M81 a new attempt

[Jessun]

I did an experiment with 10 minute subs on M81 despite light pollution and a fair bit of the Moon showing.

I think the background is a tad too dark still and I wish I knew how to do a layer mask in PS to 'save' the stars while I work on the background. Here I just worked with an inverse selection of the galaxy in colour balance with 'preserve luminance' un-ticked. Not sure if that's a way to go about this...

But it's full frame so I resisted the temptation to crop my way out of trouble.

The flats also worked a little bit better than usual though, unsure why...

Hints an shouts about way to improve always welcome!

30*600 sec OSC, HEQ5, RC at 1.6m

Thanks for looking:)

[Ponoobersie]

Im glad I did look...stunning image there well done!!

[Shibby]

Good job Jessun.

I wish I knew how to do a layer mask in PS to 'save' the stars while I work on the background.

Stars look pretty good to me, but there's a tutorial right here!

http://stargazerslounge.com/imaging-tips-tricks-techniques/47063-5-creating-star-layer.html

[Jessun]

Thanks for that link! I could follow it and I see the potential of that method!

I gave it a go and worked a bit more on the background gradients.

PS trial runs out in 10 days....

[Catanonia]

Very nice and a similar blue to my M81 in the IFN thread. Lovely detail you have there. Great shot for the conditions and kit used.

[Quatermass]

Very nice you did a great job on it. Here are a bunch of tutorials that will help you out with stars selection layers masks and much more. I made about 13 of them that cover all you need to get sorted.

Selecting stars and creating a star layer - YouTube

[Stargazer Jack]

Nice image.

[Jessun]

Thanks chaps for your input! I'll check out the YT channel QM, and yeah I see what you mean Cat! I actually doubt it would look this blue to any observer floating about nearby, but a brown/yellow smudge is a bit too dull... if it even has that colour... No flux in this tho - that is far beyond what I can do!

[Spikey]

Looks really nice Jesper. I'm going after this galaxy again on the next clear night we have. It's one of my favourites.

[Gina]

Very nice indeed

[Jessun]

Ok, not bumping this, just want to see if I can get a link to flickr to work...

Fingers crossed...

M81 Bode's Galaxy by -Jessun-, on Flickr

[Gina]

It worked

[Chris]

Lovely detail and colour, and your background has come up nicely:), full frame you say, what focal length is you RC? I like the look of the GSO 6" RC Focal length 1370mm. Your RC looks like a great counterpart to your ED's:)

[Jessun]

Cheers starfox, the RC is at 1.6m plus a few mm. It's still quite small and transportable and I like it more and more. The HEQ5 does a marvellous job under the load. It comes branded as Orion, GSO, Altair etc.

[Viv]

Lovely image Jesper !!

[Jessun]

Despite being out of focus with a third run on M81, I tried to add the data anyway to the previous run as seen in this thread.

(This is the ill fated third run by the way, as confessed on SGL:o: http://stargazerslounge.com/imaging-image-processing-help-techniques/187162-my-finest-hour.html )

I actually found it useful, and it contributed somewhat to the galaxy.

Plus it gave me a first opportunity to try out Registar too.

The stars suffered from this - being more bloated now - but it's a fun experiment.

One day I'll try to reclaim those stars too...

[Quatermass]

Looks great really nice.