NGC 3718 29.5 hours LRGB

[emyliano2000]

I can't say that it's finished but here's 29 hours and 31min of LRGB on the NGC3718.

I have 7 hours of Ha data that I didn't manage to add because I felt I was losing more than gaining with it. I'm sure that at some point I'll manage to add it but for now I'll just leave it to LRGB.

Hope you like it.

Emil

Edited June 12, 2019 by emyliano2000

[carastro]

Excellent work,  I love this unusual galaxy, only tried it once and it's really too small for my kit.

Well done.  Lovely star colour too.

Carole 

[geordie85]

That's definitely 29 hours well spent. Was this with the 183m? What scope was used? 

[emyliano2000]

30 minutes ago, geordie85 said:

That's definitely 29 hours well spent. Was this with the 183m? What scope was used? 

Thanks. Yes, qhy183m and 130pds.

Emil

[FaB-Bo-Peep]

Awesome!

[Seanelly]

You've presented this very well.

[kirkster501]

I really like it.  You have wonderful colour and detail in there.

Regarding the Ha you collected.  I am starting to wonder if it is worth the effort gathering Ha for galaxies, certainly in the UK where clear sky time is so rare and precious.   Nebulae sure (and I am working on a Ha NAN now).   With clever masking, you can emphasise the red channel by other means.  I grant you it will never be as good as an Ha channel but then 60% as good is good enough for me imaging from the UK.

[sloz1664]

Stunning image and the star colours are amazing.

Steve

[emyliano2000]

Thank you guys. I will have another go at adding the Ha data, hopefully without losing the fainter parts of the galaxy. 

Any tips?

So far I tried adding it to the red channel and using the HaRGB action from Annie's Astro tools. Instead of adding it to the LRGB photo maybe I should add it to the RGB and add the luminance after?

Emil

[emyliano2000]

19 minutes ago, kirkster501 said:

I really like it.  You have wonderful colour and detail in there.

Regarding the Ha you collected.  I am starting to wonder if it is worth the effort gathering Ha for galaxies, certainly in the UK where clear sky time is so rare and precious.   Nebulae sure (and I am working on a Ha NAN now).   With clever masking, you can emphasise the red channel by other means.  I grant you it will never be as good as an Ha channel but then 60% as good is good enough for me imaging from the UK.

I only did the Ha when the moon was quite bright, no point in doing RGB and I was curious about it. The photo that made me start this target was in HaLRGB and that was anotjer reason if trying to capture some.

22 minutes ago, kirkster501 said:

I am working on a Ha NAN 

That is such a great Ha target. I captured it in HaRGB and I might have it published the the August edition of the BBC Sky at Night 😁

24 minutes ago, kirkster501 said:

With clever masking

That's my weak spot. 🙁

[sloz1664]

That is such a great Ha target. I captured it in HaRGB and I might have it published the the August edition of the BBC Sky at Night 

 

If that's the case Steve, that is one BIG feather in your cap.

Steve

[ollypenrice]

Lovely and sharp, lovely and smooth. 

This galaxy seems to appear in one of two colour schemes, blue like yours and, more often, a kind of creamy colour. I didn't find a great deal of blue but some do so who knows?

Olly

[Davey-T]

Nicely done, I captured some data on it earlier this year with the SCT but not enough to produce a decent image.

Dave

[emyliano2000]

32 minutes ago, ollypenrice said:

Lovely and sharp, lovely and smooth. 

This galaxy seems to appear in one of two colour schemes, blue like yours and, more often, a kind of creamy colour. I didn't find a great deal of blue but some do so who knows?

Olly

This is the photo that inspired me to have a go at it. It's captured by Leonardo Orazi and it shows quite a lot of blue, especially in the fainter regions. Now I don't know if this is right or wrong but the qhy183m having such a high QE on the blue channel I think it's picking it up much easier than all the other channels. If I manage to add the Ha there might be a bit of a difference in the colours especially in the core region.

Emil

Edited June 12, 2019 by emyliano2000

[gorann]

Great image!

In support of your colours:

I had a shorter attempt (3 hours) at it in March this year with my Esprit 150 and ASI071 (OSC). I think my colours match yours quite well:

[emyliano2000]

1 hour ago, gorann said:

Great image!

In support of your colours:

I had a shorter attempt (3 hours) at it in March this year with my Esprit 150 and ASI071 (OSC). I think my colours match yours quite well:

Wow! Where did you shoot it from? That's what I was aiming for and you've done it in only 3 hours. 🤔

Emil

Edited June 12, 2019 by emyliano2000

[gorann]

Thanks Emil!

Only 3.2 hours. It is from my obsy on the Swedish country side (60 degrees North) in March when it is still quite dark up here (SQM was 20.9 that night but it can get to 21.6 some nights) . Now the sky is much too bright, you can read a newspaper outside at midnight, so no AP here until late August🙄

Edited June 12, 2019 by gorann

[emyliano2000]

3 minutes ago, gorann said:

Thanks Emil!

Only 3.2 hours. It is from my obsy on the Swedish country side (60 degrees North) in March when it is still quite dark up here (SQM was 20.9 that night but it can get to 21.6 some nights) . Now the sky is much too bright, you can read a newspaper outside at midnight, so no AP here until late August.

I googled your observatory and found the location. Can you please adopt me? 😂😂😂

[Gina]

Superb.  I love it!

[MarsG76]

Awesome result.... 

[Sunshine]

Amazing, I don't think I dedicated 29.5 hours to anything in my life lol.

[emyliano2000]

21 minutes ago, Sunshine said:

Amazing, I don't think I dedicated 29.5 hours to anything in my life lol.

Haha, me neither but looking at what some people can achieve with insane integration time from light polluted zones I thought I would give it a try too. My plan was to get around 40 hours and considering I have 7 hours of Ha that I didn't manage to add, I'm quite close to what I was aming for but I don't know if I'm prepared to do it again. I spent nearly 3 months on shooting this target (that is 9 clear night in the UK, of course 😂😂😂).

Emil

Edited June 12, 2019 by emyliano2000

[Thommy]

Excellent! I think the colour is right where it should be.

Regarding Ha, this object doesn't really give any Ha signal. For some reason that I'm not aware of, there are no prominent HII regions in NGC 3718. I've never seen a photo of NGC 3718 with visible HII regions. This is a bit surprising - the close encounter with NGC 3729 should initiate a lot of star formation, and certainly there is plenty of young star clusters. So why don't we see any HII regions? That said, it could add a bit to NGC 3729, but probably not much. For other interacting galaxies, e.g. the cocoon galaxy, a Ha exposure is definitely adding a lot to an image.  

 

[emyliano2000]

19 minutes ago, Thommy said:

For other interacting galaxies, e.g. the cocoon galaxy, a Ha exposure is definitely adding a lot to an image.  

Oh, yes, the Cocoon galaxy. I managed to capture quite a ot of the Ha in it only with a DSLR.

Well, I can't say that I wasted the 2 nights when I was trying to capture the Ha for NGC3718. I had my widefield setup capturing Ha on a different target.

Emil