M63 - The Sunflower Galaxy

[PhotoGav]

Inspired by Sara's fantastic rendition of M63, I thought I would give it a go. The dire weather and the prospect of having to wait light years for the next chance to set up has driven me to process what I have managed to gather so far. So, here is my partial attempt:

This is: 10 x 1200s subs at 800 ISO, calibrated with darks, flats & bias. Celestron EdgeHD 800 with EOS 60D. Processed in Nebulosity3 and CS3.

There seem to be some fairly hefty gradients in there, not sure where they are coming from as I thought my flats were pretty good. Perhaps they just aren't! Unfortunately my trial period has expired on GradientXTerminator and I'm not sure if I should purchase it - I didn't use it much in the trial! So, if anyone fancies just running it on this file and posting the result I would be most interested -thank you in advance...

My overwhelming feelings with this effort are three fold - 1) 20 minute subs might just be pushing the DLSR beyond it's capabilities, 2) I definitely need many more subs and 3) Sara, where did you get all that colour from?!!!?

[Rudeviewer]

Very nice.  I like your image color.  I tried it with my dslr and got the same color stars as the galaxy every time.

[PhotoGav]

I managed to obtain another trial license for GradientXTerminator and here is the result....:

It has certainly helped reduce the gradients and I think I will have to purchase this filter now!

What I really want to purchase though is a mono CCD - has anyone got three grand I can borrow please. I'll pay it back, I promise..........

[PhotoGav]

A further iteration of GradientXTerminator:

That's enough fiddling with this now I think!

[PhotoGav]

Very nice.  I like your image color.  I tried it with my dslr and got the same color stars as the galaxy every time.

Thanks Rudeviewer. The only thing that I have done with consideration to star colour is to use Noel's 'Increase Star Color' action. It certainly helps bring out the colour a bit more...

[Rudeviewer]

Where do these other filters come from, are they a purchase filter just like gradient Xterminator.  I had the trial license, but I let it run out as well.

[oldpink]

I have not used gradientx but I use a trick I found in a thread here to remove gradient

had a very quick go at your image and got this (slightly cropped)

[PhotoGav]

Thanks oldpink, that's certainly zapped the gradients! You'll have to reveal your secret technique.... Please!

[PhotoGav]

Where do these other filters come from, are they a purchase filter just like gradient Xterminator.  I had the trial license, but I let it run out as well.

It's a set of Actions for Photoshop, look here: http://www.prodigitalsoftware.com/Astronomy_Tools_For_Full_Version.html I find them superb and I use several of them on most projects.

[Rudeviewer]

Thank you!  Much appreciated! 

[oldpink]

Thanks oldpink, that's certainly zapped the gradients! You'll have to reveal your secret technique.... Please!

I'll have to look for the thread for the youtube link but basically you open it in PS (I use CS6)

make a duplicate image then mask the galaxy using the clone tool, also take out the brighter stars the same way

then use filter / Blur / gaussian / then its a matter of finding the right setting, for your pick I went to about 50 pixels then go back to your original image then Image / apply image

set to subtract and it should be pretty close

Edit*

found the thread

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/211629-removing-gradients-in-photoshop-cs6/

[Rudeviewer]

Awesome gradient removal oldpink, I will have to try this as well.

[oldpink]

Credits for this go to Alma, her thread showed me how to do it
I can take no credit for this just passing on a good tip

[PhotoGav]

Excellent, thank you. I will look at that in detail and give it a go.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[oldpink]

if it works for you it saves money on software you don't need so you can buy more astro gear

[PhotoGav]

I couldn't resist a further fiddle:

Those gradient removal techniques certainly work, so this has been a great learning experience. Thank you for the tips.

However, I feel that this image just doesn't cut it... It's becoming a mucky noisy blurry mess. Oh for some more imaging time...! Maybe late May will be kind to us...

[Rudeviewer]

I have to ask, my sunflower galaxy turned out green when all my histograms were aligned.  What color is this galaxy supposed to actually be?

[swag72]

Good detail there Gav - Well done.

As for colour - I've posted my M63 as it came out of the camera once converted to an RGB image. Not far from yours at all. I just wanted to add this for comparison purposes, not to hijack your thread in any way.

To get the colour I played very hard in the colour select tool in CS!! There is going to be colour there, you just need to find it!!!

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Very nice result! M63 is a beauty

[Coco]

Great image both of you 

Gav, wow 20 minutes on a DSLR, crikey suprised the camera didnt combust !!

[PhotoGav]

Thanks Coco - yes I could almost smell the chip burning up!

Sara - that is absolutely fascinating to see your 'original' image, thank you for posting. Your processing is amazing!! I haven't sussed out the colour select tool at all... Any tips, hints & advice greatly received. Out of interest, which version of PS are you using? On another matter - I questioned sharpness in your thread, unsure if it was the target or your set up. I am increasingly of the belief that it is the subject! I've looked around at many images of M63 and tried to make my own - it does seem to be a cloudy, swirly, hazy kind of a galaxy... Especially at SCT focal lengths! In short, your image of M63 is an absolute cracker!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[swag72]

I'm using CS5 Gav and basically I just play with the 'selective colour' slider until I start getting to a colour that I think is about right.

[cfpendock]

That's very nice, Gav.  The guiding seems to be spot on - I don't notice any gradient on my screen, but I've noticed that the uploaded pics can be very different to what one actually posts.  But there is actually lot's of detail there, and personally, I like the colour you've got.

Chris 

[PhotoGav]

I have to ask, my sunflower galaxy turned out green when all my histograms were aligned. What color is this galaxy supposed to actually be?

This seems to be as good as the web can offer: http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap140313.html

[PhotoGav]

Thanks Chris. Looking at the APOD as posted above, I'm some way off, but I did state that I need a bit more data on this one to really finish the job..... A whole lot more data!!!!!