M31- first serious processing attempt

[Swoop1]

As a result of some tremendous coaching from @vlaiv on how to usen GIMP, I had a play with some data of M31 I captured on Sunday via my Sony a6300 mounted on my C6 and HEQ5 combo. 15 x 20 sec exposures at ISO3200

First is a single frame from the stack-

Followed by the stacked product (JPEG image as an idea of product)

Followed by the product of my first processing attempt

Far from perfect but I can see some detail. As time progresses I hope to develop better skills. I may also benefit from obtaining some more robust software (No.2 Son is a graphic designer so I may be able to get a copy of Paintshop Pro at a resonable rate).

Raw data is here for a short whuile if anyone wants to play and show me what to aspire to-

https://we.tl/t-7WH84Wb2vd

Thanks

Matt

[alacant]

1 hour ago, Swoop1 said:

I can see some detail

Yeah, there's loadsa detail. Well done:)

To be able to see it better, just go easy with the sliders:

HTH

 

[MartinB]

It's coming on but you do probably need to go for longer exposures

[Swoop1]

3 hours ago, MartinB said:

It's coming on but you do probably need to go for longer exposures

At the moment, I am limited to 30 sec maximum exposures- my cameras longest timed exposure (as far as I know). I can do Bulb exposures but this would involve getting a remote shutter release whereas I currently use the wireless release via iPad.

[Swoop1]

9 hours ago, alacant said:

Yeah, there's loadsa detail. Well done:)

To be able to see it better, just go easy with the sliders:

HTH

 

How did you get the histogram to look like that?

Matt

[alacant]

22 hours ago, Swoop1 said:

How did you get the histogram to look like that?

Hi

In Color - Levels.

Take the stack and move the centre slider left a little. Click OK. Now open levels again and repeat. Keep going until it gets too noisy and then back off a little. Now bring the left slider toward the centre to adjust the black level, but without it hitting the data.

The Gimp also has an excellent noise reduction routine; Filters - Enhance - Noise Reduction, and colour balance; Colors - Color Balance. Or, if you're feeling brave; Colors - Curves.

There's loadsa other stuff you can do in The Gimp too. Experiment!

HTH

Edited January 22, 2020 by alacant
bad english

[happy-kat]

Sometimes paintshop pro is on offer for £19.99 keep an eye out. I've got PSP but do my main star processing after DSS using StarTools (very reasonable for what it is at £36) and for converting tiff to jpeg for sharing IrfanView which is free and does a better job than PSP for that task I find.