Another M81

[Petergoodhew]

A reprocess of data from 2 years ago to (a) see how much my processing has evolved since then, and (b) keep me out of mischief while waiting to set up my ridiculously-ambitious triple rig at e-Eye in Spain at the end of the month. These days I would prefer to have much more data than this (hence the advent of the triple rig) since more data would have enabled me to bring out more detail and some IFN, but this is what I had to play with.

9h15m total integration (39x300s L, 14x300s R, G and B, 5x1800s Ha). Alcalalí, Spain 24-25/1/2017.

APM TMB 152 F8 LZOS, 10 Micron GM2000HPS, QSI6120wsg8

Processed in CCDStack2 and Photoshop CS2

 

[Barry-Wilson]

It's a good exercise to re-visit old data in order to benchmark progress . . . it also keeps you busy whilst you await the fruition of a project too!  Good luck at the end of this month with your installation visit.

As a tip to help bring some warmth to the colour palette, create a mask leaving just the galaxy or nebula exposed and gently lift the 'C' channel curve in Curves Transformation; a few small iterations is far better than a single large adjustment.

[Davey-T]

Nice M81 Peter.

I'm interested in how the triple rig will work in practice as I've been trying to set one up, the stumbling block at the moment is getting 3  Lakeside autofousers to co-exist.

Dave

[Petergoodhew]

2 hours ago, Barry-Wilson said:

It's a good exercise to re-visit old data in order to benchmark progress . . . it also keeps you busy whilst you await the fruition of a project too!  Good luck at the end of this month with your installation visit.

As a tip to help bring some warmth to the colour palette, create a mask leaving just the galaxy or nebula exposed and gently lift the 'C' channel curve in Curves Transformation; a few small iterations is far better than a single large adjustment.

Thanks Barry - tips and advice always warmly welcomed.

[Petergoodhew]

1 hour ago, Davey-T said:

Nice M81 Peter.

I'm interested in how the triple rig will work in practice as I've been trying to set one up, the stumbling block at the moment is getting 3  Lakeside autofousers to co-exist.

Dave

I'm interested in how it will work too! There are a few challenges that give me anxiety: getting SGP to know which of 2 identical cameras is which; and avoiding differential flexure being two of them.  I'll be using one Lakeside and 2 Optec focusers to avoid the challenge of 3 Lakesides.

I'll let you know how it goes.

Peter

[Petergoodhew]

2 hours ago, Barry-Wilson said:

It's a good exercise to re-visit old data in order to benchmark progress . . . it also keeps you busy whilst you await the fruition of a project too!  Good luck at the end of this month with your installation visit.

As a tip to help bring some warmth to the colour palette, create a mask leaving just the galaxy or nebula exposed and gently lift the 'C' channel curve in Curves Transformation; a few small iterations is far better than a single large adjustment.

I'm a Photoshop man and have never fathomed PI, but I think Photoshop achieves a similar result.  It's certainly warmer to my eye!

[Barry-Wilson]

? - yes that's elevating the galaxy core from the rest of the image.  Good stuff Peter.

[Petergoodhew]

5 hours ago, Barry-Wilson said:

? - yes that's elevating the galaxy core from the rest of the image.  Good stuff Peter.

Thanks Barry - keep the tips and suggestions coming. They are really appreciated. Peter

[Seanelly]

Gorgeous images, both.

[ollypenrice]

The warm-up was a good idea. Another way is to lower the cyans in red in Ps Selective Colour.

Nicely done, Peter.

Olly

[RayD]

On 12/01/2019 at 18:18, Petergoodhew said:

I'm interested in how it will work too! There are a few challenges that give me anxiety: getting SGP to know which of 2 identical cameras is which; and avoiding differential flexure being two of them.  I'll be using one Lakeside and 2 Optec focusers to avoid the challenge of 3 Lakesides.

I'll let you know how it goes.

Peter

Nice image and, as noted by others, well worth the revisit as things change, including skill levels.

Good luck with the installation at e-EyE.

[Petergoodhew]

2 hours ago, ollypenrice said:

Another way is to lower the cyans in red in Ps Selective Colour.

Thanks Olly - that's another new tip for me!