needle galaxy help for newbie

[iwols]

hi all had a decent night and got a few images ,one was the needle galaxy,i know i should have had a lot more data but finished with about 26 60/100 sec lights ,but when i stacked them in dss the final image was worse than a single image this is a jpeg of the original nef file and the needle galaxy is there just right of centre,are these what i should expect of a light image 

 

 

[almcl]

DSS isn't the best for judging the stacked image, in my experience.  There's quite a lot of data in your image, waiting to be bought out but there is also vignetting, gradients and quite a bit of light pollution.  There may also be some dust bunnies.  To get rid of the vignette and the dust, some flats would help and you may find a light pollution filter would also improve matters.

 

I've had a very quick go at the central portion of your image in StarTools (image attached), and there's some nice detail there (see below).  Whatever image processing software you are using should be able to do more with a bit of trial and error.

 

Edited May 4, 2016 by almcl

[iwols]

54 minutes ago, almcl said:

DSS isn't the best for judging the stacked image, in my experience.  There's quite a lot of data in your image, waiting to be bought out but there is also vignetting, gradients and quite a bit of light pollution.  There may also be some dust bunnies.  To get rid of the vignette and the dust, some flats would help and you may find a light pollution filter would also improve matters.

 

I've had a very quick go at the central portion of your image in StarTools (image attached), and there's some nice detail there (see below).  Whatever image processing software you are using should be able to do more with a bit of trial and error.

 

thanks for that gives me some hope