M51 new and old edit

[Jessun]

I thought I had lost this data on a crashed hard drive but it turned out that I had uploaded the stack to DropBox, so delighted to have found it I immediately gave it a new go.

The image is 7 hours with the RC8" at f8, taken from the city. Top is the new edit and below is what I managed with the exact same stack about a year ago. Back then a fellow member on SGL helped me along by showing what could be done.

Thanks for looking and all comments welcome if this is heading the right way - or if it isn't.

/Jesper

New edit:

Old edit:

[Daddystu]

Not sure which I prefer. The new one displays the 'fans' but the old version exhibits more detail close to the core.

[Zakalwe]

Duplicate the top image. Apply a High Pass filter with about 6-10 pixels. Then change the blend mode to Soft Light. That'll bring out the details in the cores whilst retaining the softer detail outside the galaxy. You could also apply a layer mask and paint in the cores

[Jessun]

A top tip! Tried it and it does bring out more! This is a never ending boot camp, and it's great to learn more. Need to read up on high pass filter now and what it actually does.

Thanks Zakalwe!

/Jesper

[Zakalwe]

Here you go:

http://www.astrotarp...-mask_page.html

High Pass filtering is one of the things that I use all the time. Works wonders on solar images too

[Zakalwe]

When using HP filtering be careful of the star colours. I either use a layer mask and carefully paint in the areas that I want to sharpen, or create a star mask to protect the stars:

[swag72]

Much prefer the colours of the galaxy in the new edit and also the stars are a more pleasing colour.