Whale and Hockey Stick Galaxies

[Neil I]

I took this image over 4 nights last week and it consists of 6hrs of subs. Even with this exposure time with the 1000D the galaxies still seem pretty dim and it's proved pretty difficult to process without getting swamped by noise. After several processing attempts the best image seems to be the one with the least processing. This has just has 2 iterations of levels and curves and some noise reduction. This is my first attempt at these targets so I'm pleased with how it's turned out. Maybe some more subs will help.

What has really made a difference with last weeks imaging is having the scope permanently setup in my garage/obsy. No more lugging the kit outside and drift aligning. It now takes 10 mins to get up and running, instead of closer an hour with the portable setup. Best thing I've done in years

[Bizibilder]

Exellent image!

I've been struggling with a similar set-up and image target recently and see you are using, as I do, an unmodded 1000D - what settings are you using please? Especially white balance? Are you using any filters? My own images seem to be predominanty bluish with very little red! You seem to have captured the "reds" well!!

[Neil I]

Exellent image!

I've been struggling with a similar set-up and image target recently and see you are using, as I do, an unmodded 1000D - what settings are you using please? Especially white balance? Are you using any filters? My own images seem to be predominanty bluish with very little red! You seem to have captured the "reds" well!!

Thanks mate

I'm using an Astronomik CLS filter as I've got pretty bad light pollution, and this gives the subs a cyan cast. The subs are 4 mins and were stacked in DSS (with the RGB alignment option enabled) and this pretty much restores the colour balance, although the final stacked image does look rather grey. Processing was done in PS. Camera is set to automatic white balance. Hope this helps.

Cheers

Neil

[Bizibilder]

Thank you - I'm not using a filter at the moment (one is on order!) so that may cure my "blues"!!

[dc509]

Nice image - really want ot have a go at this target myself...

d

[Catanonia]

Nice image on a difficult faint set of targets in bad LP by all accounts.

have a go at boosting the saturation and vibrance levels in PhotoShop and see if that helps a bit.

Also when doing noise reduction, check if you are masking and feathering out the galaxies when doing it, if you are not already.

Lovely image and really shows what is possible under hard conditions.

[R Fisher]

Nice one, Whale shows some good colour and definition,

My target for tonight.

[Neil I]

Thanks for the positive comments guys, much appreciated.

Also when doing noise reduction, check if you are masking and feathering out the galaxies when doing it, if you are not already.

Not quite that advanced, noise reduction was applied to the whole image . I'll grab some more data and try your suggestions.

Cheers

Neil