M31 revisited.

[stan26]

Thanks guys!

Stan

[sologuitarist61]

Excellent

[stan26]

Thanks Richard.

Ever so slightly different 1500 pixel version now on my flickr.

Stan

[andyo]

great image Stan

[stan26]

Thanks andy!

[Chris]

stupidly good as usual Stan:D the wide field of that lens is sooo flat! the stars are amazingly tight and contrasty, the galaxy detail and sharpness is fantastic for the time spent on it! Your PS skills and that lens make quite a pairing:)

Hope your well Stan, not seen you about on the forums much recently, thanks again for helping me with that software thing a while ago, caugh caugh:D

Chris

[stan26]

stupidly good as usual Stan:D the wide field of that lens is sooo flat! the stars are amazingly tight and contrasty, the galaxy detail and sharpness is fantastic for the time spent on it! Your PS skills and that lens make quite a pairing:)

Hope your well Stan, not seen you about on the forums much recently, thanks again for helping me with that software thing a while ago, caugh caugh:D

Chris

Hi Chris, thanks, yes still loving my 200 L glass, The crisp star fields it produces are superbly flat. I haven't been on here a lot recently, i think this is because of the weather. Soon as the stars come out again (without moon) my enthusiasm instantly gets re-fueled. There is so much up above right now that I want to image but can't because its constantly cloudy, or clear with a bright moon I'm seriously tempted to get an HEQ5/EQ6 in the new year but just don't know if I could justify the outlay for just a few sessions use every year. That said ye olde EQ3 is doing okay for now...

How you getting on with PS CS6..? its an absolute marvelous tool once you get your head around it!

Stan

[JamesF]

For comparison Stan, here's my M31 with an unmodded 450D and 200mm f/2.8L (and an unguided EQ3-2):

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/162867-a-better-wide-field-andromeda-galaxy/

The colour on yours is just so much better (not to mention that four minute subs are pushing it for an unguided and non drift-aligned EQ3-2).

James

[badgers]

That is simply cracking stan! love it. processing is lovely and clean.

Puts my cooled CCD attempts of M31 to shame

Anton

[Steve777]

Wow!

[stan26]

For comparison Stan, here's my M31 with an unmodded 450D and 200mm f/2.8L (and an unguided EQ3-2):

http://stargazerslou...dromeda-galaxy/

The colour on yours is just so much better (not to mention that four minute subs are pushing it for an unguided and non drift-aligned EQ3-2).

James

That's a good effort James, i'm amazed that you got 4 min unguided subs from your EQ3-2 I struggle to get 4min + even when guiding!

It's funny, when I look at others M31's like yours it almost makes mine look a bit over cooked (unnatural) in the colours.....

Stan

[stan26]

That is simply cracking stan! love it. processing is lovely and clean.

Puts my cooled CCD attempts of M31 to shame

Anton

That is simply cracking stan! love it. processing is lovely and clean.

Puts my cooled CCD attempts of M31 to shame

Anton

Thanks Anton, I find selective noise reduction in PS is the key to a smooth clean image....

Stan

[JamesF]

That's a good effort James, i'm amazed that you got 4 min unguided subs from your EQ3-2 I struggle to get 4min + even when guiding!

It's funny, when I look at others M31's like yours it almost makes mine look a bit over cooked (unnatural) in the colours.....

I think you just have to do whatever makes you feel happy with the image, to be honest. Having thought about it I'm really not sure what "natural" means when it comes to images of things we can't really see at any level of definition with the unaided eye. I used to like my Jupiter images processed quite soft because I thought it looked "more natural", but I've moved away from that now, trying to tease out more detail, but my definition of what "natural" is seems to have moved with it

In your image I think it's nice to see that the Milky Way stars have a range of colours, and I like the differentiation of the core from the outer disk because it accentuates the fact that something very different is happening within the galactic core. Is it how it would look visually if we could get close enough? Who knows? Be nice to think that it might, though.

James

[Chris]

Hi Chris, thanks, yes still loving my 200 L glass, The crisp star fields it produces are superbly flat. I haven't been on here a lot recently, i think this is because of the weather. Soon as the stars come out again (without moon) my enthusiasm instantly gets re-fueled. There is so much up above right now that I want to image but can't because its constantly cloudy, or clear with a bright moon I'm seriously tempted to get an HEQ5/EQ6 in the new year but just don't know if I could justify the outlay for just a few sessions use every year. That said ye olde EQ3 is doing okay for now...

How you getting on with PS CS6..? its an absolute marvelous tool once you get your head around it!

Stan

I see your point, it does seem like the moon only comes out when its clear! and in my case I'm not sure which is worse out of the Moon or my neighbour having all his lights on with absolutely no curtains all night long! Still you can only do the best with what your got so I've built an obsy anyway and plan on sticking a super fast Newt in it if my pier height allows. The plan is to make use of the small windows of opportunity we get, the odd clear spell hear and there that previously I wouldn't wan't to risk the 40 minutes it takes to setup. With say an 200mm Quattro at f/4 I'm hoping to grab enough data for a decent image in a short space of time. The precise collimation and fettling these scopes need can be done to pass the time when its cloudy:D

Have you ever thought about picking up an older black HEQ5 like mine, you can pick them up second hand for about 280, and I've heard one guy say he could get 10 min guided subs at 1.2m after doing the ST4 port mod. This guy was running a 10" newt on it with an extension bar and extra weights! This is partly way I'm not worried about upgrading my mount anytime soon:D

I really like what I've seen of PS so far:) I keep on meaning to seriously go through some PS tutorials but most my spare time goes the obsy's way 9 times out of 10. One day soon though:)

Chris

[Gina]

Yes, I intend to go through the tutorials but never seem to get round to it - I just fiddle with things seeing what they can do. I have followed a couple of tutorials - eg. using Cntrl click on bright points in Curves to keep the bright areas from whiting out. This software is packed with great features I'm using the CS5 version.

[Ewan]

Fantastic shot there & great colours i love it !