First Light QSI683wsg : m51

[jjongmans]

Also my first CCD image. Just a quick first result, no calibration frames, quick focusing (no refocus for RGB), some wind and light pollution.

Data:

april 15th 2012

8x 10 min Luminance, unbinned

4x 7.5 min RGB, binned 2x2

No darks, No bias, No flats

-20 gr. (40% cap.)

Nebulosity for capturing

PixInsight for alignment, stacking and stretching

CS5 for final touch

SQM 19.75 (end of the session)

I pushed the data to the limit I think... Maybe a bit too much

[Gina]

WOW!!! That's beautiful - well done

[MikeD]

Excellent result, like you say probably pushed a little hard in the processing but some great detail in there.

Mike.

[richbyers]

yes just a 'quick first...no focus, wind, lp' and yet its stunning...shame on you for being so good

[Quatermass]

Very nice I love all the detail you have captured in the dust lanes.

[jjongmans]

I reprocessed the image again. This time I only used PixInsight, I'm getting the hang of it, but I still need more data.

Reprocessed M51

[Quatermass]

Very nice and your website looks great too.

[AndyUK]

Your first CCD image, < 3 hours, and no calibration frames?! Wow - The detail and colour you've captured is superb - An excellent job!

[Gina]

Yes, very good indeed

[RobH]

Very good result...more to be had from the data though I think.

You've clipped the black point and are losing faint areas and some very interesting background galaxies....ease up a bit there and you'll get a lot more out of it.

Rob

[ollypenrice]

Agreed. I only use PI for certain tasks because I don't go for 'hard' processing.

A nice background sky level as measured in Ps is maybe 23? Don't go for jet black.

Boy, though, that is an almighty first CCD image. Looking forward to more.

Olly

[ianaiken]

My goodness, I would say you have the hang of CCD imaging! Brilliant image, I would hate to see you get it in focus and throw some calibration frames at it.

[jjongmans]

I did shoot some darks at a later stage to calibrate the image. That was necessary to end up with this image. But with a little more effort on focusing and gather more data, I should further improve.