M51 - First attempt

[Slim]

It's a bit embarrassing posting this with all the excellent examples that have been posted recently but we all have to start somewhere! Kit is in my sig, this is 43x120s at ISO400 with 10 darks and no flats. Stacked in DSS and processed in PS. As always any comments or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Edit: Oh dear, looks a lot different when posted in here. Those concentric circles don't appear in the image in PS or Windows photo gallery. Another ramp on the curve!

[laser_jock99]

Nice image way better than my first go.

[Quatermass]

Great first image of M51 dont worry about the image not looking the same as it does before you post it I have that issue as well with my M51 I posted today think its loss of compression when you save it for the web still working on a solution. Do you use a laptop to focus with? it makes a huge difference as I have recently found out using Backyard EOS

[Slim]

Thanks guys.

@QM Yes I use APT with the laptop and a bhatinov mask on a nearby bright star to get focus. It's a doddle to do and so much easier than on a borrowed 350d I was using with no live view.

[Quatermass]

Yes sure is I miss my live view on my old lumix

Sent from my GT-S5670 using Tapatalk

[Gina]

Great start I'm about to process a few dozen subs of M51 I took last night. First time I've even seen it on my equipment.

[Spoon]

Amazing first try! Take loads of pics then compile them. works really well!

[Slim]

Managed some longer exposures last night. An hour of 300s as well as another hour of 120s, left me with 80 mins of useable subs. Hoping to get started on a light box this weekend so I can start using flats. I framed it 180 degrees differently to the last effort as I noticed quite a lot of red noise on the left hand side of my images, so wanted to see if the noise followed, it did, anyone got any ideas what is causing it? Is it just a lack of subs meaning the stretching is causing noise?

[shellfish]

No idea what your talking about fella but It never ceases to amaze me how people think there efforts are lacking. I think both of the images are fab and if this is how you start posting I can't wait to see more.

Keep posting I think there all great :)

[Slim]

It's all about the processing. So many things to learn! Just reprocessed the image with better results. It the small subtleties that make all the difference. But it's so much fun finding all this stuff out.

[Quatermass]

Your right processing makes bad data better but you still need the vital content of dark skies and crisp focus we have had such a run of good clear nights my processing methods have been pushed to the limits but it such a buzz

Sent from my GT-S5670 using Tapatalk

[Jessun]

Great image Slim! The reasons for gradients are many and is just part of the game I've found. There are several ways to deal with it. PixInsight is one program that is very effective on these gradients. With pretty much one click it will make a model of the background and then correct the image based on that model.

I am new to this and find it all rather complicated at times, but I can do a mouse click trick so I tried it on yours and the result is below. Some odd patterns are due to the jpeg format not being ideal - but should give you a clue about what can be done

Thanks for sharing!

[Slim]

Great image Slim! The reasons for gradients are many and is just part of the game I've found. There are several ways to deal with it. PixInsight is one program that is very effective on these gradients. With pretty much one click it will make a model of the background and then correct the image based on that model.

I am new to this and find it all rather complicated at times, but I can do a mouse click trick so I tried it on yours and the result is below. Some odd patterns are due to the jpeg format not being ideal - but should give you a clue about what can be done

Thanks for sharing!

Thanks, that is an improvement. I will have to check PixInsight out.

[steppenwolf]

No embarrassment at all - an excellent start and not the easiest object to start with either.

[Chris]

I totally agree with the above Slim don't be embarrased at all that really is a great start, and its nice to have a record on here for comparison later on down the line:)

[Gina]

Great image IMO - I'd be very pleased with that

[Slim]

I just can't help myself with this target. Managed 22 x 300s subs before the battery died in my camera. Decided to crop it also this time so that the galaxy would be larger in the frame.

[earth titan]

[Gina]

Great job - lots of nice detail

[R1gel]

When I come to take my first steps in imaging I would be well pleased to get even halfway close to your standard of image. The future looks good for you. Keep it up.

[Slim]

Just another update to this thread. Decided to reprocess this after taking into account what QM showed us in his recent tutorial about gradient removal.

Edit: Just noticed a little processing tip in this months S@N. They explain how to alter your image to the 'Hubble Palette'. So gave it a go and I'm very happy with the result.

[ianaiken]

You're starting to bring out the details and good colours. You're processing has come along great from the first posting. Good job!

You seem to have a black patch around the galaxy possibly off your post processing. I'm not on a calibrated screen at the moment so it may be my settings that are off slightly but there probably is something going on there.

[Gina]

Nice - I like the Hubble colours

[astro mick]

Exerllent image.

The colours are lovely.

A very good image to build from.

Mick.

[Spoon]

Brilliant!!

Colours are amazing!

Clear Skies!