First ever DSO - M31 Andromeda :)

[AndyThilo]

First ever DSO and first ever image with my rig. EQ5 Pro, Modded 60D + CLS Filter, Esprit 80.

Andromeda, first processing test check with no flats (haven't had any daylight yet!). Processed in DSS, Pixinsight with Autoscript V7, Lightroom for cropping, rotating and minor adjustments, and PS for some spot healing. Pretty happy so far, lots more processing to do when I get the flats.

32 Lights, 22 Darks, 100 Bias, no flats (yet!)

Andromeda No Flats 18-11-19 by Andy Thilo, on Flickr

[Rodd]

If my first image looked as good as this I would probably have been a much happier imager!  You must have very clean optics as I see no dust bunnies or other things that flats dispose of.  what the green, which tends to sneak up on you.  And congratulations on not setting you black point too low--which is the mistake most first timers make.  I think you can probably drop it a bit, as there is a haze over the image--but not too much!  You don't want to lose that bridge between M31 and M110

Rodd

[dannybgoode]

I'd take that as an image any day  Very nice.  Just about to post my first effort on a galaxy and yours in somewhat better

 

[AndyThilo]

Had another play with processing and using flats. Maybe a bit too far on the blacks, but it hides the noise lol. 

Andromeda 18-11-19 4.0 by Andy Thilo, on Flickr

[dannybgoode]

1 hour ago, AndyThilo said:

Had another play with processing and using flats. Maybe a bit too far on the blacks, but it hides the noise lol. 

Andromeda 18-11-19 4.0 by Andy Thilo, on Flickr

Like this - a good improvement over the first. I need to see if some darks, flats and bias frames will help tease some detail from my M33

[ollypenrice]

Don't fight noise or gradients with the black point! For me your first process was the best but it needed a dose of SCNR Green in PI. I'd go easy on the noise reduction, too. If you can see it it's too much! A bit of grain beats a bit of visible vaseline...

But this is a mighty fine début!

Olly

[cuivenion]

Cracking first image! There's an excellent tutorial for pixinsight processing using M31 as an example here:

https://www.lightvortexastronomy.com/tutorial-example-m31-andromeda-galaxy---dslr.html#Section1

As you get more into Pixinsight you will want to change the workflow to suit your own image.

I don't know how you've got on with taking flats but I found this guide invaluable:

https://www.myastroscience.com/proper-flats-with-dslr

Edited November 20, 2019 by cuivenion

[wimvb]

Very nice first image. What does the with-flats image look like when processed as the original image?  Most dslr images have colour (chromatic) noise that can be dealt with very efficiently using MMT on chrominance. And any gradient can be reduced, if not removed, with the help of dbe. 

[x6gas]

2 hours ago, ollypenrice said:

Don't fight noise or gradients with the black point! For me your first process was the best but it needed a dose of SCNR Green in PI. I'd go easy on the noise reduction, too. If you can see it it's too much! A bit of grain beats a bit of visible vaseline...

But this is a mighty fine début!

Olly

This!

 

[GiorgioF]

🤣

...first image......

If MY first image of any deep sky object was good as yours, I would celebrate! I still remember my first M31: was a white spot on a dark background....

Really , you've done a great job. 

[AndyThilo]

Thanks for all the comments, learning PI is a MASSIVE task :D. With the aid of Inside Pixinsight, I've reprocessed again, this is version 6 :D. Much happier with this, I can even see the arms in M110 (I think it's M110). Also was more careful in stacking and dropped any light frames with issues like non-round stars.

Andromeda 6 Web by Andy Thilo, on Flickr

 

[RobB]

Wow !! - I'm still waiting for some clear nights to get my first DSO after 20 years away from the hobby.   I hope it is half as good as yours!

[carastro]

Pretty amazing for a first DSO image.  Promises some good images in the future.

I much prefer your very first process.

Carole 

[wimvb]

Excellent image! 

1 hour ago, AndyThilo said:

I can even see the arms in M110 (I think it's M110).

In all fairness, I think what you see here is (chromatic) noise. M110 needs more integration time. But very good nonetheless. 

https://www.astrobin.com/372976/C/?nc=user

[AndyThilo]

1 hour ago, carastro said:

Pretty amazing for a first DSO image.  Promises some good images in the future.

I much prefer your very first process.

Carole 

You prefer the first one? 

[AndyThilo]

28 minutes ago, wimvb said:

Excellent image! 

In all fairness, I think what you see here is (chromatic) noise. M110 needs more integration time. But very good nonetheless. 

https://www.astrobin.com/372976/C/?nc=user

Probably right, I don't know if M110 has any arms

[carastro]

Quote

Yes this one, the other's are too dark in the background and you are losing some detail. 

Carole