M101 LRGB

[Tzetze]

Hi. This data was captured over 4 nights in the last week of March.

Image is comprised of ;

50x Lum, 1x1 900s

15x ea. RGB, 2x2 225s

10" Newt f4.7, EQ8, Atik 460ex with Astrodon LRGB.

Thanks for looking.  =]

Edited April 10, 2020 by Tzetze
forgot to include exposure length.

[MarkAR]

Very nice, colour and saturation look good.

[Adreneline]

Very nice. I really like the level of detail you have revealed in the core region and the fact the outer arm structure is so clear.

Thanks for sharing.

Adrian

[Tzetze]

26 minutes ago, MarkAR said:

Very nice, colour and saturation look good.

Thank you Mark. I'm pleased with how the colour and saturation turned out.

23 minutes ago, Adreneline said:

Very nice. I really like the level of detail you have revealed in the core region and the fact the outer arm structure is so clear.

Thanks for sharing.

Adrian

Thank you Adrian. The high sub count on the luminance really helped in this regard.

[SyedT]

2 hours ago, Tzetze said:

Hi. This data was captured over 4 nights in the last week of March.

Image is comprised of ;

50x Lum, 1x1 900s

15x ea. RGB, 2x2 225s

10" Newt f4.7, EQ8, Atik 460ex with Astrodon LRGB.

Thanks for looking.  =]

Lovely rendition, really liking the colours! Did you not find that 900s exposures in L washed the image out?

[Tzetze]

1 hour ago, SyedT said:

Lovely rendition, really liking the colours! Did you not find that 900s exposures in L washed the image out?

Thanks. On other images, I had issues with LRGB combination ending up looking very washed out but, thanks to some tips, have been working on avoiding that with more careful stretching/curves before and after combination. I think I've managed to avoid a washed out look here but perhaps it's something that requires more attention.

[SyedT]

18 minutes ago, Tzetze said:

Thanks. On other images, I had issues with LRGB combination ending up looking very washed out but, thanks to some tips, have been working on avoiding that with more careful stretching/curves before and after combination. I think I've managed to avoid a washed out look here but perhaps it's something that requires more attention.

I'm not saying it's washed out at all, quite the opposite actually! I think you've blended Luminance very nicely here, which is why I was asking. I'm in a Bortle 5 zone so not too bad, but have streetlamps right next to me which means my exposure times are fairly limited.

[Tzetze]

4 hours ago, SyedT said:

I'm not saying it's washed out at all, quite the opposite actually! I think you've blended Luminance very nicely here, which is why I was asking. I'm in a Bortle 5 zone so not too bad, but have streetlamps right next to me which means my exposure times are fairly limited.

It can be so hard to trust my own eyes when processing. Thanks again for kind comments.
There are a couple of issues that I feel let this image down. There's some slight dark ringing introduced at the deconvolution stage which I've found extremely difficult to remove entirely. I also think that the range mask I used should have been smoothed/fuzzed out quite a bit more. The faint stretched outer arm is too pronounced, in my opinioin. A more fuzzy/smoothed out range mask would have softened this area.
I hope to have another go at processing this over the weekend to improve on these areas.

[ollypenrice]

Very good result. Have you considered an Ha layer? It's quite strong in this target.

Olly

[Tzetze]

2 hours ago, ollypenrice said:

Very good result. Have you considered an Ha layer? It's quite strong in this target.

Olly

Many thanks Olly!

I've been giving some consideration to purchasing an Ha filter. It's on the cards but am torn between Ha filter or more superior grade mirrors as next upgrade. Not sure which option would give me the greater result.

[ollypenrice]

32 minutes ago, Tzetze said:

Many thanks Olly!

I've been giving some consideration to purchasing an Ha filter. It's on the cards but am torn between Ha filter or more superior grade mirrors as next upgrade. Not sure which option would give me the greater result.

On emission nebulae it would certainly be the filter, for me.

Olly

[Tzetze]

1 hour ago, ollypenrice said:

On emission nebulae it would certainly be the filter, for me.

Olly

That helps immensely in making the decision, thanks.

[The-MathMog]

That is one stunning image right there! Great job!

[geoflewis]

Having a slow day today as the weather outside has turned, so catching up on recently posted images and this one is a gem.

[John Nodding]

Lovely capture! 👍🏻

Noddy

[Tzetze]

On 12/04/2020 at 18:32, The-MathMog said:

That is one stunning image right there! Great job!

 

On 13/04/2020 at 09:37, geoflewis said:

Having a slow day today as the weather outside has turned, so catching up on recently posted images and this one is a gem.

 

23 hours ago, John Nodding said:

Lovely capture! 👍🏻

Noddy

Thank you MathMog, Geof and Noddy. Muchly appreciated.   =]