M31 Andromeda galaxy 1-10-11

[carastro]

Got an opportunity 2 days after returning from Kelling to go to a dark site for an overnight imaging session.

51 x 5mins 800 ISO, Modified Canon 450D no filters

Skywatcher ED80 on NEQ6, guided with QHY5 and PHD

Processed in DSS and PS CS3

Link to larger file:

http://gallery.orpington-astronomy.org.uk/albums/userpics/10047/M31_High_Halden_1-10-11_31_x_5mins_800_ISO_ED80_OAS_size.jpg

Carole

[mark7331]

Wow! That's a really beautiful image. Lovely deep detail and a 3D look.

Fantastic.

Mark

[carastro]

Many thanks Mark

Carole

[Shibby]

Nice Andromeda Carole! However, I notice there is a distinct green cast to the image.

[Spikey]

Very nicely processed Carole.

[cloudbuster]

nice one carol....much better than my effort!

[carastro]

Thanks Spikey, Shibby and Bob.

I notice there is a distinct green cast to the image.

Yes a few people have commented on that. Am working on it.

Carole

[martin_h]

Do you use Photoshop? if so try this FREE! plugin - Hasta La Vista, Green! | Deep Sky Colors - Astrophotography by Rogelio Bernal Andreo

1 click and the green is gone!

[Doug]

Hi Carole

I really like this M31 very clear and good dust lanes even M110 looks good

Doug

[stolenfeather]

It's very nice Carole! Congratulations on a brilliant shot!

Isabelle

[drewk1]

Lovely image Carole

That is what I hope to achieve one day.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[carastro]

Thanks every-one. I've got HLVG but didn;t notice the green cast.

Is this any better, though used Curves rather than HLVG?

Carole

[Quatermass]

Cracking shot i must try harder on this subject ;-)

Sent from my GT-S5670 using Tapatalk

[Coco]

Thanks every-one. I've got HLVG but didn;t notice the green cast.

Is this any better, though used Curves rather than HLVG?

Carole

Much more natural Carole, very nice indeed.. you have that lovely vanilla coloured centre that is unmistakably M31...

[DrNeb]

amazing 3d looking center. really draws you in.

[MartinB]

Lovely M31 Carole, very nice colour although still a little green bias in the background. No big deal though

[blackparticle]

Cracking image Carole but still a tad green.

I had a quick play and used "Replace Colour" in an empty part of the background, increased the fuzziness to around 25 and then darkened it a bit. I also tweaked the colour balance in the shadows and mid-range towards magenta by a couple of points.

How does this look now? (I've possibly pushed it a little too far so maybe somewhere in the middle?)

Alan

[carastro]

Hi Alan,

(I've possibly pushed it a little too far so maybe somewhere in the middle?)

Yes I think somewhere in the middle would be good.

Thanks Martin, DrNeb, Coco and Quatermass.

I must keep an eye on the overall colour in future.

Carole

[ianaiken]

Carole, great image absolutely love the colour and detail in the dust lanes.

[blackparticle]

Hi Carole

I had another tweak and think this one looks less harsh on the blacks. It's probably best doing this on the 16bit version though. Trying to tweak JPGs rarely gives a great result but you should now be able to open the 4 up in Photoshop for a comparison of the background.

Have you tried shooting at a lower ISO? From what I have read, increasing the ISO doesn't actually increase the sensitivity of the chip and only applies a voltage boost/multiplier after the data has been read. In theory, a lower ISO will give you the same image depth but with less amplification noise so should allow for a smoother background.

Admittedly, it is much harder to work out what you're seeing as you get less to look at on the view-screen but if you can frame and focus at a higher ISO you could always drop it down for the run when capturing.

Alan

[carastro]

Thanks Ian and Alan.

Hi Alan, yes that does look much better. (I wish you could still see the images when posting comments), need to go back to it again.

Have you tried shooting at a lower ISO? From what I have read, increasing the ISO doesn't actually increase the sensitivity of the chip and only applies a voltage boost/multiplier after the data has been read. In theory, a lower ISO will give you the same image depth but with less amplification noise so should allow for a smoother background.

Admittedly, it is much harder to work out what you're seeing as you get less to look at on the view-screen but if you can frame and focus at a higher ISO you could always drop it down for the run when capturing.

Food for thought there Alan. Might gve it a try as noise is definitely a problem with DSLRs. I can't see much at all on live view only the brightest magnitude stars, I usually have to do a quick shot to see how things are poisitioned anyway.

Carole

[ollypenrice]

The main thing is that the galaxy colour is lovely with a great transition from red to blue as you move away from the core. The green imbalance seems to be in the low signal and isn't a big deal, as Martin points out. Have you tried just cutting back the green in levels? The thing not to do, though, is cut back so that the background gets too dark. The image has a natural look which it would be a shame to lose by ending up with a jet black sky.

Olly

[carastro]

Thansk for that Olly, yes that works quite well in levels, I had forgotten there were different colours you could select I've got so used to my routine of how I process things.

Learning all the time.

Carole

[listy]

stunning

[carastro]

Thanks Listy

Carole