Centaurus A

[E_ri_k]

Hey Guys. After about 6 weeks of cloud I managed to get imaging again. Been trying to work on my focus, clarity and detail.

14x100 second subs

3x5 minute subs (would have taken more, but it clouded over....)

The only thing that bugs me a little is that it looks a little "grainy" when viewed at 100% Not that I'm complaining, I'm really happy with it, but are there any photoshop tricks to preserve detail, but soften the noise?

Thanks.

[Shibby]

Very nice Erik, the detail looks great so you must have nailed the focus!

More subs would help the noise, but have you tried the PS noise reduction? It's not great but has its uses. If you're content with 1024 pixel dimensions, try the free version of the NeatImage plugin.

[Daniel-K]

darks would get rid of most of the noise and what a great image you have there! well done

[Shibby]

darks would get rid of most of the noise and what a great image you have there! well done

At the risk of sounding like an annoyingly broken record... darks get rid of the dark current, not the random read noise, which they actually add to.

This point is actually the main reason I decided to start writing a "common pitfalls thread" here.

[Viv]

That's a lovely image Erik !

[Fenriz]

Great image Erik, as Shibby said noise removal plugin for photoshop works a treat. I use Noiseware Pro, run your image through that, hope you don't mind.

[Tom OD]

Really good Erik, as already more said, more subs would clean it up as well as adding detail etc to the pic.

Tom.

[E_ri_k]

Thanks for the good feedback guys! Image cleaned up nice Fenriz. I'll get a hold of that plugin and keep shooting!

Cheers.

[alpal]

There is a lot of good detail in that photo

that has yet to be brought out.

Also - see

Star_Repair_for_Photoshop

about star repair.

It can make stars smaller & increase colour.

You may not need to offset.

This is from the tutorials here:

Atalas Astronomy

[peter shah]

lovely shot.....i love this object, maybe one day ill get a chance to image it

[E_ri_k]

Nice tutorial. I have a lot to learn in photoshop! I have got the hang of a few things, but there are many more tools I'm not sure how to use yet.

[alpal]

Nice tutorial. I have a lot to learn in photoshop! I have got the hang of a few things, but there are many more tools I'm not sure how to use yet.

Yes - download the lot of them.

You will get a shock when you see how much better your photos will look

with a bit of practice.

[Sam]

Fantastic, that's a very nice image with lots of colour and vibrancy.