FIRST ATTEMPT AT M31

[jaspalchadha]

First try: 120min Data with QHY8L / Sky watcher Espirt 100 ED

[jammo]

These first attempts at M-31 are great, as with one from yesterday, this is amazing, loads of detail and the stars are nice and sharp :icon_salut:

[Watchman]

Thats very nice

[boris sputnik]

Very nice ! Good job !

[Gedan]

Great job!

[ollypenrice]

That is good for 120 minutes. Honest opinion, though? The noise reduction is visible and it really would be much better not to use it and to get much more data. There are no short cuts in this game.

Don't get me wrong, I like this and I like the smooth transition from core to arms but I think that bumping this up with 3x the data would really produce something classy. You have all the kit and the skills in place.

If I could send you clear skies I most certainly would!

Olly

[Stargazer33]

That is a first attempt! WOW!!! That is very impressive; well done!

[jaspalchadha]

That is good for 120 minutes. Honest opinion, though? The noise reduction is visible and it really would be much better not to use it and to get much more data. There are no short cuts in this game.

Don't get me wrong, I like this and I like the smooth transition from core to arms but I think that bumping this up with 3x the data would really produce something classy. You have all the kit and the skills in place.

If I could send you clear skies I most certainly would!

Olly

that's what I want to hear, otherwise I wont learn anything new.. I've never been fortunate getting clear skies in cental London and my street full of horrible sodium lights looking down into my obs

[robbie c]

That's good for a first attempt well done

[prokyon]

Good 1st attempt! I agree to Ollys words. You have awesome light pollution? Narrow band filters could help you, also with a Canon.

Regards

Werner

[ollypenrice]

From London?? Low bow.

Olly

[Welrod50]

For a first attempt that's very good. This is also the place to ask and get sound advice. Keep at it

[MartinB]

You have brought M31 1.5 million light years closer than I managed with my first attempt. You have some cracking data there but M31 is a tough processing challenge. Definitely one to come back to.

Things I really like - tight stars with some colour, the colour changes across the galaxy (M31 takes a bit of bullying into submission sometimes), the extension of the galaxy.

Things that aren't so great - just the smoothing really.

If you are using Photoshop have you used layer masks? Also do you know about the wonders that can be achieved using layers and a high pass filter?

[jaspalchadha]

You have brought M31 1.5 million light years closer than I managed with my first attempt. You have some cracking data there but M31 is a tough processing challenge. Definitely one to come back to.

Things I really like - tight stars with some colour, the colour changes across the galaxy (M31 takes a bit of bullying into submission sometimes), the extension of the galaxy.

Things that aren't so great - just the smoothing really.

If you are using Photoshop have you used layer masks? Also do you know about the wonders that can be achieved using layers and a high pass filter?

thanks for honest opinion, I too don't find it smooth, bit pixelated and fuzzy... layers and a high pass filter? please go on.... I have used layers once or twice

[MartinB]

In any astro image there are areas which have opposite needs when it comes to sharpening and smoothing. Darker areas have weaker signal and hence more noise, they need smoothing and look ugly when sharpened. Areas of high signal will stand up to sharpening and it's a fine balance for mid tone regions. Layers and masks enable you to very precisely target the correct areas for any global change you wish to apply.

Both smoothing and sharpening can have unpleasant effects on stars so bright stars need to be selected (there are different ways of doing this) and then converting into a separate layer using the "layer via copy" tool in PS. Once you have created a star layer it will sit above all your other layers and your stars are protected.

Make a duplicate layer from your background image (by right clicking on the background layer under the layers tab). Apply the change you wish to make e.g. unsharp mask to this new layer. Apply the optimal amount for the high signal areas and don't worry about the noise generated in dimmer parts of the image. With the new layer selected look at the icons at the bottom of the layer palette. You should see a little square with a white circle (I use CS2). Click on this and a white box should appear next to the small image shown in the new layer. This is your layer mask. Because it is white all the data from the new layer is being passed through to the final image. Click on the background layer, press ctrl A and then ctrl C to copy your image. No press the alt button and L click in the white box in the new layer. Your image will change to all white, this is your mask. Press ctrl V to past your background image into this mask. It will be black and white, you have created your mask. For best results this needs a gaussian blur. A radius of about 30 should do. Now go to levels and move the left slider to the right to make sure that the brightest parts of your image are white. Move the right slider to the left to make your dim areas black. Now click on the small image icon in the new layer (to the left of your mask). By clicking on the small eye on the left you can show your image with and without the application of masked sharpening. For smoothing you want to apply the change to the dark areas of the image so you need to use a negative of your mask. With the mask selected press ctrl I. Once you've done merge the layers you have created

If you want to make fine adjustments with the masked image visible photoshop enables you to create a duplicate window so that you can monitor your image as you make changes to the mask. In CS2 it is under Window/arrange/new window.

The high pass filter is a contrast enhancing sharpening tool which can be very effective in bringing out detail in dust lanes. Create a duplicate layer and choose "overlay" as the blend mode. Now go to filters and select high pass. A radius of between 2 and 6 will work well for fine detail. A larger radius can bring out larger nebular detail. Move the slider back and forth to select what looks right but don't over do it. Most of your image wont benefit but you should be able to pick out some very effective changes to some areas. Under layers select layer mask/ hide all. An all black mask will be created and automatically selected. Now choose a white brush in the brush palette and make it an appropriate size. Just draw over the areas you want to reveal. This gives you very precise control of the placement of the high pass filter. Apply the change at 100% image scale to check that you aren't introducing too much noise. You can reduce the opacity of the change if you want and this can be very useful.

Sorry if these instructions aren't clear. Let me know if you want any clarification and sorry if I'm teaching you how to suck eggs

[Quatermass]

Great first attempt and from London that's amazing very well done indeed, here is a link to a tutorial on layers etc I put several on my utube channel to help others feel free to ask for any help you need

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

[jaspalchadha]

Great first attempt and from London that's amazing very well done indeed, here is a link to a tutorial on layers etc I put several on my utube channel to help others feel free to ask for any help you need

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

many thanks

[andyo]

Nice shot a very good first m31