M51 March 2012

[Jessun]

Steve, I think it helps to have the colours better aligned from the start, but you should be able to tweak just the red a bit in Histogram Transformation as it is.

I don't have the luxury of being able to add Ha with my setup, so I haven't a foggiest how that is done or what effects it could have on the rest of the image.

[Spikey]

There's a good history to the processing and the last version of the image is really good. I'm working on some M51 data again at the moment and mine always ends up like your original image and not like the latter one (which is how I would like it to look).

What steps did you take or what did you do differently? I'm using PS so it might not be as relevant but still useful.

[Tom OD]

Good pic Steve that just gets better on each process.

I'm trying to g et my head around Pixinsight, and only read about using AtrousWavelets for NR today. I'll have to get stuck into that.

Tom

[SteveA]

Hi Spikey,

As you know I'm using Pixinsight...and as Harry Page advises...trial and error is a great way of getting to know this application.

In my second attempt I used a wavelets noise reduction process,which has removed a fair bit of noise from the background. I used this routine on both the RGB and the luminance independently.

I also spent a fair bit of time playing with the colour calibration..which definately improved the colours in this image.

I suspect I am going to go back to the Ha again and experiment with this as there is an issue with the red channel.

I think the main things I've learnt in this image, which is without a doubt the best thing I've manage to produce to date are;

The more data the better....and particularly as I'm still pretty much a newbie when it comes tp processing...to just keep plugging away tweaking and see what improves the image.

Steve

[SteveA]

Good pic Steve that just gets better on each process.

I'm trying to g et my head around Pixinsight, and only read about using AtrousWavelets for NR today. I'll have to get stuck into that.

Tom

Hi Tom,

I found it tricky to start with, but I'm really starting to find my feet with it now and begining to feel more confident experimenting with the various processes..

It is a different beast to PS, for me that's not a great problem as I never really got to grips with PS.. which is probably an advantage!

[SteveA]

I was a bit disappointed with the way the last image was displayed as an attachment, so just posting this to see if the end result looks any better.