Wizard HST & M31 rework

[Uranium235]

Its not been the best of weather for imaging for some time now, so I thought I would process some data ive been sitting on for a while.

The Wizard was much easier to work with than M16 becuase its easier to select the majority of stars without also selecting parts of the nebula (which would then have to be manually subtracted from the selection). While I was in the mood for processing, I also ran some old subs of M31 from the 1000d through the processing routine I use now and it looks much better than last time (a lot less green and a controlled core).

NGC7380 Wizard Nebula: Hubble Palette

SII (10x450), Ha (10x450), OIII(10x450)

ED80 (0.85x), Atik314L+, CG5-GT

M31: Andromeda galaxy

L (16x600)

ED80, 1000d

Thanks for looking

[Yoddha]

Both images are stunning!

[Spikey]

I echo that comment ...Stunning images. Just out of interest, how many darks and flats did you use for M31.

I've recently taken this as my first DSO and will probably use it for a while to benchmark my attemped improvement .

[Uranium235]

Thanks

Spikey, from what I remember, the M31 shot was calibrated in MaximDL with 10 darks (taken in the fridge) and 15 flats - no bias frames.

The final image was created by using a layer mask in photoshop. One layer stretched so the outer dust lanes are visible, the other image with a much less aggressive stretch for the core. The technique can be found here, better put it in your favorites

Compositing 2 Different Exposures via Layer Masks

[Boren]

You got a very nice wizard there :-)

Cheers,

Harel

[fwm891]

Mmmmm....

These are superb. Like a lot of other images throughout this forum...

Francis

[Coco]

Woah!... very nice, love the Wizard colour..and what a cracking M31..

[AndyUK]

Both are really nice images - Although I love the HST pallette wizard, I particularly appreciate the M31 with the DSLR... That's a lovely FOV with the ED80/APS-C on this and very subtle processing

I know only too well how tricky it is too get the detail in the outer dust layers without blowing out the core - I haven't managed an image like this though so if I can get anywhere near this, I'd be well chuffed!

I decided a while back that M31 needs to be my next target, but it's now been 22 nights since my last clear sky (and still counting )

[Uranium235]

Thanks Harel, Francis, Guy & Andy

Andy, are you sure you want a crack at M31 with the 314? You'l have a bit of a job on with that one becuase I worked out it would be a minimum 6 pane mosaic at 500mm probably 8 to give it breathing space.... thats a lot of work, especially if youre thinking of LRGB.

Hmmm.... not unless you shoot it all in luminence only, then blend the colour in from the DSLR. Worth a shot maybe? Anyways, we might be in luck tonight with a few clear spells.

Feeling shattered at the moment though, Ive been doing sleep training with me little boy for the past two nights. Hopefully tonight he will sleep through the night with less drama.

[Glasspusher]

Yes, two very nice images..well done.

John

[Komet]

Nice ..... although I think the yellow in the wizard should be more gold than yellow.

That said you can choose any colour you want if you choose. Hubble images are more golden though - and that image even as a jpeg reproduces it nicely with a tiny bit of fiddling. Would love to see the raw data.

Good work all the same.

I like M31 also

[AndyUK]

Andy, are you sure you want a crack at M31 with the 314? You'l have a bit of a job on with that one becuase I worked out it would be a minimum 6 pane mosaic at 500mm probably 8 to give it breathing space.... thats a lot of work, especially if youre thinking of LRGB.

Sorry - I should have mentioned I was thinking of plugging the 40D into this one through the Equinox 80, although I did consider (briefly) the idea of using the 314L+... after first having VERY quickly thrown out the idea of using the MN190/314L+! (Having said that, that might be an amazingly deep image - I wonder if I'd have the patience? )