WIP M81 (luminance for now)

[Tzetze]

Hi all. So after years of using an unmodified 450D for imaging, I made the transition to mono CCD.

After an unsuccessful first attempt on M81 (poor conditions), I got a few hours at it again recently. Didn't have enough time to take a full set of RGB images, hopefully will complete the set soon.

I've reworked this multiple times in PI and am still not sure about the results. A little overcooked maybe, but I'm thinking the RGB layer will smooth things out a lot. I think I may have overdone it and introduced too much ringing of stars however.

Is there an LP gradient still visible? It's hard to tell with my monitor.

This was 9x900s taken with Atik 460ex through a 10" Newt.

Any criticisms or suggestions to improve are very welcome.

 

[Allinthehead]

Fabulous detail in the galaxy. Should make for a great rgb image.

[MartinB]

That is stunning!  It is noticeably sharpened so you could back off with that a little but that's down to personal preference, there aren't any rules.  Looking forward to the colour

[Tzetze]

Thank you Richard and Martin. I'm also looking forward to adding the RBG and seeing how it turns out. Once I get my head around how long to expose for and what binning to use, that is. All the fun is in the experimentation though, so I'll likely end up trying 1x1 and 2x2. 

[MartinB]

're binning, the key thing is not to over expose.  1/4 the exposure time of the unbinned  should be ok.

[AstroAndy]

Hi Mike

This is an awesome image, rich in detail. Blackpoint is a little clipped, as bright as Holmberg IX (the little irregular galaxy to "the left" of M81, what might be thought of as gradient might be the beginnings of the IFN).

3 hours ago, Tzetze said:

the RGB layer will smooth things out a lot

Normally, the lum. layer should lead the RGB one (details come from lum. color from RGB), unless you layer it in at a lower percentage, but then you'd lose details. I need to get me one of those Atik 460exes.

Clear skies

- Andy -

[Tzetze]

Hi Andy,

Point taken about the blackpoint being clipped. I rushed the final push-in to the left of histogram before exporting to png. As usual, when I rush a step, it gets repeated. I've tried to be less severe this time.

Thanks for the correction to my misunderstanding how the RGB layer will apply. I've got a lot more reading to do in that regard!

[AstroAndy]

NP,  this is an extraordinarily good image in my eyes.

[gorann]

I agree, I would also say it is extraordinary, and I look forward to the LRGB version! Amazing you could keep that Newt so steady on a NEQ6.

[Tzetze]

Thank you both, Andy and Goran! 

51 minutes ago, gorann said:

Amazing you could keep that Newt so steady on a NEQ6.

Hehe, that is one of the hardest things to achieve and is a constant, often failing, battle. EQ8 is working its way to the top of my 'most wanted' list.

[kirkster501]

Looks superb.  I think you have slightly overdone the sharpening, did you use deconvolution to do this?  Just my personal opinion and I am splitting hairs.  When you blend it with the RGB I may think differently.  Looking forward to seeing the final version.

I also have a WIP on this, both wide-field and on the M81 galaxy alone.

[Tzetze]

7 hours ago, kirkster501 said:

Looks superb.  I think you have slightly overdone the sharpening, did you use deconvolution to do this?  Just my personal opinion and I am splitting hairs.  When you blend it with the RGB I may think differently.  Looking forward to seeing the final version.

I also have a WIP on this, both wide-field and on the M81 galaxy alone.

Thank you Kirkster. I think I'll work on a softer re-processing and ease back on the sharpening a little for comparison. I didn't use deconvolution. This is something I've never looked into but probably should. I only used an unsharp mask, HDR transform and LHE (along with a little noise reduction). A copy of Inside Pixinsight should be arriving within a few days which I'm hoping will help improve the workflow.

I look forward to seeing your own work on the target also.