius 814) and my first attempt at M51. Since the galaxy is relatively small in the field of view and stars can get relatively large when stretched, I decided to process the star layer separately from the galaxy. The Luminescence layer was sharped by a combination of deconvolution (CCDstack) and smart sharpen/HDR toning (PS). LIGHTS: L:11; R:10:G:9:B:8 at 600s + Ha: 3 x 1200s. BIAS:100; DARKS: 30; FLATS: 40.

I decided to try to maximize detail by collecting a large quantity of Luminescence data and then applying strong deconvolution to the areas of high signal to noise. I also decided to try out Mure denoise, a Pixinsight routine that reduces camera noise. The final result is an LRGB and represents just over 17 hours integration time. I hadn't noticed before the rather strangely shaped fuzzies in the backgroud - have a look at the annotated version for IC4278 and the triangular shaped galaxy PC2292105.

M51 taken using a Canon 'standard' 1000D SW 200mm Newtonian on a guided EQ5.

Equipment: ZWO ASI185 at prime focus of SW 8" F/6 Newton, HEQ5, TS 60mm F/4 guidescope, QHY5IILc guidecam Data: 72x60s lights, 16x60s darks, no filters - full spectrum, originally captured at 0.64"/pixel but binned 2x2 for effective resolution of 1.28"/pixel Software: SIPS capture, PHD2 guiding, DSS stacking, Nebulosity4 processing Conditions: red zone, Moon 66.8% illuminated at 64 degrees to target

M51 - Taken as a quick test of polar alignment and only an hours worth of data with a full moon, so I did not expect much. However it came out better than I thought. I will have another go at this one when conditions are more favourable and aim for 2.5 - 3 Hours worth of data. If you want more detail the astrobin link is: http://www.astrobin.com/250229/

102MAK with F3.3 reducer and Baader Moon & Skyglow filter at 30s exposure

102MAK with F3.3 reducer and Baader Moon & Skyglow filter at 30s exposure

M51 repro

ISO800 10 x 5 mins exposure with flats and bias added no darks available for stacking

Drawn in the cold. Touched up in PS. Scope: SW 130M EP: 25mm BST Magnification: x36 Conditions: Clear then patches of cloud Seeing: Good

Imaging: Meade LX10, Canon EOS 500D (Unmodified), BackyardEOS Mount: Sky-Watcher NEQ6 Guiding: Orion ST80, QHY 5, PHD Guiding Processing: PixInsight Dates: June 5, 2012 Lights: 10 x 300"