Second attempt at M31

[alan4908]

My first attempt at M31 from my new location last night and my second since I started imaging. LIGHTS: 42 x 300s at -20C; 30 DARKS, 30 BIAS; 40 FLATS.  

After experimenting with various Photoshop techniques, I've now decided to use the workflow created by Scott Rosen which is a LLRGB processing methodology.

Alan

[AlistairW]

That's very good - nice camera too - can really see the detail. Often wondered if a colour CCD cuts a lot of the hassle out of. Not that I have got anywhere near CCD imaging yet.

[Feral Rabbit]

Cracking picture, love the colour and it all looks so professional too.

Well done, I bet you're very pleased and so you should be.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Very nice. I might like the colour balance a bit more to the blue, but that is very much a matter of taste

[laudropb]

Very nice image. Lots of detail and natural looking colours. Thanks for posting.

[alan4908]

Thanks for the replies.

Yes, I do like this image, I was a bit surprised about how much detail came out given that my automated focusing scheme gave me a FWHM of about 4 arc seconds on my selected focus star, so prior to Photoshop processing I decided to apply some mild LR deconvolution which reduced the FWHM of the stars within the image a little. 

On the colour balance, yes - this is something I find really difficult to gauge at the moment. I did think about a bit more blue but I quite liked the resultant colour, so I didn't pursue this - as you say, all a matter of personal taste.

I do like the camera, I decided to start with a OSC since I thought this would reduce the amount of hazzle when I started imaging - however,  when I get a bit more experience, I'd also like to try the traditional RGB imaging technique and experiment with various filters.

Alan

[triton1]

You must be proud great image and good detail and it,s your second image I still have not been seduced.