M101 from last night

[steviemac500]

Here's my humble offering from last night. 30 subs @ 5mins. ISO 800 with 20 flats, 15 darks and bias. Dithered with PHD and APT. I'd be happier if i could get more of the colours that Chris had on his - mne seems a bit too red even though the channels were aligned in DSS post processing. What do you think?

Steve

[Starwiz]

Very nice!

[rubecula]

Have you got a light polution filter in the imaging train?  I've got a modified 550D and the images were very red until I installed an IDAS D1 filter. It reduces the red in the general image without reducing the red from astro sources.

[wimvb]

Very nice result. I believe to still see a weak pattern in your noise: almost horizontal streaks. More agressive dithering should remove this. At least 12 pixels (but preferably more) on the camera chip is generally recommended.

[Nigel G]

Hi Steve.

May I  download your image to run through a program I have, I think it might be able to find a little more colour in there.

Nigel.

[Herzy]

I say you just fiddle about with the RGB channels until it looks normal. Your right it is very red-tinted.

[steviemac500]

Nigel, yes of course. 

Wimvb, how do I increase the dithering in APT?

Herzy, in DSS or in PS?

[Nigel G]

I managed to squeeze a tiny bit of colour but not much, with photoshop express . Probably by darkening the back ground and a little noise reduction. To much colour enhancement started turning the stars a false colour. 

It's difficult processing pictures but great fun trying,  I'm very new to astrophotography but very keen to learn, thanks for letting me use your great image.

Nige.

 

[wimvb]

58 minutes ago, steviemac500 said:

Nigel, yes of course. 

Wimvb, how do I increase the dithering in APT?

Herzy, in DSS or in PS?

Unfortunately, I can't help you with APT settings, since I don't use this software. I do my dithering by calculation on the Synscan, aiming for 15+ pixels.

[Nigel G]

Probably adjust rgb channels in PS after stack.

DSS Is very difficult to adjust rgb after stacking,  best results come from post stacking program's 

Good luck and enjoy.